The Theatre of Genocide: Introduction

This paper attempts to provide a comprehensive introduction to the theatre of genocide.  Such an introduction is conducted through the following ways: 1) defining what is meant by ‘genocide’ and its concomitant relation with modernity and the horrific Holocaust event; 2) explaining the importance of anti-genocide theatre and its relationship with Cultural Studies for raising individual and collective consciousness and calling for stopping violence against victims; 3) shedding light on the strategies of the theatre of genocide; 4) shedding light briefly on the relationship between genocidal writings and trauma; and 5) briefly examining Euripides’ The Trojan Women (415 BCE), Peter Shaffer’s epic historical drama The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1967), Arthur Kopit’s Indians (1969), and Christopher Hampton’s Savages (1974) as samples of genocide theatre.