THE ENIGMA OF COMMUNITY THEATRE 
Paul Murray, Ph.D. (Bel Theatre/UK-Serbia)

Community theatre is recognizable by its approach and aims.  Its approach is simple: a professional team of theatre directors, scenographers, actors, playwrights, musicians etc. work with a group of non-professionals to create an original play/performance about an issue, which the professional and non-professional participants alike themselves consider to be significant. Community theatre’s aims encompass (often utopian) ideas of pluralism, democracy, community, non-commercialism, activism, playfulness and joy. Community theatre artists believe that their art-form has the capacity to: (1) Strengthen the bonds of community; (2) Initiate democratic processes; (3) Empower and educate individuals; (4) Help underrepresented views be heard by a wider audience, and  (5) Intervene directly not just to interpret the world, but to bring about change within it. Through both its approach and aims, Community is a form of political theatre.

‘The very fact that it is called community theatre itself betrays the neo-liberal belief in individualism and the idea that things such as “the public good” and “the community” should be discarded as unnecessary components of a welfare state.’ (Martinez and García 2000).

As the oldest of participatory forms of theatre, one could argue that ‘Community theatre’ has lost much of its identity in recent times as its approach have been increasingly utilized by State’s, cultural institutions and neo-liberal philanthropists to promote their own aims through forms such as ‘drama in education’ and ‘applied theatre’. On the other hand, one could argue that community theatre is defined clearly enough in relation to its political aims in order to retain its identity. Either way, the enigma of community theatre is that it can only be truly recognized and appreciated in relation to what it aims to achieve; whether or not these aims are achievable.

Key words: community, theatre, pluralism, activism, non-commercialism

Paul Murray is director of the Belgrade English Language Youth Theatre (BEL). He has worked through the U.K. Europe and internationally as an actor, director, professor and art consultant. As well as being director of the school, Paul is active within a number of other organisations, he is guest professor at several academies and has published a number of articles on the subjects of theatre, education and theatre and development.

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ZAGONETKA POZORIŠTA ZAJEDNICE

Pozorište zajednice je prepoznatljivo po svom pristupu i ciljevima. Pristup je jednostavan: tim profesionalnih pozorišnih reditelja, scenografa, glumaca, pisaca, muzičara i drugih, rade sa grupom neprofesionalnih umetnika kako bi stvorili originalnu izvođačku formu o tematskom pitanju koje svi učesnici u procesu podjednako smatraju značajnim. Ciljevi pozorišta zajednice obuhvataju (često utopijske) ideje pluralizma, demokratije, zajedništva, nekomercijalizma, aktivizma, igre i radosti. Umetnici pozorišta zajednice veruju da umetničke forme koje stvaraju imaju kapacitet da: (1) ojačaju veze u zajednici; (2) pokreću demokratske procese; (3) osnažuju i edukuju pojedince; (4) pomažu nedovoljno zastupljenim pogledima i manjinskim glasovima da stignu do šire publike; (5) intervenišu direktno, ne zadovoljavajući se pritom da svet samo tumače već i da ga menjaju. I kroz svoj pristup i kroz ostvarivanje svojih ciljeva, pozorište zajednice je vid političkog pozorišta.

“Sama činjenica da se nešto zove pozorište zajednice izneverava neoliberalističku veru u individualizam i ideju da stvari kao što su “javno dobro”  i “zajednica” treba da “budu odbačene kao nepotrebne komponente države blagostanja.” (Martinez & Garcia, 2000)

Kao najstarija participativna forma pozorišta, moglo bi se reći da je “Pozorište zajednice” umnogome izgubilo svoj identitet, kako se  pristup sve češće koristi od strane države, kulturnih institucija i neoliberalnih filantropa u promociji njihovih ciljeva, kroz forme kao što su “drama u obrazovanju” i “primenjeno pozorište”. S druge strane, moglo bi se tvrditi da je pozorište zajednice definisano dovoljno jasno u odnosu na svoje političke ciljeve, te njegov identitet ostaje sačuvan. U svakom slučaju zagonetka pozorišta zajednice je u tome što može biti istinski prepoznato i cenjeno samo u odnosu na ciljeve koje pretenduje da ostvari, bez obzira da li su ti ciljevi ostvarivi.

Ključne reči: zajednica, pozorište, pluralizam, aktivizam, nekomercijalizam

Pol Mari je direktor BEL Teatra (Belgrade English Language Youth Theatre). Radi kao glumac, reditelj, profesor i umetnički konsultant u Velikoj Britaniji, širom Evrope i sveta. Pored aktivnosti u BEL teatru, Pol je angažovan u okviru projekata više drugih organizacija, gostujući je profesor na nekoliko akademija, i objavio je niz članaka o pozorištu i edukaciji, kao i o odnosu pozorišta i ljudskog razvoja.