New Readings in British Drama: From the Post-War Period to the Contemporary Era

Abstract

Thomas Eccleshare’s Instructions for Correct Assembly is directed by Hamish Pirieand first performed in 2018 at Royal Court Theatre. Although at its core the play is about thetrauma of losing a son, the specific choice of competing with loss by purchasing a flatpackhumanoid and the addiction to anthropocentric progress and perfection provide fertile groundfor a posthumanist critique of the play. While the play shows that the humanoid, Jån, istransformed into a marginalized and colonized other, it also unfolds a desire of becominghuman on Jån’s side, and becoming machine on Max and Hari’s side, however, not in aBraidottian way. Thus, in the light of Rosi Braidotti’s philosophy of the Posthuman,becoming and hybridity in Eccleshare’s play become central to a critical posthumanistreading.