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Social media has become an increasingly prevalent aspect of our lives, used daily by many people. In this timely study, Patrick Lonergan examines the relationship between social media and theatre. He argues that social media is itself a performance space, analysing how it´s used by both theatres and audiences and also in connection with each other.

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How does theatre, one of the most ancient and physical arts, relate to the modern, dynamic technology that is social media?

Used daily by many, social media has become one of the main mediums through which we present and perform our lives. In this timely introduction to the revealing relationship between theatre and social media, Patrick Lonergan considers social media as a performance space, analyses how theatre-makers´ engagement with social media on and off stage affects elements of theatrical composition and reception, and explores the practical and conceptual implications of audiences interacting with professional productions through social media.

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1. Series Editors´ Preface.- 2. Introduction.- 3. Social Media and Performance.- 4. Social Media in Theatre.- 5. Performing Authorship, Performing Consumers.- 6. Conclusions.-7. Further Reading.- 8. Index.

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´This accessible introduction asks necessary questions around the blurring of public and private realms while demonstrating how engaging with social media is always an inherently theatrical act.´ Josephine Machon, Middlesex University, UK

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Patrick Lonergan is Professor of Drama and Theatre Studies at National University of Ireland in Galway. His previous publication, Theatre and Globalization, won the 2008 Theatre Book Prize. Patrick is series editor of the Methuen Critical Companions to Drama, and the author of numerous other publications. He is director of the Irish Theatrical Diaspora Project and an executive member of the International Association for the Study of Irish Literatures. Patrick is also currently the academic editor of the Abbey Theatre Archive Digitization Project (a major digitization project involving scripts, designs, video and audio) and part of the editorial advisory board for Contemporary Theatre Review.

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