Edinburgh Napier University

  In official European political discourse, borderlands, particularly those between old and new EU Member States, are positioned as ‘meeting spaces’ in which the idea of a unified Europe can be brought to life. In academic Border Studies, these ‘meeting spaces’ are theorised as ‘in‐between’, ‘transitional’ and full of ‘liminal potential’ for change. However, both policy and theory seem to present a simplistic and uniform image of borderlands which lacks grounding in empirical research. This article argues that the study of cross‐border culture reveals a more complex reality. It explores how the concept of liminality is playfully incorporated into and problematised in a German‐Polish‐Czech cross‐border theatre production: Dreiland (2007). It looks first at the collaboration behind this trinational project before examining the themes, language and aesthetics of the play. It argues that the play successfully stages liminality, but also uncovers competing border narratives of nationhood and globalisation. The close reading of Dreiland therefore reveals gaps in European policy and academic theory and demonstrates the need for further study of cross‐border culture, thereby setting the agenda for future research.