Skip to content
1981
  1. Home
  2. A-Z Publications
  3. Punk & Post-Punk
  4. Volume 10, Issue 1
  5. Article
Volume 10, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 2044-1983
  • E-ISSN: 2044-3706

Abstract

My aim is to consider how anarchy reads and resists punitive regimes in performance, particularly in ‘immersive performance’. Punk troupe Pussy Riot forms a starting point, via in 2017–18, with a sustained consideration on at the Saatchi Gallery in 2017, produced by Les Enfants Terrible. I concentrate on claims for authenticity that seem to lend theatre and performance legitimacy in relation to social change, to critique theatrical work with claims to producing agency, legitimizing hope for social transformation that is predicated on an ‘empowered’ spectator-participant. In the wake of these concerns, questions that bleed through this material relate to the limits of participation in performance and how and whether representations serve to dismantle state institutions. I consider whether the force of replications of cells, yards or gulags enables or disintegrates any activist, anarchist potential in performance. I take a wide-ranging view of anarchism beyond political theory to consider anarchism modelled in performance terms. Building from the example of Pussy Riot, the article defines performance critique through desire and anarchism, ‘manifesting desire’ or ‘anarchy as method’.

© 2021 Intellect Ltd
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/punk_00034_1
2021-02-01
2024-12-05
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Alexander, J. C.. ( 2011), Performance & Power, Cambridge:: Polity Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Allspach A.. ( 2010;), ‘ Landscapes of (neo)liberal control: The transcarceral spaces of federally sentenced women in Canada. ’, Gender, Place & Culture, 17:6, pp. 705–23.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Alston, A.. ( 2013;), ‘ Audience participation and neoliberal value. ’, Performance Research, 18:2, pp. 128–38.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Alston, A.. ( 2016), Beyond Immersive Theatre: Aesthetics, Politics and Productive Participation, Basingstoke:: Palgrave Macmillan;.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Alston, A.. ( 2019;), ‘ Immersive theatre in austerity Britain: Les Enfants Terribles’ riot in the Saatchi gallery and the liquidation of differencEngine. ’, Contemporary Theatre Review, 29:3, pp. 238–55.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Alyokhina, M.. ( 2017), Riot Days, London:: Allen Lane;.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Amster, R.. ( 2012), Anarchism Today, Santa Barbara, CA:: Praeger;.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Aston, E.. ( 2016;), ‘ Agitating for change: Theatre and a feminist “network of resistance”. ’, Theatre Research International, 41:1, pp. 5–20.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Barish, J. A.. ( 1985), The Anti-Theatrical Prejudice, Berkeley, CA:: University of California Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Bartley, S.. ( 2017;), ‘ Hard labour and punitive welfare: The unemployed body at work in participatory performance. ’, Research in Drama Education: Journal of Applied Theatre & Performance, 22:1, pp. 62–75.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Belarus Free Theatre ( 2016;), ‘ Burning doors. ’, Belarus Free Theatre productions, http://www.belarusfreetheatre.com/productions/burningdoors/. Accessed 2 April 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Bishop, C.. ( 2012), Artificial Hells: Participatory Art and the Politics of Spectatorship, London:: Verso;.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Bogad, L.. ( 2016), Tactical Performance: The Theory and Practice of Serious Play, London:: Routledge;.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Bourriaud, N.. ( 2002), Relational Aesthetics (trans S. Pleasance,, F. Woods, and M. Copeland.), Paris:: Les presses du reel;.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Boyle, M. S., and Bogad, L.. ( 2015;), ‘ Irresistable images: Michael Shane Boyle in conversation with Larry Bogad. ’, Contemporary Theatre Review, 25:3, n.pag., https://www.contemporarytheatrereview.org/2015/irresistible-images/. Accessed 2 April 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Breel, A.,, Newman, H., and Wilson, R.. ( 2017;), ‘ Forum on the art of participation: A curated collection of reflections, explorations, and instructions. ’, PARtake: The Journal of Performance as Research, 1:2, n.pag http://scholar.colorado.edu/partake/vol1/iss2/2. Accessed 2 April 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Clark, D.. ( 2003;), ‘ The death and life of punk, the last subculture. ’, in D. Muggleton, and R. Weinzierl. (eds), Post-Subcultures Reader, Oxford:: Berg Publishers;, pp. 223–26.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Dolan, J.. ( 2001a;), ‘ Rehearsing democracy: Advocacy, public intellectuals, and civic engagement in theatre and performance studies. ’, Theatre Topics, 11:1, pp. 1–17.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Dolan, J.. ( 2001b;), ‘ Performance, utopia, and the “utopian performative”. ’, Theatre Journal, 53:3, pp. 455–79.
