Theatre and Politics

La nouvelle création de Seppe Baeyens, Invited, réunit dans une salle différentes générations prises dans un mouvement traversant les frontières : celles du vide qui nous séparent autant dans nos vies que sur la scène, celle des âges nous éloignant peut-être également. Par la danse, par ce langage muet et cet assemblement d'énergies, un phénomène de groupe en fusion émerge, prêt à soulever nos chapes de plomb et à nous soulever.

https://www.revuepolitique.be/seppe-baeyens-invited-lamitie-politique/

This study aims at exploring the significance of Post-Neoliberalism in Anders Lustgarten’s If You Don't Let Us Dream We Won't Let You Sleep (2013). Acknowledging that any literary production cannot be examined without considering a bigger and more complex social structure, the study attempts to find out about the dialectical relationship between Lustgarten’s play and the society in which the characters live. Post-Neoliberalism is a relational perspective on governance that emerged after the 2008 global financial crisis. Post-Neoliberalism is also a concept given to a period on which a global climate crisis affected the whole world and vital resources were crudely consumed. Most importantly, the Post-Neoliberal era has been built on serious political disappointments fuelled by neoliberal policies. In the play set in a dystopian UK, the business representatives decide that the financially burdensome culture of addiction must be eliminated. For this purpose, the state invents “Unity Bonds”, a tool that will generate returns if the number of people committing crimes to the investor or taking drug treatment drops to a certain level. Thus, the state wants to shift the cost of social repair to the private sector.  The play takes place in a dystopian universe in which ‘the market determines everything approach’, the basic principle of neoliberalism, dominates every area of society, and the basic rights of citizens such as health, education and housing are commodified. Using close reading method, this study deals with the analysis of the interactive arrangements between the play and its socio-political context. The impetus behind this study is to investigate the ways in which Anders Lustgarten critiques the Post-Neoliberal era which destroys the foundational values of the western society and the social consensus lying in its base by deepening the economic and social injustices.
Key Words: Anders Lustgarten, Post-Neoliberalism, Free Market Capitalism, Neoliberalism, Post-Globalisation, Contemporary British Theatre

Η σκηνογραφία, ως εφαρμοσμένη τέχνη, είναι το αποτέλεσμα μίας συνάρτησης ανάμεσα σε τρεις παράγοντες: τον σχεδιασμό του καλλιτέχνη σκηνογράφου, το οικονομικό μερίδιο που της αναλογεί από τον προϋπολογισμό της παραγωγής και φυσικά τη σκηνή που θα τη δεξιωθεί. Το χρήμα και ο χώρος επηρεάζουν και άλλες φορές καθορίζουν το αισθητικό αποτέλεσμα. Επίσης, δίνουν το πλαίσιο μέσα στο οποίο οφείλει να κινηθεί η δημιουργία του καλλιτέχνη-σκηνογράφου. Γι' αυτό, η παρούσα εργασία επιχειρεί να εξετάσει τη σχέση της νεοελληνικής σκηνογραφίας με τους χώρους που τελικά τη δεξιώθηκαν, με αφορμή την επαναλειτουργία της κεντρικής σκηνής του Εθνικού Θεάτρου στο κτήριο Τσίλερ επί της οδού Αγίου Κωνσταντίνου στην Αθήνα. Ως απώτερος στόχος τίθεται η απάντηση στο ερώτημα αν υπάρχει ένας εθνικός χώρος για τη νεοελληνική σκηνογραφία, δηλαδή ένας χώρος που προωθεί και αναδεικνύει την εργασία των Ελλήνων σκηνογράφων και αν ναι, ποιος είναι αυτός.

