The Deviant: Unruly Spaces and Errant Experiences

The chapter discusses spaces existing in the peri-social sphere, relegated to the marginal by means of the lives and practices they accommodate, which may be defined as outside of normative and religious codes, within the contexts of the heathen and quasi ritual. The chapter will query the role of institutional and community balances in their interactions with the eccentric, investigating the factors that render certain localities particularly desirable for and apposite to such activities, treating space not only as the physical context where the events occur, but also as a driving force towards producing these—particularly as far as natural and open-air contexts are concerned, whereby the elements are regarded as agents in their own way. The case studies are Rona Munro’s The Last Witch (2009), Matt Grinter’s Orca (2016), and Lucy Kirkwood’s The Welkin (2020).