The Efficacy/Effeminacy Braid: Unpacking the Performance Studies/Theatre Studies Dichotomy

This article explores the origins of the disciplinary separation between Performance Studies and Theatre Studies, with particular attention to the polemical stance of The Drama Review during the 1960s. It argues that the moves at this time toward studying cultural performance, as distinct from theatre, were motivated in part by a homophobically-inflected anti-theatrical prejudice. The paper then goes on to locate this historical analysis in relation to current debates over the relationship between the two fields, arguing that certain rhetorical habits of PS discourse need to be re-examined. Theatre scholars, the paper concludes, can afford to be less defensive and more pro-active in their discussions with Performance Studies colleagues over the relative "efficacy" of their subjects of study.