Manifesto

Below is the original Free Theatre Christchurch Manifesto (written in 1982).

Writings by Free Theatre

Here we present additional writings by Free Theatre collaborators who have written about company productions and related subjects.

Free Theatre had a long connection with the University of Canterbury and we also include links to the MA and PhD theses of company members, which include explorations of Free Theatre work. 

Featured writings from the Free Theatre archives include Peter Falkenberg's 'Theatre of Unease', a chapter in a book on New Zealand theatre titled Performing Aotearoa: New Zealand Theatre and Drama in an Age of Transition (2007). 
Acting and its Refusal in Theatre and Film
Marian McCurdy, Intellect, 2017 

"Theatre after the earthquake: what's it worth?
Peter Falkenberg, Keynote Address,  Australasian Association for Theatre, Drama and Performance Studies, June 2016

"The Last Word"
George Parker, Playmarket Annual Journal, No. 51, September 2016

"Christchurch's 'edgy' strategy needs a home for edgy artists"
​George Parker, The Press, September 2016

"Here be Taniwha: performance research on the edge of the world"
George Parker, Embodying Transformation, 2015

"After the Rupture: Restoration or Revolution"
Peter Falkenberg and Thea Brejzek, Performance Research 19 (6), 2014

"Creative thinkers engage with real world problems"
Ryan Reynolds, George Parker and Peter Falkenberg, The Press, 18 November 2013

"Quake space in avant garde time"
Peter Falkenberg, 2013

"The Theatre as Counterpublic: From The Balcony to Distraction Camp"
Peter Falkenberg, 2010

"Nico: I'll be your mirror"
Peter Falkenberg, 2009

"Nothing Ever Happens Here"
Peter Falkenberg, 2007

"Remake: Parker-Hulme and The Maids"
Marian McCurdy, 2007

"Seeing 'new' seas/lands from the beach"
(Conclusion to PhD thesis: 'Actor Alone: Solo Performance in New Zealand')
George Parker, 2007

"Moving Targets: An "Illogical" Theatre of Resistance in (Pre)Occupied Territory"
Ryan Reynolds, 2007

"Theatre of Unease"
Peter Falkenberg 2006

"Fear of Flying (I): Samson Airline"
Peter Falkenberg, 2005/2006

'Why Devise? Why Now? Why New Zealand?" Peter Falkenberg, 2005

"Lacking Desire/Making Drama: The Theatrical Meets the Prosaic in a Post-Puritanical World"
Peter Falkenberg, 1999

"Lacking Drama, Making Theatre: Why Can't Robinson Crusoe Play?"
Peter Falkenberg, 1998

Towards a Free Theatre...

 Manifestos, essays and interviews from artists that have inspired Free Theatre's work:

André Antoine - From Théâtre-Libre / Free Theatre (1890)

Alfred Jarry - From De l'inutilite du theatre au theatre / On the Uselessness of Theatre in the Theatre (1896)

Ivan Goll - Preface to Methusalem or The Eternal Bourgeois (1922)

Karl Valentin - From Compulsory Theatre (c. 1925) 

Antonin Artaud - Letter to Comoedia (1932) 

Tadeusz Kantor - From Impossible Theatre (1972)

​Hélène Cixous - Laugh of the Medusa (1975)

Ariane Mnouchkine - Ariane Mnouchkine and the Theatre du Soleil: a life in Theatre (2012)

Writings about Free Theatre

Below is a range of writings about the company, which also give a sense of how Free Theatre (and theatre) is seen within the Christchurch and New Zealand cultural landscape.
"A Canterbury tale of Rebirth"
Charlie Gates, The Press, 2013

"A National Theatre in New Zealand? Why/Not?"
Theatre and Performance in Small Nations,
Sharon Mazer, 2013

"Outside the Square"
Rebecca Macfie, The Listener, 2012

"Free Fall"
Philip Matthews, The Press, 2011

"150 Reasons to Love Canterbury: Free Theatre
The Press

"Offering a manifesto of daring theatre"
Chris Moore, The Press, 2008

"Inspiring the space"
The Press, 1991

"The Free Theatre"
1984

"'Free Theatre' starts anew"
The Press, 1982

"New experimental theatre in the city"
The Christchurch Star, 1982

Theses by Free Theatre members

Sounding World: The Iconic Power of Sound in Tarkovsky’s Films
Stuart McKay, PhD, 2018 (in progress)

A Constant Magic: Explorations of Magic and Polyphasic Consciousness in Recent Theatre and Film.
Liz Boldt, PhD, 2017
​
Between Liminality and Transgression: Experimental Voice in Avant-Garde Performance.
Emma Johnston, PhD, 2015

Acting and its Refusal in Theatre and Film.
Marian McCurdy, PhD, 2014

Evangelistic Performance in New Zealand: The Word and What is Not Said
Greta Bond, PhD, 2008

Actor Alone: Solo Performance in New Zealand
George Parker, PhD, 2008

Women Murder Women: Case Studies in Theatre and Film
MA, 2007

Healing maori through song and dance? Three case studies of recent New Zealand music theatre.
Emma Johnston, MA, 2007

Moving targets: Political theatre in a post-political age
Ryan Reynolds, PhD, 2006

Stripping Men: A comparison of the New Zealand play Ladies Night and the British film The Full Monty as they (re)define maleness in the post-feminist world.
George Parker, MA, 2000

Seeing Friday: Problems of Perception and Reception in Post-Colonial Theatre. 
Greta Bond, MA, 1998

Theses by former Free Theatre members and people that have taken part in or written about Free Theatre productions include:
​
Creating a Modern Māori Identity Through Kapa Haka
Te Rita Papesch, PhD, 2015

Incapacity and Theatricality: politics and aesthetics in theatre involving actors with intellectual disabilities
Tony McCaffrey, PhD, 2015

The Rebellious Mirror, Before and after 1984: Community-based theatre in Aotearoa
Paul Maunder, PhD, 2010

The praxis of postcolonial intercultural theatre in Aotearoa New Zealand
Lilicherie McGregor, PhD, 2004

The idea(l) of the 'group' in radical theatre: a dramaturgical analysis of three American Theatre Groups of the 1960s
Roy Montgomery, PhD, 2002