Re-imagining political theatre for the twenty-first century

Abstract

One of key struggles of the globalised twenty-first century is against the disempowerment of the individual imagination. I believe that the challenge for the political theatre director is to stimulate and disturb the imagination of audiences in order to re-awaken critical thought. In so doing, audiences can picture what has been untold or become unimaginable, and thus, be prompted to action.

By directing a theatrical production of War Crimes by Angela Betzien, I attempted to re-envision Brechtian techniques by fusing them with popular cultural forms in order to challenge and reawaken the imagination of audiences. In turn, I also attempted to subvert common assumptions about the form and content of contemporary political theatre.

The accompanying exegesis provides an analysis of my creative practice and my thinking on the currency and relevance of political theatre, particularly for young audiences. I contextualize my practical work through an interrogation of the techniques I applied in my production of War Crimes in order to consolidate and affirm the role of political theatre in the twenty-first century.