O Bando, Kneehigh, Foursight and Escola De Mulheres November 2011
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NEGOTIATING THE ALTERNATIVE IN A POSTMODERN THEATRE: O BANDO, KNEEHIGH, FOURSIGHT AND ESCOLA DE MULHERES A thesis submitted to The University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities 2011 VANESSA SILVA PEREIRA SCHOOL OF ARTS, HISTORIES AND CULTURES / Drama 2 Lists of Contents List of abbreviations 4 Abstract 5 Copyright Statement 6 Acknowledgements 7 I. Introduction 9 II. ‘They give birth astride of a grave’: narratives on the alternative 46 1. The British alternative theatre movement 46 2. The Portuguese independent theatre movement 60 3. Negotiating the alternative 80 III. ‘The future is history’: Context 89 1. o bando 90 2. Kneehigh 107 3. Foursight 122 4. Escola de mulheres 135 IV. ‘A room of one’s own’: Place 151 1. O bando 159 3 i. Nós Matámos o Cão Tinhoso! 165 2. Kneehigh 172 i. Blast! 183 3. Foursight 192 i. The Corner Shop 192 4. Escola de Mulheres 204 i. Sétimo Céu 216 V. ‘All together now ’: Community 223 1. O bando and the Portuguese language community 229 2. Kneehigh and the Cornish community 247 3. Foursight and the multiethnic Wolverhampton community 262 4. Escola de Mulheres, English language-based plays, and the Portuguse LGBT community 272 VI. Conclusion 288 Bibliography 302 WORD COUNT (including footnotes): 84,878 4 List of abbreviations ACE Arts Council England AGIT Associação de Grupos Independentes de Teatro (Portuguese Association of Independent Theatre Groups) EM Escola de Mulheres MFA Movimento das Forças Armadas (Armed Forces Movement) MTS Mobile Touring Structure PCP Partido Comunista Português (Communist Portuguese Party) PREC Processo Revolucionário em Curso (Ongoing Revotutionary Process) PSD Partido Social Democrata (Social Democrat Party) PS Partido Socialista (Socialist Party) TCS The Corner Shop 5 The University of Manchester Vanessa Silva Pereira PhD in Drama NEGOTIATING THE ALTERNATIVE IN A POSTMODERN THEATRE: O BANDO, KNEEHIGH, FOURSIGHT AND ESCOLA DE MULHERES NOVEMBER 2011 Abstract This thesis seeks to examine the nature of political theatre within the postmodern context. I distinguish between the historical alternative theatre and the paradoxical alternative theatre in my work. The historical alternative coincides with the alternative theatre movement developed in Britain between the late 1960s and late 1970s, while in Portugal this movement was mainly designated as independent theatre between 1974 and the 1980s. I start by analysing the narratives of birth and death of the historical alternative theatre movement in the British and Portuguese contexts from the establishment of the movement in the late 1960s to the present. I go on to propose that beyond the historical alternative and within a post-ideology framework, contemporary theatre may still engage with politics by exercising a localised and temporary paradoxical alternative. For my research I selected four long-running and state-funded theatre companies, o bando, Kneehigh, Foursight and Escola de Mulheres, chosen according to two of the categories prominent during the historical alternative movement, community theatre and women’s theatre. Through detailed analysis of productions of the four theatre companies, I assess the characteristics of a postmodern political oppositional theatre. My methodological approach covers the longitudinal context of the companies and productions by looking at past productions, funding statements, reviews, practitioners’ interviews, theatre programmes and the rehearsal, performance and reception stages of the theatrical process. I start by analysing each company’s history and their own mythologies of the alternative, before focusing on two of the central traits of the theatre developed during the historical alternative theatre movement, non-traditional spaces and non-traditional audiences. Each of the four companies has, out of necessity or choice, positioned itself outside of traditional theatre and entertainment circuits for some of its productions, negotiating symbolical and ideological independence side by side with large productions in repertory and/or commercial theatres. Each of the companies fosters, in addition, in their non-traditional places mechanisms that subvert circumstantially the hierarchical values imbued by neoliberal thought. The oppressed take centre-stage. Exposed to the vagaries of the weather, to exiguous or improvised audience spaces, expected to, forced by circumstances or incentivised to interact with fellow spectators and actors, audiences rediscover in the moment of the performance their shared humanity and form fleeting and secular communities of faith. 