As someone who has devoted a large part of my life so far, indeed my degree, to my love of theatre, it would be painful to decide that it is a way for us to retreat from the crises that require our urgent attention. However, it is a persistent saying overheard when leaving a theatre; ‘It was great to escape into another world’. The metaphor of ‘losing yourself’ crops up again and again. Who hasn’t, at the very least, left their troubles at the door, and invested themselves wholly in the characters?

“For those who perform, it is a privilege to have that freedom- to have a voice and a platform”

It is a somewhat uncomfortable question to ask- is all theatre, on some level, a form of escapism? I have a vested interest in defending theatre, so I am probably not the best person to answer. But how far, really, can a production instigate social change- if that is its intended purpose? Certainly, with any immediate crises, putting on a play does not seem like the most urgent requirement… a play isn’t going to save us from rising sea levels. One might consider apolitical theatre a kind of escapism- you leave behind the world so that you can try out a new one. Are we helpfully imagining new possibilities far, far away? Or are we burying our heads in the sand?

It is impossible to imagine any piece that is not on some level political: you can’t transcend the world you’re in, particularly when identity itself is somewhat socially-determined. As Beckett writes, ‘You’re on earth, there’s no cure for that’. Consider too that, for those who perform, it is a privilege to have that freedom- to have a voice and a platform. The idea of ‘escaping’ entirely may be problematised when one asks, ‘Who gets the right to take a timeout?’ Some cannot afford to do so. We can’t merely seek temporary shelter in theatre before heading back into the rain, particularly when it is a medium which relies on face to face action (a facet I will no longer take for granted).

“Representation is in and of itself a necessary social statement”

The desire to ‘escape’ reality is perhaps a symptom of difficult times. The escape is temporary: you must inevitably trudge back to the exit door once life has caught up. A performance should seed ideas that grow after you leave the theatre. If a play does not concern itself too much with politics, it need not matter too greatly if it is developing an environment for new ideas, community and creativity. Besides, representation is in and of itself a necessary social statement. Theatre can help to provide the essential conditions for any democracy worth its salt.

Stepping outside of our every-day world to consider ideas and emotions in a theatrical space no doubt aids the development of new concepts. Perhaps art ‘belongs to politics as one who does not belong there, who ignores its customs and scatters its words’ (Jacques Rancière). The apparent failure of theatre to be industrious may paradoxically be its most productive aspect. It may resist domination by simply existing in its meaninglessness. It is this social space without pressure and demand that makes theatre a source of expression, for anyone who needs it. As Yoko One recently and rather romantically agreed;

“As an artist, do what you like to do. Only remember that you are our society’s one chance to save ourselves from disaster. You should work on that well while you are having good fun creating what you want to create.”