Reconfiguring Intimacy in Contemporary Irish Queer Theatre and Performance through <i>Party Scene: Chemsex, Community and Crisis</i> (2022)

The contemporary landscape of Irish queer theatre and performance is diverse and alive. THISISPOPBABY stands as a landmark company known for its blending of queer culture with pop culture. Their productions, such as RIOT (2016) and Wake (2022), among others, have both won awards and played a fundamental role in showcasing queer narratives and disrupting the boundaries of traditional theatre and performance on the Irish stage. Fostering a diverse and inclusive cultural dialogue and contributing to the development and visibility of queer culture in Ireland, their approach to staging and presenting the history and struggles of the LGBTIQA+ community has created a new context for theatre. As the company continues to draw attention and acclaim, it directly poses questions about queer politics, identities and aesthetics in contemporary Ireland beyond the script of its plays. Their dance theatre piece, Party Scene: Chemsex, Community and Crisis (2022), created by choreographer Philip Connaughton, and writer and director Phillip McMahon, and centred around an examination of the practice of chemsex (sexual encounters under the influence of recreational drugs), is addressed in this essay through the lenses of intimacy and stigma, to question the intersections among mental health, consent, drugs, and sex within the context of queer experiences. I argue that intimacy is one of the most significant elements of the piece, which plays a fundamental role in the staging of the performance seeking to challenge audiences to rethink social norms and witness how contemporary crises within the community affect vulnerable individuals. Breaking the fourth wall and employing some elements proper to immersive theatre, Party Scene extends intimacy beyond the bodies on stage and emphasises the ability of physical performance to communicate what cannot be articulated with words.