Hunkering down in the theatre of war

In this time of war – and it is always a time of war – I have found myself thinking a great deal about the relationship between activist theatre collectives and themselves – the experience of a certain kind of theatre-making, perceived from within by its makers, being perhaps more significant than the audience’s witness of the performances and other activities the group makes and shares. In what measure is this kind of theatre about the audience it seeks to serve, and in what measure does it constitute an alternative mode of being in the world, a form of semi-separatist cell or sect, in which the ‘audience’ of makers bears witness to and draws nurturance from their own extra-theatrical performance of resistance? My desire in this short provocation – I hesitate to call it an essay, it is closer to thinking aloud in print – is to tease at a response to that question by reflecting upon three sources: a history, a personal experience, and a shared testimony. This is an expanded version of a provocation prepared for the ‘Collective Resistance’ roundtable at the Borderlines IX: Seeking Solidarity and Wonder Through Performance conference at De Montfort University in 2022

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