A list of resources useful for beginning to think about a theatre commons
This is the final of 4 blog posts on the theatre commons, written by Jenny Hughes. This one is a list of resources …
Commons on the net
Howlaround – a commons by and for people who make performance
International Association for the Study of the Commons
Commons in theatre and performance studies, visual arts, cultural practice, cultural studies
Tim Edensor, Deborah Leslie, Steve Millington and Norma Rantisi (eds) Spaces of vernacular creativity: rethinking the cultural economy, London: Routledge, 2009
Jerzy Grotowski Towards a poor theatre, London: Methuen, 1969 edition
Andrew Herscher The Unreal Estate Guide to Detroit, Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 2012)
Lewis Hyde Common as air: revolution, art and ownership, London: Union Books, 2012 edition (this book is a great place to start, beautifully written and accessible without oversimplifying)
Nato Thompson Living as form: socially engaged art from 1991 – 2011, New York: Creative Time, 2012 (lots of fantastic examples here)
Understanding Everyday Participation research project
There’s a huge literature on theatre and community that would help develop a theatre commons and commoning in theatre – Petra Kuppers (ed) The community performance reader, (London: Routledge, 2007) is a great place to start.
For a recent and very enriching critical intervention relevant to theatre commons and theatre commoning, see Nicolas Ridout Passionate Amateurs: theatre, communism and love (The University of Michigan Press, 2013).
Commons in history and theory
David Bollier Think like a commoner: A short introduction to the life of the commons, Gabriola Island, Canada: New Society Publishers, 2014
Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri Commonwealth, Cambridge Massachusetts and London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press
Peter Linebaugh Stop thief! The commons, enclosures and resistance, Oakland: PM Press, 2014
Peter Linebaugh The Magna Carta Manifesto: Liberties and commons for all, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008
Karl Polanyi The Great Transformation: the political and economic origins of our time, Boston: Beacon Press, 2001 [1944]
Paolo Virno A grammar of the multitude, Los Angeles: Semiotext(e), 2004
Jay Walljasper All that we share: a field guide to the commons, New York and London: The New Press, 2010
Nick Dyer-Witheford ‘Commonism’ Turbulence 1 (2008). Available from http://turbulence.org.uk/turbulence-1/commonism/
Examples of theatre commons
A few examples of theatre commons and commons theatricality, past and present:
Penny gaffes
Street theatre
Carnival against capitalism
Theatre of the oppressed
Travelling players
Fun Palaces – past and present
The workers’ theatre movement
Publicly subsidised theatre
Amateur theatre
Non-profit theatre
Community theatre
Activist theatre
Jerusalem by Jez Butterworth
Play readings of Jerusalem by Jez Butterworth on Paternoster Square during Occupy London (I learnt about this from my colleague Rachel Clements, thanks @rachclements)
Street parties
Fancy dress parties
Fireworks nights
Process drama
Local talent nights
End of year primary school plays
Extracurricular theatres in schools
Some kinds of youth theatre
Odin Teatret and the Third theatre
Cheap seats nights
Rimini Protokoll’s experts of the everyday
Brecht’s street scene
Revue nights
Charity nights
Nottingham Playhouse’s ‘Mass Bolero’ (watch it via the link – beautiful! – only 7 minutes)
Local pantomime
Punch and Judy shows
Carol singers
Community choirs
Drama clubs in homeless centres
Cultural activities of the settlement movement
Sunday school drama
Tribute acts
Scratch performances
Open mic nights
DIY theatre and DIY theatre networks
Pub theatre
Re-enactments
Collaborations between artists and scientists for and about the common
Some forms of documentary performance
Ensemble theatre
Free theatre
Theatre in the park
Prison players
The early rounds of the FA cup
No comments
Be the first one to leave a comment.