British-Romanian activist intersectional theatre collective dedicated to challenging inequality
IF IT’S THE LAST THING I DO
Theatre as a political tool
Artistic Residency with Focus Atelier Cluj at Fabrica de Pensule
1 october - 14 october 2018
During the IF IT’S THE LAST THING I DO artistic residency we have researched and developed a future theatre project exploring the psychological, social and political mechanisms of social compliance, obedience and the manufacturing of consent with a particular focus on the Bystander Effect.
We have deepened the various techniques and methodologies that we already use regarding research and theatre-making which has helped us achieve our overall artistic and activist goal: to use theatre as a platform for inspiring and provoking real grassroots activism.
BÉZNĂ Theatre’s IF IT’S THE LAST THING I DO: theatre as a political tool workshop has shared with the participants various techniques, methodologies and processes that are used by Sînziana and Nico when creating their politically driven work. The workshop focused on the research process, the fictionalisation of the research, the importance of the role of the artist-activist and the visceral and creative presentation of the the work to an audience with the purpose of raising awareness and promoting change. BÉZNĂ Theatre is driven by the belief that theatre can be used as an empowering platform for provoking and inspiring grassroots activism and the workshop IF IT’S THE LAST THING I DO: theatre as a political tool shared this experience with the participants. The workshop focused on the concept of social compliance, the social phenomenon of the Bystander Effect, the fact that individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim when others are present and its implications in today’s social and political climate.
IF IT’S THE LAST THING I DO OPEN REHEARSAL
With/By: Beti Pataki, Lori Vălean, Iulia Dinescu, Daniela Crăsneanu, Cosmin Moise, Cătălin Mihai Chirilă.
The open rehearsal ”IF IT’S THE LAST THING I DO” is the final presentation of the participants’ work during the ”IF IT’S THE LAST THING I DO: theatre as a political tool“ workshop with co-artistic directors of BÉZNĂ Theatre, Nico Vaccari and Sînziana Koenig.
Over a two-week period, workshop participants joined Nico and Sînziana in the first stages of building a BÉZNĂ Theatre performance: the stages of immersive research, fictionalisation of research and contextualising personal experiences.
The moment we were marginalised.
The moment when the violences seemed unstoppable.
The moment when we could have intervened but we were afraid.
The moment when we accepted authority and became silent.
The participants investigated the phenomena of social compliance, obedience to authority and the bystander effect both through objective research and through the prism of their own memories. The open rehearsal is a dialectical collage of research material and personal memories.