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Dolan, J.. ( 2005), Utopia in Performance: Finding Hope at the Theatre, Ann Arbor, MI:: University of Michigan Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Duggan, L., and Muñoz, J. E.. ( 2009;), ‘ Hope and hopelessness: A dialogue. ’, Women & Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory, 19:2, pp. 275–83.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Gilmore Wilson, R.. ( 2007), Golden Gulag: Prisons, Surplus, Crisis and Opposition in Globalizing California, Berkeley, CA:: University of California Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Gololobov, I., and Steinholdt, Y. B.. ( 2014;), ‘ The evolution of punk in Russia. ’, in I. Gololobov,, H. Pilkington, and Y. B. Steinholt. (eds), Punk in Russia: Cultural Mutation from the ‘Useless’ to the ‘Moronic’, Abingdon:: Routledge;, pp. 22–48.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Graeber, D.. ( 2002;), ‘ The new anarchists. ’, The New Left Review, 13, pp. 61–73.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Graeber, D.. ( 2004a;), ‘ Anarchism, or the revolutionary movement of the twenty-first century. ’, Z Communications, January, https://zcomm.org/znetarticle/anarchism-or-the-revolutionary-movement-of-the-twenty-first-century-by-david-graeber/. Accessed 2 April 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Graeber, D.. ( 2004b), Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology, Chicago:: Prickly Paradigm Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Greenway, J.. ( 2009;), ‘ Speaking desire: Anarchism and free love as utopian performance. ’, in L. Davis, and R. Kinna. (eds), Anarchism and Utopianism, Manchester:: Manchester University Press;, pp. 153–70.
     [Google Scholar]
  28. Groenewald, E.. ( 2015;), ‘ Are we all Pussy Riot? On narratives of feminist return and the limits of transnational solidarity. ’, Feminist Theory, 16:3, pp. 289–307.
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Harvie, J.. ( 2013), Fair Play: Art, Performance and Neoliberalism, Basingstoke:: Palgrave;.
     [Google Scholar]
  30. Hewert, R.. ( 2017;), ‘ Riot Days by Maria Alyokhina review: Pussy Riot and the essence of protest. ’, The Guardian, 30 August, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/aug/30/riot-days-by-maria-alyokhina-review-pussy-riot. Accessed 2 April 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  31. Kane, A.. ( 2017;), ‘ Russian riot art comes to London gallery. ’, Dazed Digital, 16 November, http://www.dazeddigital.com/art-photography/article/38088/1/russian-riot-art-comes-to-london-s-saatchi-gallery-art-riot-inside-pussy-riot. Accessed 2 April 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  32. Kershaw, B.. ( 1992), The Politics of Performance: Radical Theatre as Cultural Intervention, London:: Routledge;.
     [Google Scholar]
  33. Kershaw, B.. ( 1999), The Radical in Performance: Between Brecht and Baudrillard, London:: Routledge;.
     [Google Scholar]
  34. Kester, G.. ( 2011), The One and the Many: Contemporary Collaborative Art in a Global Context, Durham, NC:: Duke University Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  35. Lawson, M.. ( 2016;), ‘ Burning doors review: Pussy Riot member’s charged stories of persecution. ’, The Guardian, 4 September, https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2016/sep/04/burning-doors-review-pussy-riot-belarus-free-theatre. Accessed 2 April 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  36. Lowe, T.. ( 2012), A Quality framework for Helix Arts’ Participatory Practice, Newcastle:: Helix Arts;.
