Further Research--Post-Conflict Theatre in Northern Ireland

Source: http://www.culturenorthernireland.org/article.aspx?art_id=2455

When I typed "Post Conflict Theatre Northern Ireland" into GOOGLE an article about "Convictions" was the first to pop up, but second was a review on another post-conflict piece called "Chronicles of Long Kesh". This confirms my suspicion that Kabosh was not the only post-conflict theatre to happen since the relative peace in Belfast.

Something I read in the review that really interested me was about archetypal Republican and Loyalist characters in Northern Ireland:

" Republican characters include the comedy idiot, the stoic troubled soul, and the loveable rogue. On the loyalist side you have the idealistic Dylan fan hardened by events on the street and the simplistic grunt."

I must say, this description hits the stereotypes of the two sides on the head. It leads me to wonder-->

What is the effect of including characters everyone can recognize in theatre? (I know I can't comment in this particular case b/c I have not actually seen the show) This ties in to the Commeddia Dell'Arte Showcase I saw last year that the 11th graders did. All of the characters would have been familiar to the audience, and were part of a universal set of types. (The scorned lover, the joker, etc...)

Does including stereotypes in post-conflict theatre serve to make it resonate more with the audience, or only to further enforce divides?

Theatre in the World
As I become more familiar with different theatrical practices from around the world (Post-Conflict in Northern Ireland, Bunraku, Commedia Presentation, etc..) I realize that different traditions have more in common than I ever thought. Here I see the link between archetypal characters that audiences can relate to, that many different traditions around the world may employ.