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Article Excerpt
The first act of imagination required of any social change activist is the vision of a better world. The next challenge is to imagine ways to convey this vision to others. In its broadest sense, political theatre is the act of conveying this imagined better world to the everyday onlooker. Understood in this way, theatre is not just a technique that 'may' be used in protests but is indispensable. Theatre in protest can range from spontaneous street theatre through to entirely serious (even unlawful) acts of defiance embellished by the use of subtle psychological tools intended to manipulate meaning. This understanding of theatre is deliberately broad and it is intended to encapsulate a whole range of psychological devices associated with protest that can be intricately woven into the fabric of the experience. Devices such as imagination, ritual, ceremony, romance and symbolism, when combined with bold physical acts of protest, disobedience and defiance produce a powerful medium for asserting dissent.
Environmental protests since the 1970s, in Australia particularly, have provided a colourful stage for the theatre of protest. The activities of radical environmental organisations such as the North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) in north eastern NSW have done much to stretch the envelope of politically acceptable direct action protest. NEFA successfully highlighted the extent of old growth logging in north eastern NSW by conducting a decade-long and politically highly successful guerrilla-style (1) campaign of direct action. NEFA achieved particular notoriety in 1992 when a group of activists travelled to Sydney to stage a series of controversial direct actions at the parliament, and later at the offices of the NSW Forestry Commission. These actions were as bold as they were theatrical, and as such provide excellent case studies for analysis.
Theatrical and imaginative portrayals of physical protests can produce a kind of paradigmatic theatre that has the capacity not only to magnify the political message, but also to empower protesters and, more subtly, to decentre 'protestees'. (2) The important but sometimes subtle inter-subjective aspects of such experiences will be examined by reference to the accounts of individuals involved in the depicted events.
The Nature of 'Direct Action'
Whilst all protests have by nature an element of theatre, 'direct action' refers to a particular type of protest that is probably more deliberate in its theatrical component than traditional forms of protest, such as marches and rallies. Direct action is a highly visual form of protest that not only presents an image of dissent, as all protests do, but which also frequently involves very physical acts with immediate consequences.
Marches and rallies usually rely on the presence of large numbers of people to portray powerful opposition, but without reading the banners or hearing the speeches, the casual onlooker may not instantly recognise the political point that is being made. Direct action usually transmits a much sharper image to the onlooker, whether it is a blockade of a forest, the blocking of an industrial waste pipe, or the takeover of a particular government building. These types of actions have two significant attributes: first, they involve a definite physical act with real consequences; and second, they graphically portray an image that carries a political message. Theatre is inextricably involved in this portrayal because embedded within the spectacle of direct actions is a set of conscious and unconscious assertions about reality that help to define the event and its significance for both protesters and protestees.
Direct action is particularly suited to actions by small groups of activists. Social movements do not always have the luxury of being able to mobilise large numbers of people for protests, nor the time to build a campaign to the point where this is possible. The sense of urgency that accompanies environmental campaigns has frequently been the context within which activists have utilised direct action as a means of attracting attention, as well as aiming to achieve the more direct aim of physically stopping destruction in its tracks.
As Timothy Doyle observes:
Any individual or network can embark upon direct action. It needs no formal approval from any organisation, corporation or institution. It often occurs as a last ditch attempt to protect a specific environment. It sometimes involves breaking the law. It is the most obvious and visible form of informal political activity. (3)
What is fascinating about direct action for present purposes, however, is not the mere fact that it attracts attention or that it can transmit clear and powerful political messages, but the ways it can affect the worldview of those involved. One of the most psychologically powerful aspects of theatrical direct action is that it can have an empowering effect upon participants and a destabilising effect upon the worldview of protestees.
As Rogers observes: 'The power of direct action should not be underestimated. Direct Action provokes rebellion, creates cohesion and often changes the values and philosophy of the participants'. (4) NEFA provides a suitable case study of a radical protest movement that has successfully used bold and highly theatrical portrayals of its actions to both empower its participants and promote its own political messages. NEFA had gained a reputation by mid-1992 as one of the most uncompromising, efficient and highly successful protest organisations in the country, and by the mid-1990s NEFA was being called upon to conduct training workshops for other activist groups and student organisations, and frequently provided assistance to blockades in other parts of the country. (5) NEFA activists have more recently established university accredited training courses that provide training in activism and advocacy techniques.
Reality with an Edge of Theatre, Theatre with an Edge of Reality
The use of the word theatre, even in the broad sense in which it is employed here, may be apt to create a misleading impression that direct action events are merely staged publicity stunts, but this is not the case. Journalists have become wary of the pure publicity stunt organised by protest groups, whereas a genuine physical blockade of a logging operation or takeover of a public building has an unmistakeable feeling of a real life news story rather than a mere staged event. It is the combination of serious political action with theatrical portrayal that creates the most potent outcomes.
NEFA's blockades and direct actions, despite all the theatre, imagination and romance involved, were also serious acts of sustained civil disobedience in which the intention of participants was to achieve a physical halt to destructive activities. If public spectacle were the only point of direct action, one would expect the protest to evaporate once the glare of public attention dissipated. This, however,...
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