'I am a blankness out of which emerges only darkness': Impressions and Aporias of Multiculturalism in The Events

This article interrogates the politics of David Greig's The Events (2013), reading the work as both a tragedy in an age of multiculturalism and a piece of theatre that explores the limits of representation. Using as point of departure Elinor Fuchs's seminal reading of character as 'impression or inscription', a sign containing no fixed value, I discuss the role of dramatic character in this work - particularly the elusive Boy and the inclusion of 'real' people, the amateur choirs that joined the perfomers every night. By placing Jacques Derrida's notion of aporia next to Greig's contention about the 'unimaginable' in the theatre and beyond, I approach The Events as a provocative way of thinking about ethics and community in an age of multiculturalism. Thus, I argue that Greig's play captures - to borrow the playwright's words from his manifesto on 'rough theatre' - theatre's 'contradiction' and potential to 'tear' 'the fabric of "reality"', particularly in the aftermath of atrocity, when belonging and togetherness are radically challenged.