Radical Care

Abstract

In the wake of the loss of a grand narrative for the Left, given the internal contradictions of Marxism, the demise of Communism and the global propagation of Late Capitalism, we concord with Giles (2016: 4) that, ‘ … in a political situation in which care is both exceptionally necessary and exceptionally underprovided, acts of care begin to look politically radical. To care is to act against the grain of social and economic orthodoxy: to advocate care is, in the present moment, to advocate a kind of political rupture’. In parallel with the increasing cynicism that has undermined care and notions of generosity, we seek to locate a persistent countercurrent in the participatory praxis of the so-called Third Theatre, a transnational network of practitioners operating in Europe and Latin America since the 1960s, who have developed a holistic approach to performer training, dramaturgy and participation. We will argue that the work of Third Theatre practitioners is characterised by the practical application of that which Derrida (2000) has termed as unconditional hospitality – an encounter with radical difference; an ethical, creative, even transgressive opening up to the Other, the ‘foreigner’. Thus, we shall draw on specific examples of unconditional hospitality in the work of two Third Theatre groups - Nordisk Teaterlaboratorium (Denmark) and Yuyachkani (Peru) - and examine the ways in which this manifests as a performative mode of generosity and generativity. In the case of Nordisk Teaterlaboratorium, we will focus on the triannual Festuge festival as an example of generosity and community building. With Yuyachkani, we shall look at how their work is illustrative of a radical form of political theatre which has allowed people across Peru to process the atrocities committed during the Internal Conflict between communist guerillas and the State that rocked the country over a twenty-year period from 1980-2000.

Notes

1 Between 1976 and 2018, ten international encounters of group theatre took place across Europe and Latin America that served to indelibly shape the Third Theatre community. Organized by key figures such as Eugenio Barba of Odin Teatret and Mario Delgado of Cuatrotablas (Peru), these encounters allowed a wide range of groups to share their praxes, further strengthening the sense of an international theatrical community.

2 In 2017, Turner and Campbell took part in Yuyachkani’s 9th Open Laboratory, and were able to witness and experience the group’s work, and carry out interviews with Miguel Rubio and Ana Correa.

3 A year after Odin Teatret’s fiftieth anniversary, Turner and Campbell went on a week-long research trip to Holstebro in order to carry out a number of interviews with key figures including Eugenio Barba and Julia Varley. We were able to also interview a range of young artists from NTL.

4 For further information on Altamira Studio Theatre, see www.thirdtheatrenetwork.com

5 See odinteatret.dk: online