The Performance Studies Reader

Since its first publication in 2004, The Performance Studies Reader has become the leading anthology of key writings on performance studies. Now in its fourth edition, it continues to offer an unparalleled selection of work by the foremost scholars in this continually evolving field, offering a stimulating introduction to the crucial debates of performance studies.

These critical and theoretical contributions are joined in this edition by 23 new chapters, bringing the collection up to date with current discourse and ideas, and significantly expanding the range of subjects and authors represented. Each essay includes contextual headnotes from the editors, to introduce students to the writer and their impact on the field. Newly added to this edition are contributions from: Swati Arora, Sara Ahmed, Sarah Bay-Cheng, Claire Bishop, Felipe Cervera and Theron Schmidt and Hannah Schwadron, Anita E. Cherian and Gargi Bharadwaj, Thomas DeFrantz, Soyica Diggs Colbert, Tracy C. Davis, Saidiya Hartman, Travis Jackson, Branislav Jakovljevic, Ailton Krenak, Andre Lepecki, Fred Moten, José Esteban Muñoz, Tavya Nyongo, Tamara Searle, Stephanie Nohelani Teves, and Mackenzie Wark.

This new edition of The Performance Studies Reader provides an overview of the full range of performance theory for undergraduates at all levels, and beginning graduate students in performance studies, theatre, performing arts, and cultural studies.

Henry Bial is Professor and Chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Kansas, USA. He is the author of Acting Jewish: Negotiating Ethnicity on the American Stage and Screen (2005) and Playing God: The Bible on the Broadway Stage (2015).

Sara Brady is Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences at Bronx Community College of the City University of New York, USA, and Managing Editor of TDR: The Drama Review. She is the author of Performance, Politics and the War on Terror (2012) and coeditor with Lindsey Mantoan of Performance in a Militarized Culture (2018).