Resistance Breeds Revolution: A Study of Refusing the Invitation in Participatory Theatre

Abstract

To join in a participatory theatre experience, the audience needs to accept the invitation to cross the fourth-wall and become a player (White). But what happens when aspects of our participation are unethical, or add odds with our political or social values? How do artists prepare for a participant who is resistant to engagement? This essay will explore the concept of the invitation, the possibility that lies in saying “yes”, and the power that exists in refusing the offering. I consider a variety of different modes of saying no, differentiating the social and political meaning and impact of ‘refusal,’ ‘opting out,’ ‘going rogue,’ ‘being a killjoy,’ ‘non-participation,’ or simply an inability to participate. Accustomed to decades of proscenium theatre experiences, being a good audience has become synonymous with receiving performances in silence, at a static distance, and with applause (Heddon, Iball, and Zerihan). We are trained to suppress our questions and concerns to refrain from challenging the methods or intentions of the artists in front of us. I dissect various personas of refusal who reflect a show’s dramaturgical flaws, accessibility issues, unethical content, faulty or lack of clear invitations, or uninteresting material. But saying “no” is challenging, and I will investigate the tyranny of the invitation and the infrequency of refusal, highlighting the generative nature of resistance. This paper will consider the example of Jordan Tannahill’s mixed reality piece, Draw Me Close, which invites participants into an animated virtual reality space that requires participation, and it unpacks how unexpected acts of refusal are accounted for and dealt with by artists.