| Summary: | Using this theoretical basis of gender performativity, this article will consider the shifting masculinities in two plays by Gary Mitchell, Trust (1999) and Love Matters (2012), both of which are set in the Protestant, urban, working-class neighbourhood of Rathcoole, North Belfast. Within these plays, Mitchell posits the potential evolution between father and son, demonstrating the possibility for the newest generation of Rathcoole men to break free from the restrictive mould, or Butler’s ‘highly rigid regulatory frame’, of their fathers’ masculinities. This potential, however, is hindered by broken homes, absent fathers, and the continuing influence of paramilitarism. In addition, the older male generation seeks to, in Whitehead’s words, ‘replicate those behaviours and practices’ in the presence of their sons, in an effort to perpetuate damaging hypermasculinity and its attendant behaviours.
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