'We need to dispel the apathy'

A new book on how to make political theatre is a reminder that we do all have a voice and the means to use it – and that doing so creates real change, writes Jenny White

- Jenny White

> L-R: Rhiannon White, co-founder and co-artistic director of Common/Wealth; Jenny Hughes, Professor of Drama at University of Manchester (and formerly a trustee of Common/Wealth) and Evie Manning, co-founder and co-artistic director of Common/Wealth

RIDING high on the triumph of their latest production, political theatre company Common/Wealth has released a book on how to make political theatre.

Inspired by a perceived lack of political theatre in the UK and informed by almost two decades of work in that sphere, the book, titled Do It Yourself Political Theatre, is an inspiring, plain English, practical guide to creating work that makes change.

With sections covering everything from building a movement and choosing a site to practical production advice (including transforming a space, interviewing people, writing, funding, touring), the book is comprehensive in its scope and demystifies the process of making theatre to ensure this powerful means of igniting change is achievable for all.

It also includes accounts of some of Common/ Wealth’s productions. These include Our Glass House (2012), a site-specific performance staged in an empty house exploring domestic violence; and The Deal Versus the People (2015), which explored an international trade deal that, had it come to fruition, would have given corporations more power than elected governments.

Other profiled works are I Have Met the Enemy (2019) billed as “part techno party, part investigation, part call to action”, which invited audiences to take a close look at the UK defence industry and the role it plays in military conflict and occupation around the world; Peaceophobia (2020), a response to global and local Islamophobia, based around car-meets and staged in multistorey car parks; and Off The Curriculum (2023), an immersive installation exploring subjects not taught in school.