6 Declaration I declare that no portion of the work referred to in the thesis has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification of this or any other university or other institute of learning. Copyright Statement i. The author of this thesis (including any appendices and/or schedules to this thesis) owns certain copyright or related rights in it (the “Copyright”) and s/he has given The University of Manchester certain rights to use such Copyright, including for administrative purposes. ii. Copies of this thesis, either in full or in extracts and whether in hard or electronic copy, may be made only in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended) and regulations issued under it or, where appropriate, in accordance with licensing agreements which the University has from time to time. This page must form part of any such copies made. iii. The ownership of certain Copyright, patents, designs, trade marks and other intellectual property (the “Intellectual Property”) and any reproductions of copyright works in the thesis, for example graphs and tables (“Reproductions”), which may be described in this thesis, may not be owned by the author and may be owned by third parties. Such Intellectual Property and Reproductions cannot and must not be made available for use without the prior written permission of the owner(s) of the relevant intellectual Property and/or Reproductions. iv. Further information on the conditions under which disclosure, publication and commercialisation of this thesis, the Copyright and any Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions described in it may take place is available in the University IP Policy (see http:// www.campus.manchester.ac.uk/ medialibrary/ policies/intellectual- property.pdf), in any relevant Thesis restriction declarations deposited in the University Library, The University Library’s regulations (see http:// www.manchester.ac.uk/ library/aboutus/ regulations) and in The University’s policy on presentation of Theses. 7 Acknowledgements Viv Gardner was not just my main supervisor, she was the believer in impossible causes, she was hope and hopeful, ongoing inspiration and support. Without Viv’s unshakeable faith and constant good advice I would never have been able to start this journey let alone finish it. I feel privileged to have received the supervision of Professor Hilary Owen. I have benefitted greatly from her knowledge of the Portuguese context and culture and her insightful comments. This would have been a very different thesis without them. I am indebted to Professor Maria Helena Serôdio for her interest and time. Her feedback and biographical suggestions were invaluable to me and I am very grateful to her for introducing me to o bando. A deep thank you to my family and all of those old and recently acquired friends whose intellectual and/or emotional availability made it possible for me to start this work in the first place and/or to endure it up to the very end: David Pereira, Jennifer Pereira, Andrea Cardoso, Miguel Costa, Fiona Smith, Johannes Sjoberg, Zoi Zontou, Alexandra Rodrigues, Iris Bachmann , Rui Pina Coelho and Paul McAleer . A very special thanks to Figen Murray and to my mother, Maria de Belém, for always being available, and in particular, for being there for me when the temperature was dangerously close to reaching freezing point. To all of those who took the time to speak to me, opening the doors to the living and physical archives of o bando, Kneehigh, Foursight, and Escola de Mulheres; and, specially to those that trusted me enough to share with me for an extensive period of time their creative work in the preparation stages, I am deeply grateful to your generosity and good will: o bando (João Brites, Nuno Pino Custódio, Nuno Nunes, Rosinda Costa, Raúl Atalaia, Sara de Castro, Nicolas Brites, Hugo Gama, Lia Nogueira, Miguel Jesus, Hugo Sousa and Guilherme Noronha); Kneehigh (Carl Grose, Liz King, Stephanie Kempson, Gemma Goodman and all the staff at Cornwall Campus Library); Foursight (Frances Land, Sarah Thom, Jill Dowse, Lucy Tuck, Kate Hale, Thomas Wildish and Abigail King); Escola de Mulheres (Fernanda Lapa, Marta Lapa, Manuela Jorge, Amadeu Neves, Margarida Gonçalves, Cristina Carvalhal, Sérgio Praia and João Grosso) This research was funded by FCT, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Ministério da Educação e Ciência. Doctoral Research Grant, QREN-POPH- Type 4.1., Advanced Training, awarded by the European Social Fund and national funds from MCTES. 8 It is the Imagination, above all, that powers all the processes of rational and creative action that make up social living, and the transforming power of the imagination that makes change possible. (Coult 1997: 13) To Viv and my parents with love I hope you enjoy the view. 9 I. Introduction It may be that every single doctoral thesis is a journey through the life, and not just the intellect, of the researcher;