On the occasion of the 2017 National Arts Month in the Philippines, José Estrella directed Faust, a contemporary Philippine adaptation written by Rody Vera. This chapter looks at Faust as an allegory of the current Philippine political landscape. Specifically, it traces how the journey of Faust in search of the most ideal and perfect knowledge parallels the contemporary political affairs in the Philippines. The chapter reads the characters of Faust, Mephistopheles/Mephisto, Gretchen and the mangkukulam (witch) as relatable figures to Filipino audience, especially since they are presented as reminders that in an era of what many have identified as post-truth, someone will always emerge to tell the real story.

Στη μελέτη αυτή αναλύουμε την πολιτική διάσταση του θεάτρου του σύγχρονου Αργεντινού συγγραφέα και σκηνοθέτη Rodrigo Garcia. Πιο συγκεκριμένα αναφερόμαστε στον ανατρεπτικό και προκλητικό τρόπο της σκηνοθεσίας του Garcia, που εκφράζεται μέσω του θεάτρου, του χορού και των πλαστικών τεχνών. Η μελέτη κινείται γύρω από το πως ο Ισπανός σκηνοθέτης μπορεί να προσεγγίσει την επικαιρότητα στο θέατρο, τη στιγμή, που η τηλεόραση και τα υπόλοιπα μέσα μαζικής επικοινωνίας έχουν επιδοθεί στη συνεχή προβολή και δραματοποίηση των οικονομικών, πολιτικών και κοινωνικών γεγονότων. Πώς μπορεί λοιπόν σήμερα το θέατρο να ανταποκριθεί σε αυτόν τον ανελέητο ανταγωνισμό και πώς θα κατορθώσει να αφυπνίσει το ενδιαφέρον του θεατή;

n the ‘80s, satirical student groups, the so-called artistic “brigades”, were one of the most dynamic subversive artistic phenomena against the communist system. This paper aims to shine a light on the dimension of this phenomenon, to find explanations for the apparently privileged status enjoyed by such groups, as well as to clarify the reasons why theatre critics of the time so stubbornly ignored them.

«Τι είναι η πατρίδα μας;»
Χρειαζόταν να περάσουν περίπου 80 χρόνια από την ίδρυση του Εθνικού Θεάτρου για να μπορέσει αυτό το ερώτημα να τεθεί όχι ως δεδομένο αλλά ως ζητούμενο.  Αντιστρέφοντας τους όρους, θα μπορούσε να αναρωτηθεί κανείς ποιας Ελλάδας εθνικό είναι το Εθνικό Θέατρο; Και τελικά τι πρέπει να κάνει ένα εθνικό θέατρο για να είναι εθνικό; Ποια εικόνα της χώρας προβάλλεται στη σκηνή του θεάτρου και ποιοι όροι συνεργασίας, συμβιβασμού και (αυτό)λογοκρισίας επιβάλλονται κατά τη δημιουργία της εικόνας αυτής;
Μέσα από αυτό το πρίσμα εξετάζονται εδώ δύο παραστάσεις (Εβδόμη Μέρα της Δημιουργίας (1956) και Χριστός Πάσχων (1964)) και γίνεται μία προσπάθεια να προσδιοριστεί ο «κανόνας»  της τελευταίας μεταπολεμικής δεκαετίας: εποχής ιδιαίτερα ενδιαφέρουσας ως προς τα θέματα των δημοκρατικών ελευθεριών, ως προς τη διαμόρφωση και τη δημόσια έκφραση της εθνικής ταυτότητας αλλά και εποχής κατά την οποία ο κρατικός θεσμός ανέκτησε το κύρος του και καθιερώθηκε ως ένας από τους πρωταγωνιστές των θεατρικών εξελίξεων.
Which Greece does the National Theatre belong to? What does a theatre have to do to become national? What is the image of the country projected on the theatre's stage and what are the conditions of collaboration, compromise and (self)censorship, behind this image?
This is the perspective from which two productions are examined (Evdomi Mera tis DImiourgias, 1956 and Christos Paschon, 1964) while there is an attempt to determine what the "canon" of that last after war and pre dictatorship period was.

