Postmarginality: Ethical Relationality of Theatre Rehearsal Practice

Postmarginality: Ethical Relationality of Theatre Rehearsal Practice Peter Farbridge As debates about the under-representation of marginalized communities grow in North America, identity-centred perspectives have had a polarizing effect on cultural relations (Preciado; Couturier). In the Canadian theatre community, the ideals of artistic freedom in theatre creation conflict with the need to achieve meaningful progress in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), and the results have proven painful for different communities (Gilbert; Martelly; Aguirre). New communication tools are required in theatre rehearsal practice to help negotiate between the welcome increase in the political representation and agency of marginalized artists and the ongoing need for creative liberty. With a cohort of ethnoculturally-diverse participants, I devised a one-hour performative inquiry (Fels) from excerpts of a written play and devised solo work from the participants. The objectives of the inquiry were threefold: (1) to explore how social norms driven by a ‘coloniality of power’ (Quijano and Ennis) manifest in the rehearsal process; (2) to examine if a posture of ethical relationality (Donald) can disrupt these social norms and lead to the rhizomatic connections of Tout-monde (Glissant) and Third Space (Donald; Ermine; Bhabha; Turnbull), and; finally (3) to evaluate if the psychophysical nature of theatre practice (Zarrilli) facilitates pathways towards intersubjectivity (Fuchs and Koch), empathy (Thompson), and generative dialogue (Scharmer). This project suggests that ethical relationality in theatre rehearsal practice would require less emphasis on hard-coded ethical approaches and embrace the dynamic, shifting nature of relationality in a way that generates spontaneous human agency and preserves the creative spirit of theatre practice