ABSTRACT
The concept of decadence is a multifaceted term commonly associated with excess and profligacy, but in the 19th century it was more closely linked to notions of decay, ruination, and deviance. Decadence and particularly the 19th-century ‘decadent movement’ associated with the likes of Joris-Karl Huysmans and Rachilde, who did much to inspire experimentation with these themes, has garnered attention across the arts and humanities – but not so in theatre and performance studies. This chapter looks at why, and what decadence can offer to current debate about theatre and politics. Focusing on the appearance of hair in the feminist theatre of Lauren Barri Holstein, it argues that decadence, once disaggregated as a concept from excessive wealth and profligacy and indeed, from the misogynistic leanings of the decadent movement, might well be turned against processes of economic, social, and cultural production that service inequitable, exclusionary, and oppressive forms of normativity.