In this essay, we explore what is at stake for Kurdish theatre artists who develop their theatre praxis in a permanent state of emergency imposed by the Turkish government, and why it matters to act, both in the general sense and in the theatrical one, in a language that is neither the accepted one of the nation nor of the majority culture. This essay discusses interviews with five prominent Kurdish theatre artists, some based in Turkey and others currently in exile in Europe. The respondents included costume designer Ismail Oyur Tezcanli (based in Turkey), playwright Yusuf Unay (in Turkey), actor and director Mîrza Metin (currently in Germany), instructor and director Rezan Aksoy (in Germany), and director Celil Toksöz (in the Netherlands, though not in exile).

Da C. Vicentini, La teoria del teatro politico (Firenze, Sansoni), pp. 125-162.
Sommario: 1 La nozione del teatro di guerriglia. 2 Teatro sperimentale e  teatro politico. 3 La nuova sinistra e il teatro di guerriglia. 4 Teatro di guerriglia e azione diretta. 5 Lotta rivoluzionaria e spettacolo teatrale. 6 Il modello del teatro di guerriglia.

Resumen: Este artículo se propone un análisis crítico sobre los diversos modos en los que la práctica del teatro comunitario argentino (1983-) se relaciona con los procesos de recuperación de la memoria y cómo esto impacta en la re-lectura de la historia y en la reconfiguración de los espacios y su significado, lo que hace de este movimiento de teatro comunitario una expresión fuertemente política. Abstract This article proposes a critical analysis itself on the diverse manners in which the practice of the community Argentine theatre (1983-) relates to the processes of recovery of the memory and how this affects the re-reading of the history and the reconfiguration of the spaces and his meaning, which does of this movement of community theatre a strongly political expression.

’Nothing is less reliable, nothing is less clear today than the word “archive”,’ observed Jacques Derrida in his book Archive Fever: a Freudian Impression (1996). This paper reflects on the unsettling process of establishing (or commencing) an archive for the Melbourne Workers Theatre, to form part of the AusStage digital archive which records information on live performance in Australia. Glenn D'Cruz's paper juxtaposes two disparate but connected registers of writing: an open letter to a deceased Australian playwright, Vicki Reynolds, and a critical reflection on the politics of the archive with reference to Derrida's account of archive fever, which he characterizes as an ‘irrepressible desire to return to the origin, a homesickness, a nostalgia for the return to the most archaic place of absolute commencement’. Using Derrida's commentary on questions of memory, authority, inscription, hauntology, and heritage to identify some of the philosophical and ethical aporias he encountered while working on the project, D’Cruz pays particular attention to what Derrida calls the spectral structure of the archive, and stages a conversation with the ghosts that haunt the digitized Melbourne Workers Theatre documents. He also unpacks the logic of Derrida's so-called messianic account of the archive, which ‘opens out of the future’, thereby affirming the future-to-come, and unsettling the normative notion of the archive as a repository for what has passed. Glenn D’Cruz teaches at Deakin University, Australia. He is the author of Midnight's Orphans: Anglo-Indians in Post/Colonial Literature (Peter Lang, 2006) and editor of Class Act: Melbourne Workers Theatre 1987–2007 (Vulgar Press, 2007).

This chapter interrogates the political dimensions of two contemporary adaptations of canonical Ibsen plays: Simon Stone's production of The Wild Duck (Belvoir Street, Sydney, 2012) and Thomas Ostermeier's An Enemy of the People (a work produced by Berlin's Schaubühne that premiered at the Avignon festival in July 2012 and subsequently toured internationally). It also unpacks the ethical and political conundrums generated by these works with reference to Giorgio Agamben's concepts of the " coming community " and " whatever singularity, " which develop new ways of thinking about the individual and community that are not predicated on conventional philosophical categories of being and belonging.

