Home is where the heart is: building, belonging and emotional engagement in anti-austerity performance

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn 2011, Reading-based theatre collective In Good Company devised an anti-austerity play called The Pact. The collapse of the sub-prime mortgage market as the backdrop of the 2007/8 financial crisis, and the impact on UK housing and homelessness of early policies of the coalition government, meant that themes of home circulated in the performance. Home also functioned in the performance less literal ways. The production attempted to agitate by voicing local dissent and to build an activist network through its rehearsals, which were open to the public. Drawing on community organising theory, the article proposes that rehearsals offer a suitable home for political organising, where participants work closely and critically together towards a common goal. It also explores, through the lens of home, how critical and emotional engagements offer a potent combination in performance and argues that strong feelings triggered by The Pact were integral to audience members’ awareness of themselves and each other in a specific context. At the time of writing, local councils across the UK are going bankrupt and The Pact’s dismal economic forecast looks conservative against impacts of social-spending cuts and accelerated privatisation (Sleator 2018). It is therefore important to review effective activist practice in order to inform further activity.