\u2018On Politics\u2019 is concerned dramaturgically and existentially with relations of power in all spheres of life. We propose that life itself and all forms of economic, environmental, social and cultural production are inherently political. To say otherwise is, as Bertolt Brecht noted, to merely align oneself with the ruling group. Dramaturgically, the forms and actions of performance themselves communicate, critique and express the desire for conversations with a range of interlocutors, antagonists, audiences and others. This issue is informed by our current context of rapid and continuous transformations in environmental, technological and social life — transformations that pose both existential and practical challenges for theatre and performance. The essays in this issue respond to this proposition through three distinct, yet interrelated themes:\u00a0Diagnosis, Activism\u00a0and\u00a0Futures.<\/p>\n
Contents:<\/p>\n
On Politics<\/strong> Theatricalizing Protest\u2009: The chorus of the commons<\/strong> Our Town\u2009: Local politics, community theatre and power<\/strong> Theatre of the Real with Resettled Refugees\u2009: Old problems and new solutions in The Baulkham Hills African Ladies Troupe<\/strong> Compost and Air-conditioning\u2009: Beyond biospherical performance and towards the shimmer<\/strong> Bombshells and Balaclavas\u2009: Ironies of inclusion in the work of young Islamic artists in Australia<\/strong> The Politics of (In)Decision\u2009: A hauntological reading of Dickie Beau\u2019s Re-Member Me<\/strong> Slow Listening\u2009: The ethics and politics of paying attention, or shut up and listen<\/strong> Politics Populism Performance<\/strong> Shipwreck, Without Label<\/strong> From Despair to Friendship\u2009: Michiel Vandevelde\u2019s Paradise Now (1986\u20132018)<\/strong> Anthroposcenic Performance and the Need For \u2018Deep Dramaturgy\u2019<\/strong> Inside the Fishtrap\u2009: A conversation with Paloma McGregor on the intersection of art and activism<\/strong> Masculinity after #MeToo in Mainstream Theatre\u2009: Watching Miller, rehearsing Kane, reading Rush v Nationwide News Pty Ltd<\/strong> Slow Making in Five Short Blasts<\/strong> Problems of Stasis in My Country\u2009: The National Theatre and the crisis of general enculturation in post-referendum Britain<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n
\nHelena Grehan, Peter Eckersall<\/p>\n
\nAndy Lavender<\/p>\n
\nAsher Warren<\/p>\n
\nCaroline Wake<\/p>\n
\nEddie Paterson<\/p>\n
\nEdward Scheer<\/p>\n
\nGlenn D’Cruz<\/p>\n
\nHelena Grehan<\/p>\n
\nJanelle Reinelt<\/p>\n
\nJosephine Wilson<\/p>\n
\nKristof Van Baarle<\/p>\n
\nLara Stevens<\/p>\n
\nNina Angela Mercer<\/p>\n
\nElo\u00efse Mignon, Paul Rae<\/p>\n
\nRen\u00e9e Newman<\/p>\n
\nTony Fisher<\/p>\n