Theatre Forms: Art as a Tool of Resistance

by Raymond Bertin
translated by Andrée McNamara Tait

Last September, the Théâtre Parminou and the Centre de théâtre action de Belgique initiated a major project that will come to a close this coming June, in Victoriaville. Thanks to a series of seminars and a festival that will host companies from here and abroad, the International Meetings on Popular Theatre (IMPT) will define the current state of this multi-faceted practice which blends art and social action.

Whether it is called participatory, political, documentary, therapeutic, or community-based theatre; or whether it deals with specific groups — such as those living on social assistance, illiterates, feminists, ecologists, Amerindians… — these are all expressions of popular theatre, also referred to as intervention theatre. “We have listed 85 groups and individuals linked to this movement in Quebec and 77 in English-speaking Canada,” says Maureen Martineau, Co-Artistic Director of the Théâtre Parminou. “Along with the Centre de théâtre action de Belgique, we are taking this debate onto the international scene; in fact, one of the objectives of the I.M.P.T. is to create a network for the movement.”

An Inclusive Practice

For Maureen Martineau, the practice of popular theatre follows three main lines: the social finality of the theatrical project, the participatory processes of creation, and the alternative network of presentation venues outside the traditional cultural circuit. “We often define this discipline by spheres of activity,” continues Martineau. “However, during our discussions, people often concluded that no matter what type of action was taken, it is the meaning given to our work, its political orientation, which characterizes it. This is reflected by a resistance to the dominant culture’s institutional models and by values which carry social change within a perspective of the individual, the group, or the structure.”

The debates also attracted practitioners of drama-therapy as well as others from international solidarity groups. “The political and cultural contexts have changed — consider, for example, the social movement of the 1970s — and vary from one country to another. There are fewer companies, projects, individuals, and artists joining the professionals in the community. Many students interested in social art question the political positioning of the artist and the democratic appropriation through the theatrical experience,” notes Martineau.

In English-speaking Canada, community plays have been greatly developed. These evolve into festive events drawing in the entire population of a small town, based on themes encompassing the tradition and history of the community, for example. This creates a feeling of belonging among participants, according to Edward Little, coordinator of the Theatre and Development specialization at Concordia University. “As workers involved in popular theatre, we are committed to popular education. The challenge is to imagine a form of aesthetic expression that reaches our artistic goals and our social action goals.”

His plea for cultural democracy aims to reconcile the notions of culture and art in a perspective of social advancement. This can take on various forms. Intervention theatre is served by, but not limited to, forum theatre and street theatre.

And What About Alter-Culture?

Belgian Paul Biot, Director of the Centre de théâtre action, has tried to bring about an international vision for the movement. In response to the alter-globalization slogan “Think globally, act locally,” he suggests many possibilities for cooperation between groups and individuals who share the same vision, in their respective countries. Since popular theatre consists in mounting collective creative projects with groups experiencing cultural, political, or economic difficulties, exchanges are welcome: training workshops, co-productions, co-presentations, strategic alliances, manifestos…

By inviting these populations who are often excluded from the cultural milieu to invest their experience into the creative process, popular theatre restores their power to act on their reality. “Theatre has to re-learn how to name things in order to give them back their real weight and also to oppose the barrier of words to the constraint of facts: by naming things you can somewhat avoid becoming their toy,” explains Biot, who advocates for the creation of an alter-culture that would counter economic and political globalization that establishes itself notably by cultural means.

Regaining Memory

The director of Togo’s Cie Zigas, Atavi-G Amedegnato, recounted his experience under dictatorship, speaking about combat theatre. To get around censorship, his company wanted to revive the spoken-word tradition by renewing the population’s forgotten taste for story-telling. “We think that you have to act responsibly and not always complain about what is happening,” he says. “By creating an aesthetic based on the ugly where we recovered everything that had been rejected, such as abandoned forms from the original culture, and by re-appropriating our collective memory, we have given back cultural markers to people which allow them to resist.” Maureen Martineau also believes that being anchored in one’s own culture is a tool of resistance to the winds of single-track thinking.

When the IMPT comes to a close in Victoriaville next June, a network and an online discussion forum will be created, and the meeting’s proceedings and a common declaration published.

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