Resumen: Este ensayo se propone mirar el escenario teatral "culto" del teatro independiente y el escenario del teatro comunitario argentino en su articulación con la crisis/rebelión del 2001. Mientras el primero exhibe la desintegración y devaluación social del momento, en el teatro comunitario aparece más bien la recomposición de los lazos sociales y la resistencia política tanto desde su organización como en algunas de sus escenas. Con teatralidades muy distintas, las dos escenas son respuestas al momento histórico-político. El primero se limita a exponer el problema, el segundo busca el mantenimiento de la vida y de la resistencia en comunidad. El ensayo propone que la diferencia se podría deber a que el escenario "culto" se aferra a la filosofía posmoderna en boga y a sus tesis devaluadoras del lenguaje, la narración y el futuro de la historia.

This article discusses the ways in which the physical environment of urban centers in the European South has in the recent years borne witness to the multiple facets of crisis (social-political, financial and cultural) that has defined the second decade of the 21st century. In Greece, the epicentre of Europe’s contemporary predicaments, Athens has become the locus of vibrant, diverse theatre activity –both local and international—that seems to respond to crisis from within. While the crisis-ridden landscape of unemployment, homelessness, refugee mobility and despair provides a natural background for a variety of cultural activities, the theatre goes out in the streets and the poorer parts of the city to meet the problem, if not to rigorously confront it. Further south, in Cyprus, traditionally associated with a history of political and territorial struggle, the divided capital of Nicosia, is delivering its own borders to theatrical activity, palpably illustrating the interconnectedness between conflict and culture

Revue électronique fondée en 2016 et dédiée aux arts de la scène.

URL : https://www.thaetre.com

La revue a publié huit numéros depuis sa création :

- Scènes du néomanagement (coord. Bérénice Hamidi-Kim et Armelle Talbot, 2016) avec les contributions de L’Amicale de production, L’Avantage du doute, Alexandra Badea, Emmanuel Béhague, Pauline Bouchet, Thibaud Croisy, Marie-Anne Dujarier, Bérénice Hamidi-Kim, Stéphane Hervé, Lumière d’août, Jean-Charles Massera, Philippe Malone, Bruno Meyssat, Anne Monfort, Gwenaël Morin, Magali Mougel, Luca Paltrinieri, Pôle Nord, Julien Prévieux, Falk Richter, Armelle Talbot, Cyril Teste  et Vincent Thomasset

https://www.thaetre.com/2016/01/29/scenes-du-neomanagement-sommaire/

- La Révolution selon Pommerat (coord. Frédérique Aït-Touati, Bérénice Hamidi-Kim, Tiphaine Karsenti et Armelle Talbot, 2017) avec les contributions de Frédérique Aït-Touati, Irène Bonnaud, Patrick Boucheron, Marion Boudier, Éric Feldman, Bérénice Hamidi-Kim, Tiphaine Karsenti, Florence Lotterie, Sophie Lucet, Guillaume Mazeau, Olivier Ritz, Armelle Talbot et Sophie Wahnich

https://www.thaetre.com/2017/03/23/la-revolution-selon-pommerat-avant-propos/

- Théâtre et recherche. Histoire et expérimentations (coord. Géraldine Prévost et Quentin Rioual, 2018) avec les contributions de Claire Besuelle, Marcus Borja, Juliette Cleuziou, Catherine Courtet, Cristina De Simone, Quentin Fondu, Jean-Michel Frodon, Gabrielle Girot, Martin Givors, Keti Irubetagoyena, Mireille Losco-Léna, Marie-Madeleine Mervant-Roux, Catherine Naugrette, Frédérice Plazy, Géraldine Prévost, Donato Ricci, Quentin Rioual, Jean-Loup Rivière, Adeline Rosenstein, Klaas Tindemans, Victor Thimonier et Aude Thuries

