We want more Theatre that commits to contributing to social change and global justice and dismantling all elements of the kyriarchy. Theatre gives us opportunities to have conversations with each other that are centred around creativity, imagination and human experience. We believe we do not have to be limited by what we have been told Theatre is or has been. We can create our own terms and definitions that support our ambitions and beliefs. We know what we want to achieve and see in the world. We are socialist/anti-racist/anti-imperialist/feminist/abolitionist/class-conscious/and want trans rights now!
Our Manifesto
To hold utopia in our minds at all times
To always work with and toward liberatory practices.
To dismantle systems of oppression and imagine and create alternative realities to them.
To enshrine workers rights and equity into all areas of our practice.
To support and enhance the democratisation of art.
To push beyond the most progressive industry practices and create conditions for art and work that continually prove themselves as radical.
To question all assumed aspects of theatre, including but not limited to: audience, form, participants, outcomes, topics, hierarchies and roles.
To commit to authorship of work being entirely decided by those who have created and/or share it, as and when it is created and/or shared.
To create clear opportunities for collaborators and audiences to feedback about process and practice and to implement appropriate recommendations.
To be transparent about all aspects of the work, from financial to creative, and find opportunities for public access to the process.
To create work that is accessible to all.
To have clear accountability processes for all workers and artists, that are well communicated to all those involved.
To create relationships with other artists/venues/organisations that further the aims of this manifesto.
To take work outside of theatrical institutions and outside of london.
To build a practice of sharing work that becomes a conversation with participants and audiences rather than a distanced presentation.
To be committed to education, both of ourselves and others, in creative/practical/political spheres.
To create work on a long-term basis, which has the ability to grow and change.
To hold ourselves and other collaborators to the highest account when it comes to green commitments, to use recycled and reused material wherever possible (including set and props).
GREEN COMMITMENTS
Our policies for how we work; the venues we choose to work with; the materials we use to work; and the relationships we create with the artists we collaborate with.
Use trains and public transport wherever possible, if not possible, cars must be shared.
No planes, we can support others in producing and sharing work and ideas over mediums like zoom.
If artists are making their own way, provide transport plans and routes so they can also align with these commitments.
Prioritise collaborating with venues and companies which have proven track records of effectively and radically reducing their climate impact.
No single use plastic, other single use packaging should be compostable.
Ask all artists to bring reusable items (water bottles, coffee cups etc.), and use these ourselves.
If providing catering/snacks etc. prioritise plant-based food items/meals and exclude red meat.
Source second hand sets/props/costumes as much as possible, build and plans around these accordingly so they are an integral part of the process.
All productions and artistic endeavours will be assessed for their climate impact and shared publicly.
Make sure there are adequate recycling facilities onsite.
Assess outdoor productions and endeavours for their biodiversity impact, create a plan to mitigate this.
The Climate Crisis is the biggest and most urgent issue of our time. We acknowledge and remind ourselves of the links between the Climate Crisis and Capitalism, Imperialism and Colonialism. We know that organisations must be held accountable and that it is not a solution to put the onus on individual’s in/actions or make unfounded statements about population theory/development in the Global South for a problem the Global North and Capitalists have created. We want to build a company that takes its role in the Crisis seriously and collectively, to constantly push ourselves and those we work with for better processes and outcomes so we can mitigate our Climate impact. We plan to continually assess and adapt our policies as we discover which are best, and hope to work with other companies to work through these problems together. Most of these promises are not new, and have been created and trialled by other’s before us (in particular EquityGND and Company Three), which we thank them for.