Philip Ridley's theatre in the context of the uncanny: An analysis of the Pitchfork Disney, Mercury Fur, and Leaves of Glass

This study examines three significant plays—The Pitchfork Disney, Mercury Fur, and Leaves of Glass—by Philip Ridley, one of the most prominent figures in contemporary British theatre, through the lens of the concept of the uncanny. As defined by Freud in his 1919 essay Das Unheimliche, the uncanny refers to the sudden alienation of the familiar, the return of the repressed, and a psychological state that evokes both fear and curiosity. Within this context, the thesis explores the narrative construction of the uncanny through elements such as atmosphere, setting, character development, and language, drawing on the theoretical perspectives of Freud, as well as Lacan, Jentsch, and Mark Fisher. The Pitchfork Disney takes place in a claustrophobic house where siblings Presley and Haley confront their childhood traumas, and where the arrival of the enigmatic Cosmo Disney intensifies the uncanny experience. Mercury Fur is set in a dystopian future characterized by memory loss and normalized violence, where the uncanny unfolds on both individual and societal levels. Leaves of Glass focuses on the inevitability of confronting the past; as buried family secrets surface within a tense fraternal relationship, psychological disintegration intertwines with the uncanny. Written in the aesthetic style of In-Yer-Face theatre, these three plays exemplify how disturbing themes, striking staging techniques, and emotionally intense atmospheres serve to interrogate the function of the uncanny in contemporary theatre.