Do It Yourself - by Common/Wealth (Paperback)

About the Book

Do It Yourself is a practical guide for artists, activists, and organisers to create impactful theatre rooted in working-class communities. Drawing on fifteen years of experience, UK theatre company Common/Wealth share their experimental approach, offering a vision of theatre as a powerful tool for political change.

Book Synopsis

A unique guide to creating political theatre, produced by one of the UK's most exciting companies.

Do It Yourself is a vital resource for anyone interested in exploring theatre culture grounded in and produced by working-class communities. Designed for artists, activists and community organisers, the book offers a step-by-step guide to creating political theatre that is relevant, impactful and rooted in the lives of everyday people.

Common/Wealth have spent fifteen years working at the cutting edge of political theatre. In Do It Yourself, they share their experimental and activist approach to performance-making, based on DIY principles and the belief that ground-breaking theatre can be made with anyone, anywhere, in ways that truly resonate with the communities it serves.

Do It Yourself introduces Common/Wealth's artistic and political ethos, provides unique insights into their most significant performances and offers practical exercises for creating your own work. But this is not just a manual. It is a celebration of culture as a collective endeavour, one that can challenge the status quo and inspire change.

From the Back Cover

Do It Yourself: Making Political Theatre is a vital resource for anyone interested in exploring theatre culture grounded in and produced by working class communities. Designed for artists, activists and community organisers, the book offers a step-by-step guide to creating political theatre that is relevant, impactful and rooted in the lives of everyday people.

Common/Wealth have spent 15 years working at the cutting edge of political theatre. In this book they share their experimental and activist approach to performance-making, based on DIY principles and the belief that groundbreaking theatre can be made with anyone, anywhere, in ways that truly resonate with the communities it serves.

Do It Yourself: Making Political Theatre introduces Common/Wealth's artistic and political ethos, provides unique insights into their most significant performances and offers practical exercises for creating your own work. But this is not just a manual. It's a celebration of culture as a collective endeavour, one that can challenge the status quo and inspire change.

Review Quotes

'Do It Yourself is a vital handbook for making political, site-specific theatre when it is desperately needed. Common/Wealth are some of the very best in the business, prioritising conversation, play and invention in an approach that is irreverent, ingenious, generous-spirited and galvanising.'
--Jen Harvie, Queen Mary University of London

'This is a book about why theatre matters, why it matters who makes theatre, and what can be done to change how theatre is made. It is a force for good, a practical, passionate account of what's possible, and how to achieve the impossible. Read it, learn, and act. Now.'
--Helen Nicholson, Royal Holloway, University of London

'It's bloody excellent. Fuck me'
--Matt Woodhead. Co-Director, LUNG

'Accessible, engaging and deeply inspiring. At a time when so much seems so broken and in need of urgent action, this book serves as an important and highly practical resource for those who share Common/Wealth's conviction that theatre can change things for the better.'
--Bobby Smith, University of Warwick

About the Author

Evie Manning is Co-Artistic Director of Common/Wealth
Rhiannon White is Co-Artistic Director of Common/Wealth
Jenny Hughes is Professor of Drama at the University of Manchester

Common/Wealth are a Bradford and Cardiff based theatre company that make award-winning work across the UK and internationally. They are part of Arts Council England's and Arts Council Wales' National Portfolios'