Transnationality: Intercultural Dialogues, Encounters and the Theatres of Curiosity

This chapter reflects on the long history of cultural dialogues in theatre, summed up in the concept of transnationality. Drawing on a range of dramaturgies, it argues for a historiographic approach that foregrounds the transnational and intercultural encounter, or metaphysical dialogue, that takes place in theatres of curiosity. An alternative version to geographic transnationality is offered: the transnational mindset that places the intercultural dialogue at the forefront of the meaning making – not necessarily material, literal transnationality but metaphysical trnasnationality. When practised fully, metaphysical transnationality is a genuine mode of curiosity in the dialogue – with other nations, cultures, people, identities, customs, behaviours and viewpoints. With a long historic purview, from classical Greece to modern times, the chapter argues for a different perspective on theatrical itinerancy and transnationality. Case studies centre on late medieval and early modern plays from a variety of genres (morality plays, civic comedy, baroque opera)