Crossover theatre and the need to box it. Nathalie Carrington, 26 January 2014 Initiator of the session: Nathalie Carrington Who attended: Jo Mackie Fergus Evans Simon Bedford Debbie Kent James Bailey Sheena Khanna Jo Crowley Mark Pritchard Summary of discussion: We spoke about crossover theatre and the need to label it. Points made during the discussion were: There is no real need to define the art you have made, to box it or label it. The creative process and team should not worry themselves about what it is they are making but rather freely create and let someone who is removed from the creative process, a third eye to think about what it is, where it belongs and what audience you are targeting. It may be part of the creative process to figure that out for yourself, don't always rely on the judgement of a producer. If a producer is too quick to say, ‘I am not sure where your piece belongs’, they are not the right producer for your. Don't try and make your show fit a space that it doesn't suit. Don't compromise your art to suit a venue, in the long term it will pay off. Think about your art in a more general term, what are the themes? What world/ aesthetic are you creating? Sell it by answering these questions rather than labelling it ‘cabaret’, ‘comedy’, ‘performance art’ ect…. Something to keep in mind is that labelling it may also give an expectation of how the audience should behave. This is sometimes very helpful. Total Theatre is an online magazine who resist narrowing theatre and defining it but through rather honour artists and companies leading innovative work within physical, visual and devised theatre, dance-theatre, mime/clown, contemporary circus, cabaret and new variety, puppetry and animation, street arts and outdoor performance, sitespecific theatre, live art, hybrid arts / cross-artform performance – and more.