Gavin Crichton
(United Kingdom) for Active Inquiry
Overview
Title of the Intervention : Drama for Democracy – A Bold Experiment in Legislative Theater. In particular “Acting Now”
Entity that promoted the initiative: Active Inquiry – SPECT Act Network: three subgroups that have collaborated on community work for nearly a decade: one supporting adults with experiences of homelessness and addiction, another centered on Black and ethnic minority women survivors of domestic violence, and a third for older adults facing mental health challenges.
When it was implemented? For how long? 2020 – present
Numbers of participants: undisclosed
Where we are: Scotland
Place/Places:In-person and virtual sessionsWe envisioned theater spaces as civic spaces—places that foster democratic engagement, policy discussion, and participatory action.
Period/Time available: Forum Theatre plays + legislative part = 4-5 hours
Aim/Goal of the action – Main theme of the Legislative Proposal to Propose/Support
GENERAL: When the pandemic hit, the network transitioned to online work, continuing to explore key themes, which eventually narrowed to three critical areas of interest:1 – The need for earlier intervention, helping individuals before they reach a crisis point.2 – The demand for institutions to evolve and become more responsive to the diverse and immediate needs of the communities they serve.3 – Addressing the climate crisis and exploring actionable solutions.SPECIFIC: We also focused on researching Scottish public service reform, particularly the government’s initiative to create more person-centered services. This term felt vague and open to interpretation, so we saw an opportunity to investigate its true meaning and the potential for deeper, more radical policy changes.The final aim is to present a clear, collective vision for public policy reform, based on the input of ordinary citizens, activists, and policymakers alike.
Which level of change the entity want to reach?
The goal was to extend our reach beyond Edinburgh, drawing in audiences from across Scotland, and to deepen our engagement with communities. By performing in various theaters, we not only built connections but also gathered stories, enriching the material we would incorporate into future work.
Public position of the proposing entity:
What is the connection to the decision makers? Which power the entity has?
It has relations with parliament.the Rulers handled policy research and built connections with policymakers, ensuring the project’s relevance to current political discourse. + policy ranges: bring together people with structural power—government officials, charity leaders, activists, and others who can influence policy change. Through interactive performances, we invite these individuals to engage with the policy issues raised on stage and contribute to real-time dialogue.
Target
Ordinary citizens, activists, and policymakers
Internal Allies
In collaboration with other Scottish theater companies, like Civic Digits, who specialize in digital theater, we began experimenting with the role of technology in making our work more accessible.
Describe each steps of the initiative
We organized into three teams: Makers, Jokers, and Rulers. The Makers would be responsible for creating and performing the plays. The Jokers acted as facilitators, guiding the collaborative process, while the Rulers handled policy research and built connections with policymakers, ensuring the project’s relevance to current political discourse.
After 12 weeks of exploration, we began the next phase—testing our ideas in a pilot project. A small legislative theater performance, which took place in March, was designed for an invited audience. While we didn’t have all the policymakers we hoped for, the performance was a success in engaging with those present. The goal wasn’t immediate policy change, but to reflect on the process and assess how it worked.
As we move forward, we are continuing to refine the project. We are preparing for another small performance in June and working on a major funding application to expand the project. If successful, this funding will enable us to launch a large-scale legislative theater production in Edinburgh next year, followed by a national tour across Scotland.
While we continue refining the legislative theater format, one of the concepts we’ve been experimenting with is the idea of policy ranges. Inspired by Augusto Boal’s Theater of the Oppressed, this concept aims to bring together people with structural power—government officials, charity leaders, activists, and others who can influence policy change. Through interactive performances, we invite these individuals to engage with the policy issues raised on stage and contribute to real-time dialogue.The process aims not to create perfect policies, but to identify flaws and gaps in current proposals. The audience gets to shape the discussion by imagining how policies could be adjusted, and they are encouraged to test these ideas, pushing back against them where necessary to highlight potential shortcomings.
The culmination of the project will be a significant event at the Scottish Parliament, where we’ll present the policy ideas gathered through our performances. We’ll host discussions with policymakers, seeking to advance the most pressing ideas. Each performance across Scotland will give the audience the opportunity to vote on which policies they believe are most important. This voting process will shape the policy agenda, and in the end, we’ll focus on the issues that resonate most deeply with the public.”
Reflections and Methodology
Resources and Contacts
Contact person: GAVIN Crichton, www.activeinquiry.co.uk
Materials, links to consult: www.activeinquiry.co.uk
Other interesting things: What led them to the innovative practices of legislative theatre that they are doing now:in 2019, Home, explored the pressing issue of housing. The project included a national tour of Forum Theatre performances, culminating in an invitation to perform at the Scottish Parliament. Politicians attended the performances, generating a sense of excitement. Yet, participants expressed frustration with the lack of tangible action stemming from their work. This growing discontent led us to explore the potential of legislative theater. We were no longer content to wait for change—we needed to act immediately. As the pandemic situation shifted, we adopted a hybrid approach to our work, combining in-person and virtual sessions.