https://www.thaetre.com/2018/06/16/theatre-et-recherche-sommaire/

- Climats du théâtre au temps des catastrophes. Penser et décentrer l’antropo-scène (coord. Frédérique Aït-Touati et Bérénice Hamidi-Kim, 2019), avec les contributions de Frédérique Aït-Touati, Éliane Beaufis, Cyril Casmèze, Una Chaudhuri, Soma Chiaki, Michaël Cros, Patrick De Vos, Clément Dumas, Charlotte Durand, Lisiane Durand, Jade Duviquet, Duncan Evenou, Frédéric Ferrer, Émilie Flacher, Flore Garcin-Marrou, Iwaki Kyoko, Clémence Hallé, Bérénice Hamidi-Kim, Bruno Latour, Carl Lavery, Sirine Majdi-Vichot, Margaux Le Mignan, Emma Merabet, Brunot Meyssat, Philippe Quesne, Corentin Rostollan-Sinet, Benoît Sicat, Anne Simon, Pol Tronco et Aline Wiame

https://www.thaetre.com/2019/07/05/sommaire/

- Machin la Hernie : théâtre monstre (coord. Julie Peghini et Jean-Christophe Goddard, 2020), avec les contributions de Jean-Paul Delore, Alice Desquilbet, Jean-Christophe Goddard, Xavier Garnier, Annie Le Brun, Nicolas Martin-Granel, Dieudonné Niangouna, Julie Peghini, Joseph Tonda et Patrice Yengo

https://www.thaetre.com/2020/12/08/machin-la-hernie-sommaire/

- Baroque is burning ! (coord. Pénélope Dechaufour et Marine Roussillon, 2022), avec les contributions de Rémi Astruc, Christian Biet, Sylvie Chalaye, Manuel Charpy, Léonor Delaunay, Bintou Dembélé, Pénélope Dechaufour,  Pablo Grand-Mourcel, Cal Hunt, Madison Mainwaring, Noémie Ndiaye, Robyn Orlin, Hugo Réauté, Marine Roussillon, Feroz Sahoulamide et Maboula Soumahoro

https://www.thaetre.com/2022/01/07/baroque-is-burning-sommaire/

- Document-matériau (coord. Marion Boudier et Chloé Déchery, 2022), avec les contributions de Frédérique Aït-Touati, Loup Balthazar, Nicolas Bouchaud, Marion Boudier, Charlotte Bouteille, Tom Cantrell, Romain David, Chloé Déchery, Aurore Després, Duncan Evennou, Tomas Gonzalez, Patrick Laffont de Lojo, Emmanuelle Lafon, Camille Louis, Ross Louis, Éric Méchoulan, Anne Pellois et Nicolas Rollet

https://www.thaetre.com/2022/11/08/document-materiau-sommaire/

- Dispositifs sonores. À l’écoute des scènes contemporaines (Marion Chénetier-Alev, Noémie Fargier et Élodie Hervier, 2024), avec les contributions d’Alice Barbaza, Éliane Beaufils, Marion Boudier, Marion Chénetier-Alev, David Christoffel, Andrea Cohen, Anaïs de Courson, Nathalie Coutelet, Julien Daillère, Alexandre Doublet, Juliette Drigny, Noémie Fargier, Élodie Hervier, Sunga Kim, Séverine Leroy, Stéphane Marin, Juliette Meulle, Zoé Mary Pieto, Jade Préfontaine, Ivan Roussel, Sébastien Schmitz, Ioanna Solidaki et Karolina Svobodova

https://www.thaetre.com/2024/01/15/8-dispositifs-sonores-sommaire/

Glenn D'Cruz, ed., Class Act: Melbourne Workers Theatre 1987-2007 (Melbourne: The Vulgar Press, 2007) Class Act has been put together with care and concern for recording a particular history of the Melbourne Workers Theatre (MWT) over the last twenty years, through essays and interviews by theorists and artists who have been involved during this period. Following the lineage of MWT, the editor collects the multiple viewpoints of political theatre to consider 'What and how is political theatre now?' MWT was initiated when its founding members - Andrew Bovell, Irene Vela, Russell Walsh, John Romeril, Linda Sproul, Patricia Cornelius, Steve Payne, Michael White and Wayne Parker - set up in a pre-fab shed in the Jolimont Train Maintenance Depot where they interviewed, collected stories and held workshops. Initially named The Gravediggers - from 'the gravediggers of Capital' in Marx's The Communist Manifesto - the group made new theatre, to be produced in twelve w...

