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appears most comfortable with the political implications of his work. Thus, while the play is cognizant of the various and sundry stereotypes which now populate British culture, “his male characters struggle in their inability to fulfill the stereotypical societal roles expected of men.’’ It would seem, then, that even given Penhall’s approach to the various themes of postmodernity (i.e., in toying with how types never fit their apparently representative models), he is well prepared to pursue political truths in a way that marks him as having moved beyond the postmodern. However, when placed alongside his pears, it is also clear just how tenuous this positioning is and how likely it is he might yet tip toward a more postmodern perspective in the future.
Margaret F. Savilonis’ essay on Kirk Lynn’s WAR provides a final and recent example of this tension between fulfilling a progressive politics and recognizing how postmodern attitudes toward truth refuse the very concept of progress, while yet committing to the idea that the solution to this dilemma resides, once again, in local and individual responses to larger social issues:
Savolinis’ essay, moreover, is notable for how it tracks the way in which this tension can be examined performatively as well as both narratively and textually: