Laughing Out Young: Laughter in Evan Placey’s Girls Like That and Other Plays for Teenagers (2016)
Evan Placey, an Anglo-Canadian playwright, writes for teenagers. In spite (or because) of the serious and painful themes he tackles in his plays (coming out in Banana Boys, social determinism in Holloway Jones, bullying in Girls Like That, gender reassignment in Pronoun), the characters laugh, and s...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès
2019-10-01
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| Series: | Miranda: Revue Pluridisciplinaire du Monde Anglophone |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journals.openedition.org/miranda/20064 |
| _version_ | 1818130058862133248 |
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| author | Claire Hélie |
| author_facet | Claire Hélie |
| author_sort | Claire Hélie |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Evan Placey, an Anglo-Canadian playwright, writes for teenagers. In spite (or because) of the serious and painful themes he tackles in his plays (coming out in Banana Boys, social determinism in Holloway Jones, bullying in Girls Like That, gender reassignment in Pronoun), the characters laugh, and so do the audience. In Placey’s plays, humour – be it linguistic, cultural, contextual, steeped in the news or in the playwright’s field experience with young people – belongs to a specific youth culture; but laughter, more than humour itself, gives the play a youth effect. Besides, whether on stage or among the audience, laughter is no solitary experience; it is a collective one and it is contagious. It is also a defence mechanism against all those things that cannot be understood or controlled. And since the best defence is a good offence, laughter can unite by excluding everything that is marginal, which hints at its tragic dimension. Laughter, in Placey’s work, therefore serves to create a continuous tension between distancing and empathy. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T07:59:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fce8061dd82745e182138fbf4dbb07f9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2108-6559 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T07:59:01Z |
| publishDate | 2019-10-01 |
| publisher | Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Miranda: Revue Pluridisciplinaire du Monde Anglophone |
| spelling | doaj.art-fce8061dd82745e182138fbf4dbb07f92022-12-22T01:15:11ZengUniversité Toulouse - Jean JaurèsMiranda: Revue Pluridisciplinaire du Monde Anglophone2108-65592019-10-011910.4000/miranda.20064Laughing Out Young: Laughter in Evan Placey’s Girls Like That and Other Plays for Teenagers (2016)Claire HélieEvan Placey, an Anglo-Canadian playwright, writes for teenagers. In spite (or because) of the serious and painful themes he tackles in his plays (coming out in Banana Boys, social determinism in Holloway Jones, bullying in Girls Like That, gender reassignment in Pronoun), the characters laugh, and so do the audience. In Placey’s plays, humour – be it linguistic, cultural, contextual, steeped in the news or in the playwright’s field experience with young people – belongs to a specific youth culture; but laughter, more than humour itself, gives the play a youth effect. Besides, whether on stage or among the audience, laughter is no solitary experience; it is a collective one and it is contagious. It is also a defence mechanism against all those things that cannot be understood or controlled. And since the best defence is a good offence, laughter can unite by excluding everything that is marginal, which hints at its tragic dimension. Laughter, in Placey’s work, therefore serves to create a continuous tension between distancing and empathy.http://journals.openedition.org/miranda/20064Evan Placeyyouth theatrelaughterdistancing and empathyyouth effect |
| spellingShingle | Claire Hélie Laughing Out Young: Laughter in Evan Placey’s Girls Like That and Other Plays for Teenagers (2016) Miranda: Revue Pluridisciplinaire du Monde Anglophone Evan Placey youth theatre laughter distancing and empathy youth effect |
| title | Laughing Out Young: Laughter in Evan Placey’s Girls Like That and Other Plays for Teenagers (2016) |
| title_full | Laughing Out Young: Laughter in Evan Placey’s Girls Like That and Other Plays for Teenagers (2016) |
| title_fullStr | Laughing Out Young: Laughter in Evan Placey’s Girls Like That and Other Plays for Teenagers (2016) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Laughing Out Young: Laughter in Evan Placey’s Girls Like That and Other Plays for Teenagers (2016) |
| title_short | Laughing Out Young: Laughter in Evan Placey’s Girls Like That and Other Plays for Teenagers (2016) |
| title_sort | laughing out young laughter in evan placey s girls like that and other plays for teenagers 2016 |
| topic | Evan Placey youth theatre laughter distancing and empathy youth effect |
| url | http://journals.openedition.org/miranda/20064 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT clairehelie laughingoutyounglaughterinevanplaceysgirlslikethatandotherplaysforteenagers2016 |