A collection of short political plays in response to warnings that artists shouldn’t be political.
After a sell-out pilot run in the spring of this year, Cut Tightrope Ltd is absolutely delighted to announce that Cutting the Tightrope: The Divorce of Politics from Art will be bringing a longer run to the larger main house space at the Arcola theatre from 26 November – 7 December 2024.
In a series of rapid political responses – with updated text and additional pieces to reflect the ever-changing landscape - prompted by the now seemingly quite regular of censoring of theatre focusing on Palestine, Cutting the Tightrope: The Divorce of Politics from Art brings together a number of award-winning playwrights – from activists to comedians, Russian to Iraqi heritage, Jewish to Muslim backgrounds, who collectively form an urgent response to the creeping repression of dissent in society and the arts.
Political censorship in theatre has rarely been such a hot topic; Last month, Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre cancelled its production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The arguments for and against the staging of the work (primarily focussed on the phrase “Free Palestine”) were wide and varied. But did anyone really have the right to censor the director Stef O’Driscoll’s voice? Earlier in October, playwright Patrick Marber’s new play, created alongside the writer Nathan Englander, ‘What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank’ - a work that the Jewish Chronical recently cited as “a play as Jewish as they come” found their original venue had rescinded their offer of a space amidst concerns it could spark protests. It was moved at the 11th hour to the Marylebone Theatre.
Now with the American elections looming and violence escalating abroad this updated Cutting the Tightrope remains necessary as part of a determination to look at how these ongoing and concerning challenges to freedom of expression are influencing our lives.
It includes work from Hassan Abdulrazzak, Mojisola Adebayo, Philip Arditti, Sonali Bhattacharyya and Ahmed Masoud. They are joined by Nina Bowers, Roxy Cook, Ed Edwards and Afsaneh Gray. Completing the line-up are Dawn King, Nina Segal, Sami Abu Wardeh, Waleed Elgadi and Joel Samuels.
There also will be post-show panel discussions with guest speakers from activism, journalism, politics, and the arts who will dissect a different, related topic and an in-person workshop on Saturday 7 December at the Arcola Theatre from 11.00am - 1.00pm. Created in tandem at the Arcola and presented alongside MAKAN – an organisation which promotes ‘Education for Liberation’. “Self- Censorship: How to talk about Palestine”. This event is free to attend.
Listings
24 Ashwin Street, London E8 3DL
26 November – 7 December 2024
Running Time: 1 hour 50 mins | Suitable for ages 16+
Tickets: Book Tickets - Arcola Theatre
Further Information: Cutting the Tightrope: The Divorce of Politics from Art