What's on Past Events Devoted And Disgruntled 3: What Are We Doing About Theatre? 5 - 7 January 2008 Devoted And Disgruntled 3: What Are We Doing About Theatre? York Hall, Bethnal Green, London DEVOTED AND DISGRUNTLED 3: What are we doing about theatre? Dear all I have been involved with professional theatre and performance since the early eighties. I’ve created and co-created shows, from totally improvised and devised work to classical text for repertory theatres, from puppetry to site-specific work, from comedy to modern opera. I’ve performed, designed, written, devised, taught, and improvised. Yet I have often felt like an outsider in my own profession. There are things I love about theatre and things I wish were different. I find myself both devoted and disgruntled. Over the years I have gossiped and complained about how the world I work in could be better. Not just about what we put on the stage but how we produce, manage, and administrate our work. All aspects of how we create it and how we treat each other as a creative community. There is a way to engage constructively and actively around these frustrations. Since the first Devoted and Disgruntled in January 2006 I have seen Open Space move from feeling extraordinary to pleasingly obvious as a way to work together to make the tectonic plates of theatre shift a little when we come together as a community. I am writing to invite you to Improbable’s third Devoted and Disgruntled – it would be great if you can make it. I am looking forward to opening the space again to continue working on the issues that are important to you. About how we make theatre, produce it, sell it, love it, hate it, be it. I look forward to people returning and welcome those coming for the first time. Can we consolidate and support things that have begun to happen? Can we make an impact on the things that still haven’t changed? Can we converge on the issues that are immediate and pressing? What is brilliant about Open Space is how it can encompass groups of enormous diversity. In fact we believe that the more diverse the voices of those present, the stronger and more effective is the work we can get done. If you think this event isn’t for you, it probably needs you there. We are aiming for the widest possible representation from the world of theatre and performance. We also recognise that vital issues are sometimes sidelined and often come from groups or individuals who feel marginalized. If you think this event is not for you then we really need you there! Are you devoted and disgruntled like me? Do you feel like an outsider in your own profession? Are you up for taking action to make it better now? Please join us on this journey. Phelim Phelim McDermott Co-Artistic Director, Improbable Booking for this event has now closed.