What is Political Theatre?

My opinion

As I have not encountered much political theatre myself, I have little knowledge of what is actually is. Here is my guess.

In my opinion, political theatre is theatre that aims to convey a political and/or social message; it encourages an audience to think about their choices in life and their outlook on it. Political theatre doesn't always have to be about government politics: it can be about any type of politics humans encounter in their lives such as ethical politics and conflict. Often, political theatre will actively involve the audience, sometimes through the breaking of the ‘fourth wall’, a common Brechtian technique, or possibly using forum theatre, developed by Augusto Boal (1931-2009). There are many different ways but, I think, the main aim of forum theatre is to ask questions, not to answer them. The provoking of feelings and passion for political subjects is what makes political theatre stand out from the rest.

Other research

“Through political theatre, people are able to emphasise and define issues by addressing them in the arena of theatrical art, a place where political issues have been examined since the beginning of drama.” http://www.usq.edu.au/artsworx/schoolresources/madforest/political

“… Addressing issues of current events and central to society itself, encouraging consciousness and social change.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_theatre

I also found an interesting article mentioning playwright Dennis Kelly and various views on political theatre and how it is changing. Kelly is often regarded as one of the current leading political playwrights in the country, and yet in May this year Kelly claimed in a speech that “political theatre is a complete fucking waste of time”.

I was intrigued by this, and having read a couple of his plays, I searched online for the speech and found it. There were many interesting insights in to political theatre, which I found interesting.

Kelly believes a good piece of political theatre “comes not from arrogance or an inability to see your own flaws, but from a desire to change things, from a belief in the power of theatre,” which I agree with. It would be almost impossible to create a piece of powerful political theatre without genuine passion for the chosen subject.

A comment Kelly made that I will bear in mind when devising our protest and piece is this: “I think it’s useful for a young theatre maker to look at the things they’re being told, to think about them, assess them and then – if necessary – say ‘go fuck yourself’,” because in the lesson today, I felt a great sense of that!