This essay explores the relationship between the artist the authoritarian state by introducing the concept of "art and counter-art". While art is simply defined as the artist's 'power of performance', in the words of Ngugi wa Thiong'o, counter-art is defined as the state's 'performance of power'.

Key words: History and era, Resistance - Perspective, Power of Adaptations, Civil War, Collectivism
and Individualism.
The power of An Enemy of the people in the Iraqi and Kurdish Theatre a cross history.
An Enemy of the People was set up five times by four directors between 1956 and 2007 in Iraq and
Kurdistan. The first two performances by the same Director, took place in Baghdad in the years 1956
and later a greatly expanded version in 1967. Later, the Piece was played three times in Kurdistan in
Sulaimani city, in the years 1986, 1995 and 2007.
My presentation starts with explaining why An Enemy of the People has been perceived as the most
important of Ibsen's work to play at Iraqi / Kurdish theatre.
In order to analyse these five productions, I take Iraq's political history as my point of departure. The
analysis is based on a series of interviews I have done with the directors of these productions and on
literature Source. This data is analysed in a political and social perspective.
In my study, I find that the productions were presented without major changes in relation to Ibsen's
text, but shortened and with different emphasis in each case.
The main emphasis is on what period, which context, and what kind of political and social
positioning comes up each time the text was played. This greatly affected content and reception.
The presentation describes the theatrical productions separately, emphasising the perspective and
discussing the importance of the play in the periods in question and in the current context from Iraq
and Kurdistan.
The conclusion is that the work of individualistic, rational Ibsen can function well in a collectivist,
romantic-embossed system if only one has put the work into a suitable conceptual appropriate
adaptation.

Born out of the movement which sought to rethink the role of the actor and give her the possibility to take a greater part in the actual conceptualization of a show, the Theatre du Soleil is still, twenty years later, considered a model company. Its experimental collective improvisations, which consolidated into the two popular productions 1789 and 1793 (produced from 1970 to 1973), gave it its national as well as international recognition. Ideologically close to the Brechtian epic and political theatre, its democratic organisation makes it a very cohesive and clear-minded community and explains both its internal strength and its mythical status on the competitive French theatre scene.
Recognition was not easy for Ariane Mnouchkine1 the administrative head and director of the company. The movement of May '68 allowed for her militant theatrical vision which found concrete form in the flattened pyramidal power structure and the anti-star approach ofthe company. In 197I , the Theatre du Soleil found an unwanted space, an old ammunition depot on the outskirts of Paris; a marginal space they were to make their own.
The very transformation of the "playing area" of the now famed Cartoucherie de Vincennes was, and still is, the primary source for the democratic distribution of the chantiers (tasks) - the building, everlasting maintenance, and renovations of the work place - in which even the actors have to partake. These chantiers, allotted once a week to everyone, have acquired the symbolic dimension of a ritual initiatory phase for the trainee actors; as freshmen, they are shown the trade bf the company craftsmen (masons, tilers, plasterers, electricians). What constitutes an exchange of knowledge manages to bring about a mutual respect and a "family feeling" of which most of the company members speak in warm praise. As an integral part of Mnouchkine's theatrical ethics, the entire redesigning L'Indiade  of the reception hall and of the playhouse differentiates each production and creates a new welcome to the audience for each new play. For" L'Indiade ou L'inde de leurs rêves" by Helene Cixous, small carts and various food stands with Indian specialties were scattered in the large reception space. The carefully prepared food with its spicy fragrance, and the smile of Cixous herself at the bookstand will be linked to the Theatrical by Haridasi, the beggar who shakes hands and addresses the spectators in broken English as they sit down. The "Hindu Untouchables" are already absorbed in their "work" on the resplendent white marble stage, mute and intensively looking into our eyes. All these elements demonstrate an eagerness to please, a desire to give the spectators an overall experience encompassing all senses. The invitation into the Cartoucherie of Vincennes is that of a Being-well (in the ontological sense), in that state of infancy in which one lacks nothing. The spectator's desires have been read already; they seem to have been anticipated and satisfied in their immediacy. "People have chosen to pay, ... to disengage a moment of their lives to listen and see a story ... [they] expect to be provided for," says Mnouchkine. The all-satisfying mother figure of Ariane (now doubled with that of Helene) hovers...