     [Google Scholar]
  37. Lukowski, A.. ( 2017;), ‘ Inside Pussy Riot review. ’, Time Out, 17 November, https://www.timeout.com/london/theatre/inside-pussy-riot-review. Accessed 2 April 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  38. Lydon, J.. ( 2012;), ‘ Tearing down the walls: Queerness, anarchism and the prison industrial complex. ’, in C. B. Daring,, J. Rogue,, D. Shannon, and A. Volcano. (eds), Queering Anarchism: Addressing and Understanding Power & Desire, Oakland, CA:: AK Press;, pp. 195–206.
     [Google Scholar]
  39. Machon, J.. ( 2013), Immersive Theatres: Intimacy and Immediacy in Contemporary Performance, Basingstoke:: Palgrave Macmillan;.
     [Google Scholar]
  40. Marcus, G.. ( 1989), Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the Twentieth Century, Cambridge, MA:: Harvard University Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  41. Moore, R.. ( 2004;), ‘ Postmodernism and punk subculture: Cultures of authenticity and deconstruction. ’, The Communication Review, 7:3, pp. 305–27.
     [Google Scholar]
  42. Moran, D.. ( 2013;), ‘ Carceral geography and the spatialities of prison visiting: Visitation, recidivism, and hyperincarceration. ’, Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 31:1, pp. 174–90.
     [Google Scholar]
  43. Moran, D.. ( 2015), Carceral Geography: Spaces and Practices of Incarceration, Farnham:: Ashgate;.
     [Google Scholar]
  44. Moran, I. O.. ( 2010;), ‘ Punk: The do-it-yourself subculture. ’, Social Sciences Journal, 10:1, pp. 58–65.
     [Google Scholar]
  45. Muñoz, J. E.. ( 2009), Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity, New York:: New York University Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  46. Parkinson, H. J.. ( 2017;), ‘ Inside Pussy Riot review: A soft-labour sentence. ’, The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/nov/19/inside-pussy-riot-review-soft-labour-sentence-saatchi-gallery. Accessed 2 April 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  47. Probyn, E.. ( 1996), Outside Belongings, New York:: Routledge;.
     [Google Scholar]
  48. Pussy Riot ( 2013), Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer for Freedom, New York:: Feminist Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  49. Pussy Riot ( 2017), Inside Pussy Riot, Les Enfants Terrible, Saatchi Gallery, London , November.
     [Google Scholar]
  50. Pussy Riot ( 2017–18), Riot Days, Pussy Riot, Manchester, UK , November.
     [Google Scholar]
  51. Rai, S.. ( 2015;), ‘ Political performance: A framework for analysing democratic performance. ’, Political Studies, 63:5, pp. 1179–97.
     [Google Scholar]
  52. Rai, S. M., and Reinelt, J.. (eds) ( 2014), The Grammar of Politics & Performance, Abingdon:: Routledge;.
     [Google Scholar]
  53. Rancière, J.. ( 2011), The Emancipated Spectator (trans. G. Elliott.), London:: Verso;.
     [Google Scholar]
  54. Rancière, J.. ( 2015), Dissensus: On Politics and Aesthetics (trans. S. Corcoran.), London:: Bloomsbury Academic;.
     [Google Scholar]
  55. Reinelt, J.. ( 1998;), ‘ Notes for a radical democratic theater: Productive crises and the challenge of indeterminacy. ’, in J. Colleran, and J. S. Spencer. (eds), Staging Resistance: Essays on Political Theatre, Ann Arbor, MI:: University of Michigan Press;, pp. 283–300.
