‘The majority has spoken’: performing referenda at the National Theatre

ABSTRACT

The Majority was performed at the National Theatre of Great Britain in August 2017. Ostensibly a one-man show, written and performed by Rob Drummond and directed by David Overend, the play explores democracy, dissent and abstention through the story of the author’s challenging encounter with a far-left activist in rural Scotland. Utilising audience voting technology to intersperse the narrative with a series of ‘mini referenda’, the play cautions against ‘shouting at each other across the void’, instead advocating a more measured, considered and open approach to engaging with those with whom we disagree. Based on an analysis of in-performance audience participation data, this article identifies unexpected correlations and reveals hidden trends and tendencies. It argues that voting theatre operates as a temporary space from which to test, challenge and rehearse the wider processes of electoral politics. However, the article also considers the productive tensions at play between the reductive binary of the votes and their affective and emotional context. This complicates a straightforward comparison of the ‘social performances’ of voting in theatre to voting in elections and referenda.

KEYWORDS:

• Rob Drummond
• electoral theatre
• heterotopia
• referenda
• voting

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. While Tomlin’s argument responds directly to the rhetoric of the Brexit Leave campaign, such as that of Conservative Member of Parliament Michael Gove, it can also be applied to wider trends in global politics, evident in the political tactics of world leaders such as Donald Trump.

2. Quotations from the script are taken from the unpublished production script, which is significantly different to the version that was published before the show opened (Drummond 2017a).

3. A similar point is made by the comedian Stewart Lee (2018) in Content Provider, as he mocks his audience after a pro-EU applause: ‘That’s right: clap the things you agree with. Clap, clap, clap; agree, agree, agree’.

4. In early versions of the play, the word ‘attack’ was used in place of ‘abuse’. This was changed in an attempt to close down ambiguity and suggest a harsher, more violent response seeded in Drummond’s earlier conflicts with Eric Ferguson.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

David Overend

David Overend is a Lecturer in Drama and Performance Studies at the University of Edinburgh. His research interests are interdisciplinary but focus on contemporary theatre and performance, often at the intersection with cultural geography. He has directed for the National Theatre of Great Britain and several other theatres; and his research has explored the performance of mobilities, democracy and wildness.

Oliver Heath

Oliver Heath is Professor of Politics and co-director of the Democracy and Elections Centre at Royal Holloway, University of London. Oliver's main research interests include elections and voting behaviour, public opinion, and survey design and analysis. He has a particular interest in both UK elections and Indian elections.