El libro Teatro y estetica comunitaria , de Lola Proano Gomez, tiene la importante aportacion de vincular la perspectiva teatral y social, es decir, el conocimiento sobre el teatro comunitario desde los enfoques artisticos (estetica, poetica) y la percepcion aguda sobre este fenomeno contextualizado en el tiempo y localizado en la cartografia argentina.

This article seeks to stimulate a fresh and inter-disciplinary debate which revolves around the need to move from a ‘senseless democracy’ that is insufficiently attuned to the dilemmas and challenges of fostering meaningful political engagement to a more ‘sensory democracy’. It achieves this by first exploring and dissecting recent works within democratic theory that emphasise the role of ‘watching’ and ‘listening’ within sociopolitical relationships. It then goes on to develop a set of constructive criticisms by applying insights drawn from the fields of practical aesthetics and applied theatre. Not only does this exercise allow us to take the analytical lens far beyond the focus on voice-based forms of expression that have hitherto dominated political analysis, it demonstrates the value of inter-disciplinary scholarship in exposing sensory-subtleties that raise distinctive questions for both politics ‘as theory’ and politics ‘as practice’.

A la atención de Yolanda Díaz, Ministra de Trabajo
Estimada Ministra: Hace meses se instaló en mi barrio, y le hablo de Coia, en Vigo, una compañía de nuevo circo. Hace años que viene ha-ciéndolo con notable éxito de público, muy especialmente entre la gente más joven, a la que es habitual escuchar demandando a la madre, a la abuela, al padre, a la hermana mayor, o a quienquiera que sea que la lleva de la mano, una visita inmediata ...

This article seeks to stimulate a fresh and inter-disciplinary debate which revolves around the need to move from a ‘senseless democracy’ that is insufficiently attuned to the dilemmas and challenges of fostering meaningful political engagement to a more ‘sensory democracy’. It achieves this by first exploring and dissecting recent works within democratic theory that emphasise the role of ‘watching’ and ‘listening’ within sociopolitical relationships. It then goes on to develop a set of constructive criticisms by applying insights drawn from the fields of practical aesthetics and applied theatre. Not only does this exercise allow us to take the analytical lens far beyond the focus on voice-based forms of expression that have hitherto dominated political analysis, it demonstrates the value of inter-disciplinary scholarship in exposing sensory-subtleties that raise distinctive questions for both politics ‘as theory’ and politics ‘as practice’.

This article is concerned with the European public theatre system’s relationship with migration. Focusing on the Portuguese theatre landscape and especially Lisbon, the essay will map some of the major issues regarding theatre and migration today, identifying both systemic failures and structural and aesthetic shifts in the public theatres’ engagement with migrant communities. Contemporary performative approaches will be surveyed with a special emphasis on initiatives that go against crisis narratives and position migration as a structural component of society rather than a temporary challenge. The article proposes a shift from aesthesized theatre practices towards activist aesthetics, a politically responsive, participatory and durational practice that would not only introduce counter narratives on migration, but it would be instrumental in re-thinking our national cultural, literary and theatrical canons.