Abstract
The cultural revolution of 1968 paved the way for many artists to reconsider how and where theatre was made. Community theatre gained currency and one company who became prominent during this cultural shift was Welfare State, later Welfare State International. They were one of the theatre companies who focused not only on a community theatre aesthetic but a grassroot one. I examine the radicality of community theatre and consider the efficacy of the historical approaches to engaging with communities in a (Post-)Covid world. I acknowledge and explore the shifting understanding of communities and assert that a deeper engagement is needed to foster collectivity (Tannahill 2016; Fişek 2019; Weston 2020; Bartley 2021). To reconsider the role that theatre may play in the future, I focus on a grassroot approach to community-led work and posit that location will be a key component to how theatre is made as we emerge from a pandemic.
Highlights
Rhiannon White, one of two artistic directors of Common Wealth Theatre, draws our attention to what theatre could become after the global pandemic
When examining the history of alternative/radical theatre, one cannot deny the enduring quality that performance offers, when we look to the history of community theatre
Frozen Light, a theatre company specializing in creating interactive theatre shows for people with profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD), usually rely on making often inaccessible theatre spaces accessible for their audiences
Summary
Rhiannon White, one of two artistic directors of Common Wealth Theatre, draws our attention to what theatre could become after the global pandemic. As well as prompting people to reflect critically on the present situation, it aims to encourage them to take action to change it” (1980, 152) Kershaw remembers his own tour of alternative theatre in the 1970s and early 1980s and writes how some of those companies “[...] were mounting a radical critique of particular social and political policies. When Gooch first acknowledged the polarisation between the alternative and the mainstream in the 1980s, theatre had gone through a radical transformation and many artists had found new styles and venues in which to perform their work The opposition he talks about is rooted in a major political shift and the post-pandemic world of theatre will most likely present a similar movement, or a change in perspective. This enforced adjustment, I propose, is an important one for the landscape of theatre, it offers makers and audience the chance to reconsider the stories that are told, how they are told, and who they are told to
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