     [Google Scholar]
  56. Reinelt, J.. ( 2010;), ‘ Generational shifts. ’, Theatre Research International, 35:3, pp. 288–90.
     [Google Scholar]
  57. Robb, J.. ( 2017;), ‘ Pussy Riot: Manchester live review. ’, Louder Than War, http://louderthanwar.com/pussy-riot-manchester-live-review/. Accessed 2 April 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  58. Routledge, P.. ( 2009;), ‘ Toward a relational ethics of struggle: Embodiment, affinity, and affect. ’, in R. Amster,, A. DeLean,, L. A. Fernandez,, A. J. Nocella II, and D. Shannon. (eds), Contemporary Anarchist Studies: An Introductory Anthology of Anarchy in the Academy, New York:: Routledge;, pp. 82–92.
     [Google Scholar]
  59. Routledge, P.. ( 2017), Space Invaders: Radical Geographies of Protest, London:: Pluto Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  60. Saatchi Gallery ( 2018;), ‘ Art riot: Post Soviet actionism. ’, Saatchi Gallery, https://www.saatchigallery.com/exhibition/reviews/art_riot_post_soviet_actionism_47.htm. Accessed 2 April 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  61. Schuler, C.. ( 2013;), ‘ Reinventing the show trial: Putin and Pussy Riot. ’, TDR: The Drama Review, 57:1, pp. 7–17.
     [Google Scholar]
  62. Seal, L.. ( 2013;), ‘ Pussy Riot and feminist cultural criminology: A new “femininity in dissent?”. ’, Contemporary Justice Review, 16:2, pp. 293–303.
     [Google Scholar]
  63. Shalson, L.. ( 2017), Theatre & Protest, London:: Palgrave;.
     [Google Scholar]
  64. Van Ham, L.. ( 2009;), ‘ Reading early punk as secularized scared clowning. ’, Journal of Popular Culture, 42:2, pp. 318–38.
     [Google Scholar]
  65. Wacquant, L.. ( 2010;), ‘ Crafting the neoliberal state: Workfare, prisonfare and social insecurity. ’, Sociological Forum, 25:2, pp. 197–220.
     [Google Scholar]
  66. Walsh, A.. ( 2019), Prison Cultures: Performance, Resistance, Desire, Bristol:: Intellect;.
     [Google Scholar]
  67. Weeks, K.. ( 2011), The Problem with Work: Feminism, Marxism, Antiwork Politics and Postwar Imaginaries, New York:: Duke University Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  68. White, G.. ( 2013), Audience Participation in Theatre: Aesthetics of the Invitation, Basingstoke:: Palgrave;.
     [Google Scholar]
  69. Wiedlack, K., and Neufeld, M.. ( 2014;), ‘ Lost in translation? Pussy Riot solidarity activism and the danger of perpetuating north/western hegemonies. ’, Religion & Gender, 4:2, pp. 145–65.
     [Google Scholar]
  70. Wiedlack, M. K.. ( 2015), Queer Feminist Punk: An Antisocial History, Vienna:: Zaglossus;.
     [Google Scholar]
  71. Williams, H.. ( 2017;), ‘ Inside Pussy Riot, Saatchi Gallery, London, review. ’, The Independent, 17 November, http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/inside-pussy-riot-a8059966.html. Accessed 2 April 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  72. Woodyard, K. M.. ( 2014;), ‘ Pussy Riot and the holy foolishness of punk. ’, Rock Music Studies, 1:3, pp. 268–86.
     [Google Scholar]
  73. Walsh, Aylwyn. ( 2021;), ‘ Manifesting desire and anarchy as method: The problem of Inside Pussy Riot. ’, Punk & Post-Punk, 10:1, pp. 99–117, doi: https://doi.org/10.1386/punk_00034_1
     [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1386/punk_00034_1
Loading
Manifesting desire and anarchy as method: The problem of Inside Pussy Riot
Punk & Post-Punk 10, 99 (2021); https://doi.org/10.1386/punk_00034_1
/content/journals/10.1386/punk_00034_1
/content/journals/10.1386/punk_00034_1
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): anarchism; performance; prison; Pussy Riot; resistance; utopia

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error