Krisztina Kodó: Multicultural Identities in Elizabeth Kuti's Dramatic Writing

Article

The culture of an individual is the marker of one's heritage and roots. Cultural identification provides an identity to a specific cultural group. In recent decades, the question of multiple ethnic backgrounds has come under heated discussion concerning the identification with a cultural heritage. The appearance of multicultural perceptions within present day Irish theatre has in many ways opened new channels for Irish audiences and simultaneously a wider scope of culturally-orientated topics and performance possibilities for playwrights. The present article seeks to probe the limits of multicultural identities in Elizabeth Kuti's dramatic writing, specifically Treehouses (2000) and The Sugar Wife (2005). The plays introduce a multitude of identities: Hungarian, Irish, English, Quaker, and Afro-American. These works are built up of memories, reflections, fragmentation and critical moments in life. An important feature of the plays is the notion of finding oneself, making relevant choices, decisions and exploring the forms of belonging (whether within the bounds of  marriage, relationships, family, society or country).