Reimagining theatre as a living, breathing collaboration between professional artists and the communities they serve.
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 theater can honor 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.
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 theater can honor 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.
Table of Contents
List of Figures
Preface by James Thompson
Some Context
The Shape of this Book
Part One – A Fortunate Mistake
- Through the Window
- The First Foray
Part Two – A Deliberate Process
- Whose Agenda Are We Attending To?
- Do It Again but Do It Deliberately
- Codifying the Foraging Process and Defining Vernacular Theatre
- Dancing with Place (the Second Journey)
Part Three – A Deepening Practice
- Here We Are All Artists
- The Art of Prepping
- Building Trust (in Japan)
- Prepping in Hiroshima
- Finding the Purpose
- Tackling the Contemporary
- Permission to Direct
- Finding the Right Form
Part Four – Boiling up Communal Glue
- Relationships of Care
- The Actor in Vernacular Theatre
- Greater than the Sum of Its Parts
- Watching the Vernacular Company
Part Five – Danger, Citizens at Work!
- Taking on an Institution
- Mops and Buckets
Part Six – Social Theatre
- Civil Servants – The Work of The Specialists
- Scale and Ceremony
- Towards a New Chorus
Notes
Bibliography
Index