Playing Your Role: identity and community-based performance in Contemporary Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland, notions of identity and community are fraught. These categories were, and are still, potential fields of conflict. Traditional definitions of identity and community are being challenged by new political structures and rapid changes to the cultural landscape. Arts practitioners and organisations negotiate this landscape while struggling with the requirements of cultural policy, juggling ill-defined concepts of ‘empowerment’, ‘impact assessment’ and ‘standards of excellence’. In such a context, experiences and outcomes on the ground test the boundaries of theoretical discourse.