The Stage Lives of Animals ─ Zooesis and Performance

The Stage Lives of Animals examines what it might mean to make theatre beyond the human. In this stunning collection of essays, Una Chaudhuri engages with the alternative modes of thinking, feeling, and making art offered by animals and animality, bringing insights from theatre practice and theory to animal studies as well as exploring what animal studies can bring to the study of theatre and performance.

As our planet lives through what scientists call "the sixth extinction," and we become ever more aware of our relationships to other species, Chaudhuri takes a highly original look at the "animal imagination" of well-known plays, performances and creative projects, including works by:

• Caryl Churchill
• Rachel Rosenthal
• Marina Zurkow
• Edward Albee
• Tennesee Williams
• Eugene Ionesco

Covering over a decade of explorations, a wide range of writers, and many urgent topics, this volume demonstrates that an interspecies imagination deeply structures modern western drama.

Una Chaudhuri is a Professor of English, Drama, and Environmental Studies at New York University. She has lectured and published internationally on modern drama, performance theory, and eco-criticism.