Contemporary site-specific theatre in New York City: Performance, the city, and spatial politics

This project examines contemporary site-specific theatre (works intimately connected to the spaces in which they are performed) in New York City and asks: Can site-based theatre have an impact on the transformation and development of cities? Can this kind of theatre change our perception and use of public space? The dissertation explores how site-specific artists use alternative urban spaces outside the traditional theatre building and engage the experience of space and place as integral to their work's content. By formulating an understanding of site-specific theatre as inherently linked to urban spatial practices and politics, I argue that site-specific theatre reveals the inner workings of a city's spatial politics (and therefore who gets access to space and when), and the power dynamics involved in the creation and use of space as a public forum. How can we engage in a conversation about the city via site-specific theatre? By examining urban site specificity in contemporary theatrical practice in New York City, I address its connections and potential contributions to the urban setting, to urban dialogue, and to urban space. I discuss site-specific theatre's potential to engage with city space in ways that can actually affect---positively and negatively---urban planning, real estate values, and gentrification. My purpose in this dissertation is two-fold: (1) to highlight a genre within theatrical performance that should stand on its own (within the field of theatre studies); and (2) to provide a theoretical framework in which to discuss this genre in the conversations regarding theatre and urban studies, and therefore problematize theatre's potential for intervention in both private and public space in the creation of cities.