It's a beautiful thing, the destruction of wor(l)ds

The concept of ‘occupying’ in resistance movements is performative, embodied and affective. It involves ideas and feelings, sounds, smells and words. Thus, this presentation format is that of a dialogue/ performance of collected stories of protesters from Athens and political prisoners. The presenters attempt to resist discursive borders of social science and the arts by occupying both. The stories evoke the urban remapping of a politically charged multitude (in squares and streets) alongside narratives of personal resistance from within institutions (prisons). The common element is a view of resistance as embodied, and with an aim to radically transform the spaces of domination and oppression perceived to be limiting the human rights of the subjects. The data evoke effects/affects of resistance by recalling images (photographs); interview testimonies and narratives of resisting bodies

Staging women in prisons: Clean Break Theatre Company’s dramaturgy of the cage

The article explores the limitations of the dramaturgies of the cell through a close reading of several key play texts commissioned by the UK’s leading arts in criminal justice organisation working with women, Clean Break. The apparently humanist positioning of women in prison as just like everyone else erases the specificity of women’s backstories. Conversely, by adhering to the constructions of female prisoners as holding binary positions of either ‘monsters’ or ‘victims’ of the system, plays can re-inscribe morally unitary approaches to women’s deviance and resistance. Many plays about women in prison hold a claim for resisting stereotypes and are in opposition to the injustice of criminal justice processes, and yet, in the realist mode, the monster/ victim position seems to be an inescapable binary

Awaiting justice in South African prisons: performing human rights in a state of exception

The paper analyses the state of exception experienced by awaiting trial detainees in South Africa; and then makes the case for ambitious arts models to be staged as a means of challenging the abuses of human rights

Breaking frames: Mark Storor's "For the best"- a case study about an artist in residence

The article analyses For the Best, referring to a research and development phase with chronically ill patients at both Evelina Children's Hospital and the Royal Liverpool Hospitals and professional performances at the Unicorn Theatre and Gostin's Building. the case study makes an argument for the careful nurturing of multiple partnerships, and draws on the findings of the external evaluation of the project. As such, it offers a specific overview of a performance emerging through a residential model, drawing out good practice that was identified by clinicians, partners and academics at symposia organised to coincide with the events. Such a model could be of value to other practitioners seeking to generate partnerships within health settings. However, the value of the residency itself is returned to as being of primary importance in the project model. The article goes alongside an external evaluation I had conducted for the project, which reached over 120 school children, 45 patients in hospitals, and staff

Theatre & Globalization, and: Theatre & Interculturalism, and: Theatre & Prison

The review looks at three books in the 'Theatre&' series by Palgrave

Performing prisons, performing punishment: the banality of the cell in contemporary theatre

The article analyses contemporary examples of how prisons are performed

Forum Theatre as a mechanism to explore representation of local people's values in environmental governance: A case of study from Chiapas, Mexico

Abstract Nature degradation, poverty and social discrimination are some of the consequences of unfair decision‐making over environmental resources within rural communities in the Global South. Barriers to achieving fair environmental decisions are entrenched power differences and the lack of representation of the diversity of local values in environmental decision‐making. Using intersectionality and value pluralism as a conceptual base, this is the first paper to examine the potential of Forum Theatre, a performance arts‐based method, to discuss ‘solutions’ regarding power differences and values towards nature in environmental decision‐making. We implemented Forum Theatre in two rural villages in Chiapas, Mexico, framed around conflicts and power differences in eco‐tourism development. Participants felt empathy with the Forum Theatre characters and dissatisfaction over the conflicts, and this motivated them to engage and participate in collective reflections on their own personal experiences with power differences in environmental decision‐making. From these reflections, participants performed diverse ‘solutions’ to the conflicts, bringing to the fore plural interconnected and dynamic values towards nature in these narratives. Despite this, Forum Theatre does not look to ‘solve’ conflicts; it is a safe space to explore how power differences and values towards nature play out in environmental decision‐making. Results offer a promising picture of the potential of Forum Theatre as an opening where participants could discuss power differences and values towards nature. However, establishing its potential as a tool in environmental decision‐making would require engaging those involved in implementing environmental decisions that affect the communities but who operate from other levels of the governance structure, such as policy‐makers and large NGOs. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog