‘Performing Without Limits: A Special Issue on Peninsular Theatre’

This Special Issue stems from the Fifth Biennial Conference of the Iberian Theater and Performance Network (ITPN), ‘Performing Without Limits’ (London, 26–28 June 2024), and showcases current directions in Iberian theatre and performance studies. Grounded in ITPN’s transhistorical and interdisciplinary ethos, the volume brings together scholarship on contemporary practices across Spain and their cultural and linguistic contexts. Framing ‘limits’ as both a critical problem and a productive lens, the contributions interrogate boundaries of representation, language, gender, sexuality, trauma, translation, authorship and spectatorship, while foregrounding the dialogue between textual analysis and performance practice. The articles examine feminist and anti-war dramaturgies, the dramaturgical function of translation, constructions of masculinity and precarity, and the ethical and epistemological challenges of autobiographical and testimonial theatre. Collectively, the issue reflects ITPN’s commitment to practice-led research, interdisciplinarity and inclusivity, and positions Iberian performance as a dynamic field defined by permeability, experimentation and social engagement.