Theatre and Debate
One of the things I've asked our Creative Associates Catherine and Mathilde to look at is how we create 'theatre of debate'. In recent years there has been a fascinating movement in theatre around debate, discussion and exchange of knowledge. Well known examples include Open Space workshops, particularly the 'Devoted and Disgruntled' sessions that Improbable Theatre have run. In Berlin, one of the most fascinating companies is the Mobile Academy, which runs the 'Blackmarket of Useful and Non-Useful Knowledge' where, rather than watching a show, each audience member books a series of 15 minute one-to-one sessions with experts in every imaginable subject (and remember we are all experts in something, so this is not an academic project). In New York, Foundry Theatre has been combining some of the best experimental theatre in the world with a series of political and social 'town hall' meetings for many years - building a different kind of theatre community. I'd be really interested to hear people's ideas and experiences around theatre and debate.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Gary Owen on
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Part of what I wanted to do with my play Amgen:Broken was to provoke debate about what being an (at least) bilingual nation means for us. By putting on a bilingual show with no surtitles or simultaneous translation I hoped, or at least wondered if, audience members would reflect on how bilingualism affects them. I got a fair bit of feedback from people who'd seen the show, and am going to be turning those responses into a piece of audio work. And so hopefully the debate will continue.
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Permalink Reply by National Theatre Wales on
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One of the things I loved about Amgen:Broken was that because of the varying language knowledge of audience members, the audience was alive with ripples of difference. Rather than settling into one passive body as an audience we were forever aware of each other - understanding and relating to different moments of the piece. I've often worked on shows that interacted very directly with the audience, through promenade or audience involvement, but here you achieved that kind of interaction in quite a traditional theatre setting through the use of language. These kind of 'lively audience' experiences are key, I think, to developing a theatre of debate. So, the debate in Amgen isn't just a conversation about the play afterwards, it is embodied to a a degree in the actual experience of watching the play.
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Good points Michael. But i think we are also talking about theatre as a space of debate about anything, not just discussion of theatre. In the examples I cited, the UK instance - 'Devoted and Disgruntled' is very much about theatre, but the Berlin and New York examples are using theatre structures to explore differing kinds of knowledge, and in the New York case to address some very urgent social issues. So, discussion about theatre is fine, but what is really exciting is when theatre becomes the space where we debate life society (by the way I think the Ancient Greeks may already have had this idea....)
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I know NTS are using the techniques behind Devoted & Disgruntled to look at the future of the arts in Scotland. Any chance you're going to lure the chaps from Improbable down here, John?
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I could certainly talk to Phelim about it Gary. Maybe we should work a bit more on the debate plans here, and then chat to him and other innnovators and run some kind of trial event?
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Would like to Jenna, but don't think I will be able to. Perhaps you could post a report here on this, and on Lyric's Storm project in general. I'm sure folk in Wales would find it interesting.
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Permalink Reply by Jenna Omeltschenko on
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Of course we will be creating a report of the Open Space which I will send to you and add on here. I am sure it will definitely contribute to the conversation. Hopefully it should be an interesting one...
I dont know if I told you but Sketch City are also onboard transforming the space - Mancs everywhere!
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Hi Hannah. Yes Boal is a really important reference in this work. Part of the challenge with Boal is to find how to make his ideas work in a society where power is ever more complex. It's not always easy to translate contemporary power structures into a stage situation; though there are people around who have certainly done a lot of work on this.
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Permalink Reply by Beca Lewis Jones on
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Hi John and Hannah,
I think Forum theatre is fantastic and I have yet to see it fail in creating debate on issues within our societies. It would be definately worth looking into it and into the possibility of setting up such a project in Wales. Have you heard of the charity Theatr fforwm Cymru? they're amazing! based in fishguard and work on emotional intelligence through Forum Theatre.
Have you thought of doing some invisible theatre? Also great for sparking debate. The fact that witnesses never find out that the scene was a piece of theatre means that debate isn't forced upon then, rather they leave the scene and reflect over what they saw which might start a debate elswhere.
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Permalink Reply by Deborah Powell on
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I think the elevation of real Debate is something we badly need as a 'broken' society.
But, to be worthwhile, Debate MUST serve a purpose; it needs to be accessible & have value for ALL - whether cathartic in its roots or pushing us towards practical solutions for the
new life dilemmas we face. Done in the right way, it can help us sift truth from falsehood and help us form more tolerant beliefs about the world.
Sounds pretentious? Well, the people (our potential audience) are already ahead of us on this one ...just look to the popularity of the Jerry Springer-type shows.
Obviously a lesson on what to avoid in how we frame this idea, but these
confessional tv shows, as well as media coverage of traumatic events, are wholly unfulfilling in helping us make any real sense of the world.
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Permalink Reply by Esko Reinikainen on
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I am reminded of the Institute for Crazy Dancing's interesting convention shifting Treasure Hunts, where the audience that arrives for the show are turned into the performers, and the city becomes the audience for the show. An idea placed in the public realm quickly elicits a response here in Wales, sometimes irrational, frequently intelligent, always interesting. Throw the debate out into the streets, up the valleys, on the beaches, and atop the mountains of Wales. And you can throw the debate in the other direction too. Give the Assembly Government a taste of forum theatre, even legislative theatre. Confront them with the issues the people are speaking of.
I think you've kicked off with a great question, and I suspect that how you settle on engaging with and presenting the debate will come to define how the fledgling national theatre finds its place in the Welsh soul.
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This is really helpful and intersting. It's almost as though in performing debate we make spaces public again. I'm reminded also of the Wrights and Sites (?) books. A Misguide to Anywhere - sorry if I've got the name wrong - which gives you new ways to travel through familiar and unfamiliar territory.
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