Freedom Theatre's Zoe Lafferty: Online work can avoid censorship

Director and writer Zoe Lafferty has recommended digital and experimental theatremaking as a way to "circumnavigate" growing censorship in the sector.

Lafferty, who is associate artistic director of Palestine’s Freedom Theatre, said that working outside buildings and online were good ways to "move forward" with political theatre, which she said was becoming harder to stage in risk-averse venues.

"Many of the artists that I’m very lucky to work with often work digitally, to circumnavigate censorship and many other challenges," she told The Stage.

She called online work and street performance some of "the only choices left because of decisions by... Arts Council England or buildings not to fund or programme work, or festivals to cancel projects".

Aborted shows such as the Manchester Royal Exchange’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which was scrapped over disputes including over a ’Free Palestine’ reference, alongside ACE’s refreshed guidance warning against "overtly political or activist" work, were symptoms of increased censorship in UK theatre, Lafferty said.

Lafferty also alleged her own virtual reality experience, In A Thousand Silences, which highlights censorship against Palestinian artists, was cancelled by an international festival despite being programmed there.

She said digital spaces and "on the streets" provide alternative ways to share activist work which may not be commissioned by a building, and a way of avoiding ethical discomfort about a venue’s sponsorship links.

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