Vernacular theatre : making theatre with community / Jonathan Petherbridge.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Petherbridge, Jonathan, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Community theater--Social aspects.

Community theater.

Theater and society.

Community theater--England--London.

Community theater--Japan--Hiroshima-shi.

Genre:

Case studies.

Physical Description:

xxii, 160 pages : color illustrations ; 25 cm

Other Title:

Vernacular theater

Making theatre with community

Making theater with community

Place of Publication:

Bristol, UK ; Chicago, IL : Intellect, 2025.

Summary:

"Jonathan Petherbridge reflects on three decades as Artistic Director of London Bubble, where he brought together volunteer and professional artists, to create a form he calls Vernacular Theatre. Emerging from a collaborative methodology known as the Foraging Process, Vernacular Theatre transforms communal stories into striking performances infused with an aesthetic of care. Interspersed with case studies from London and Hiroshima, Vernacular Theatre examines how theatre can honour local history, address contemporary issues, and create spaces for collective expression. By drawing connections to the ancient Greek chorus, Petherbridge proposes a new genre of socially engaged performance; one that invites people of all ages to gather, create, and share. This work is a blueprint for theatre-makers and readers invested in participatory arts and community storytelling."-- Page 4 of cover.

Contents:

Some words about context

The shape of this book

Part I : A fortunate mistake

1. Through the window

2. The first foray

Part II : A deliberate process

3. Whose agenda are we attending to?

4. Do it again but do it deliberately

5. Codifying the foraging process and defining Vernacular Theatre

6. Dancing with place (the second journey)

Part III : A deepening practice

7. Here we are all artists

8. The art of prepping

9. Building trust (in Japan)

10. Prepping in Hiroshima

11. Finding the purpose

12. Tackling the contemporary

13. Permission to direct

14. Finding the right form

Part IV : Boiling up communal glue

15. Relationships of care

16. The actor in Vernacular Theatre

17. Great than the sum of its parts

18. Watching the Vernacular Company

Part V : Danger, citizens at work!

19. Taking on an institution

20. Mops and buckets

Part VI : Social theatre

21. Civil servants : the work of the specialists

22. Scale and ceremony

23. Towards a new chorus.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1835951899

9781835951897

OCLC:

1479524217