Dr Patricia O’Beirne; Postdoctoral researcher on ‘The Price of Performance (TPOP): A Question of Economic Sustainability for Independent Theatre Production in Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland 2000-2020’  

I am a postdoctoral researcher working on ‘The Price of Performance (TPOP), an IRC Laureate 2023-2025 project, with PI Dr Miriam Haughton, in the University of Galway. I completed my Doctoral Thesis as an Abbey Theatre Digital Archive Researcher (2018), with the O’Donoghue Drama, Theatre and Performance Centre in University of Galway, where I also completed a Masters in Drama and Theatre. I have presented papers at conferences on theatre and economics, including theatre and austerity, and Irish feminist, political and working-class theatre and playwrights. My publications include articles and chapters on the Abbey Theatre Archive digitisation, on the Abbey Theatre Minute Books 1906 – 1939 and the history of the period, and on Irish theatre in the 1980s.  

Contact:  

Email: Patricia.OBeirne@universityofgalway.ie  

Neoclassical economics is the primary economic theory taught in western higher education, characterised by a capitalist market/consumer-driven ideology that aligns with government policies in most western countries today. In conversation with the themes of ISTR’s 2025 conference, neoliberalism’s hegemony in the political sphere is a driving force in replacing the ‘End(s) of Empire’ with a neocolonial world view where economic growth is king. This paper problematises the pervading neoliberal political environment with respect to the arts and culture sectors in Ireland, the North of Ireland/Northern Ireland (NoI/NI) and Scotland, analysing the challenges inherent in achieving economic sustainability within a public policy framework  which resists arts-led working methodologies as non-profit making entities.  

Production budget analysis from six independent theatre companies provides foundational research for this paper, as part of ‘The Price of Performance’ (TPoP) project at the University of Galway, sponsored by the IRC Laureate scheme. This paper is informed by recent arts and cultural policies in Ireland, Scotland and NoI/NI, with production examples from 2000 to 2020 allowing for qualitative interrogation of the twenty-first century funding environment for theatre and performance practices. How are artistic expression and experience valued in an instrumentalist, metric-driven system within a UK context where austerity-led cut backs have devasted arts subsidies, or equally in an Irish context where austerity measures imposed funding cuts on the arts sector during a slow and painful recovery from the Celtic Tiger crash. Economic theory, cultural policy and theatre and performance research provide a framework for discussion in this paper as it questions what needs to change in order for economic sustainability to be achievable within the parameters of public funding schemes for theatre and performance.