Miasmas in the theatre: Encountering carceral atmospherics in Pests (2014)
In Vivienne Franzmann’s Pests (Clean Break, 2014), two rat-women scamper around a putrefied “nest” of rotting mattresses. Written following residencies in women’s prisons, Franzmann intended Pests to raise awareness on what imprisoned women frequently report as part of their lived experience: povert...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | fra |
| Published: |
UMR 1563 « Ambiances Architectures Urbanités »
2020-12-01
|
| Series: | Ambiances |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/ambiances/3698 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1841542681860243456 |
|---|---|
| author | Molly McPhee |
| author_facet | Molly McPhee |
| author_sort | Molly McPhee |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In Vivienne Franzmann’s Pests (Clean Break, 2014), two rat-women scamper around a putrefied “nest” of rotting mattresses. Written following residencies in women’s prisons, Franzmann intended Pests to raise awareness on what imprisoned women frequently report as part of their lived experience: poverty; domestic violence and sexual assault; and childhoods spent in care. “It is brutal, but it is authentic,” she says (Gentleman, 2014). The aftermath of prison becomes, in the carceral imaginary of Pests, intertwined with waste, disease and animality. In this, I suggest, it performs a miasma of dispossession and social exclusion. In this article I explore Pests as an example of what I call miasmatic performance. I investigate the aesthetics and politics of carceral atmospherics produced by this theatre, thinking through how they both elicit, and simultaneously confound, a collective desire to attribute a clear function to prison in society. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b67fb53f30834665b7c4870e6659919a |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2266-839X |
| language | fra |
| publishDate | 2020-12-01 |
| publisher | UMR 1563 « Ambiances Architectures Urbanités » |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ambiances |
| spelling | doaj-art-b67fb53f30834665b7c4870e6659919a2025-01-13T16:06:16ZfraUMR 1563 « Ambiances Architectures Urbanités »Ambiances2266-839X2020-12-01610.4000/ambiances.3698Miasmas in the theatre: Encountering carceral atmospherics in Pests (2014)Molly McPheeIn Vivienne Franzmann’s Pests (Clean Break, 2014), two rat-women scamper around a putrefied “nest” of rotting mattresses. Written following residencies in women’s prisons, Franzmann intended Pests to raise awareness on what imprisoned women frequently report as part of their lived experience: poverty; domestic violence and sexual assault; and childhoods spent in care. “It is brutal, but it is authentic,” she says (Gentleman, 2014). The aftermath of prison becomes, in the carceral imaginary of Pests, intertwined with waste, disease and animality. In this, I suggest, it performs a miasma of dispossession and social exclusion. In this article I explore Pests as an example of what I call miasmatic performance. I investigate the aesthetics and politics of carceral atmospherics produced by this theatre, thinking through how they both elicit, and simultaneously confound, a collective desire to attribute a clear function to prison in society.https://journals.openedition.org/ambiances/3698atmospherecarceralityprison theatredecomposition |
| spellingShingle | Molly McPhee Miasmas in the theatre: Encountering carceral atmospherics in Pests (2014) Ambiances atmosphere carcerality prison theatre decomposition |
| title | Miasmas in the theatre: Encountering carceral atmospherics in Pests (2014) |
| title_full | Miasmas in the theatre: Encountering carceral atmospherics in Pests (2014) |
| title_fullStr | Miasmas in the theatre: Encountering carceral atmospherics in Pests (2014) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Miasmas in the theatre: Encountering carceral atmospherics in Pests (2014) |
| title_short | Miasmas in the theatre: Encountering carceral atmospherics in Pests (2014) |
| title_sort | miasmas in the theatre encountering carceral atmospherics in pests 2014 |
| topic | atmosphere carcerality prison theatre decomposition |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/ambiances/3698 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mollymcphee miasmasinthetheatreencounteringcarceralatmosphericsinpests2014 |