An interview about censorship, the importance of free expression, going beyond borders, and how theatre can help to achieve change.  The Cockpit's commitment to allowing this, encouraging this, and how this fits with their tag line 'Theatre of Ideas and disruptive panache'.

By Heather Jeffery

The Cockpit is 50 years old this year and Dave Wybrow has worked here for 22 of those years. The strap line for the theatre ‘Theatre of ideas and disruptive panache’, is something that Wybrow has incorporated into his own appearance. Was he wearing a monocle as he appeared on zoom alongside Kate Lee and Amy Clare Tasker? His attire certainly makes a statement for individuality and he has a personality large enough to carry it well.  

We begin with an exploration of that strap line. We know very well that the theatre is constantly exploring ideas but what of the ‘disruptive panache’.  If anyone ever wondered whether democracy was the same as the rise of the individual, Wybrow immediately dispels this.  “Tension between democracy and the rise of the individual is what theatre is about” he explains. “It’s part of our culture (to push boundaries) and theatre mediates that tension.” Wybrow believes that this tension is metabolising change in bite sized chunks. Theatre and the arts in general help to bring about change.

Something that The Cockpit does very well is to allow an open forum by including people that would not have the chance of being included elsewhere.    “The Cockpit is in the round physically and it also encompasses all kinds of theatre” says Wybrow. “It democratises the process”. He explains that they are trying to come up with productions and strategies that hand over control of the art form to the people, including a universal idea of what theatre might be.    Festivals such as Dissident Voices and Voila Festival are part of this process to be as open as possible to ‘theatre of ideas and disruptive panache’.

However, anyone who might consider that means complete freedom to do whatever they like as theatre makers or audiences is mistaken. “Freedom of speech is never unlimited, there is no such thing anywhere in the world, it is always within the law” says Wybrow. “You are not allowed to set up racial hatred, not allowed to provoke violence. It’s not a universal come and let’s do whatever we like.  We constantly have to negotiate and fight for it.” The legal aspects limit what we may do, and he is clear that the fight for Freedom of speech is not the same as rights to do whatever you want. You must comply with the law of the land. “It’s about how we codify our values” he explains.

It is a negotiation but Wybrow believes has to be “up near that line otherwise it’s probably not worth doing it”. While there is nothing wrong with being offensive, if it’s going to push people over the edge, it’s the responsibility of the artist to take on that negotiation. Nobody wants to be actively disruptive, but people are going to get upset sometimes. Wybrow firmly believes that change is “incremental”. The Cockpit encourages these conversations in their programme of events including the current season of Dissident Voices and the upcoming Voila Festival.

It is something that larger theatres such as the National Theatres struggle to achieve, but Wybrow is adamant that such institutions are valuable. “We live in a meritocracy and one of the functions is to create inequality” he says. “Not everyone has the same access and whether you think there is something wrong with elites … we are all quite happy with elite artists. The problem is when elites become hermetic and pull up the draw bridge.”    He points out that theatres always tend to recruit others like themselves and so long as we want meritocracies there will be high achieving elites in theatre the same as anywhere else. The National is doing a good job to encourage diversity, but he acknowledges that there are people who “quite consciously like to keep people out”. He warns that “institutions that don’t change culturally, don’t survive and will end catastrophically.” 

It is all about who is allowed to speak, who can voice an opinion and who retains control. This is pertinent to Dissident Voices which showcases the work of elite artists who have actively challenged established systems of political or religious belief.  Kate Lee, Producer of Dissident Voices explains that the programme is focused on positivity. “They show the human spirit to survive through different types of adversity” says Lee.  “The abilities of humans to change their situations, to work against these awful oppressions experienced by so many.” It is the positive power of collective groups of people to fight oppression, despite being censored or being put in jail and even in some cases receiving a death penalty. “It’s unlikely that I could write anything that would get me thrown in jail in England” muses Lee.  The programme is not all about writers as it encompasses other artists. Nobel Prize winning Samuel Beckett is part of the programme, but he has not been chosen because he was a playwright. “It’s more about the message” says Lee. “Showing all the awful things that happen and what people in love do for each other; what people do to protect each other by finding new ways to challenges those things.”

Lee believes that we have the right “to challenge the norm and go against common sense”. She explains that “it’s those oppressive ideas that are completely accepted as normal that everyone should challenge.” That’s what Beckett was doing, questioning common sense and being true to himself. Normative assumptions need to be challenged. This is where The Cockpit it so valuable as people can produce these kinds of shows that it might not be possible to do elsewhere.   “I work at a posh office” explains Lee “and I don’t feel able to express myself … unless I’m at the cockpit.” It is small pieces of individual expression that make a difference. “Turning up as you are” she says, “as yourself, that’s partly what’s allowing us to have these conversations”. 

“At the moment” says Wybrow “we are in the midst of terrific change and theatre helps us to process that change in action”. The Voila! Europe Theatre Festival aims to “connect border-busting theatre to citizens of everywhere in a programme of cross-cultural, cross-disciplinary performance.   Co-Director Amy Clare Tasker says that they are currently calling for proposals from like-minded artists for performances in November 2021. The festival is live on stage in London and live online everywhere, gathering together a community of the culturally curious. It embraces all styles of theatre and art. It has included circus, devised work, mime, puppetry and projections. “It’s 360 degrees, dance, music, and art” says Tasker.  “One of last year’s events had advance information, asking audiences to participate in questionnaires and emails. It was part watching videos and part live action, digitally performed.” It is an “expanded festival” explains Tasker and she feels comfortable that it is pushing the boundaries of what might be considered to be theatrical.

The festival which first opened in 2017 was originally in French and English.  Post Brexit the festival is now working across hard boarders, which can make it tougher for companies to take part.  “One of our supporters is the Hungarian cultural centres (in London)” says Tasker. “We supported a show being made in Budapest for on demand viewing so this cutting-edge theatre company, STEREO AKT, was able to present their show (European Freaks) at Voila Festival with a zoom audience.” She stresses that it was “everyone all together on zoom presenting a ground-breaking cross-borders collaboration”. 

The Festival also pushes the boundaries of subject matter and goes beyond what is dominant in the mainstream. One of the highlights has been PSYCHEdelight’s BORDERLINE (2016), a multilingual satirical comedy about the Calais Jungle, devised with refugees. More recently subjects have included an investigation of webcam sex work and exploring the taboos of living with IBD (both 2020).

The interview rounds up with a final question about freedom of expression which Wybrow is keen to answer.   “We wouldn’t have a debate around freedom of expression unless there were problems” he says. The amount of freedom we have is dictated by the law of the land and this includes freedom of expression. “If we have a fundamentally powerful impulse to say something, it should always be given room” says Wybrow. “Certainly, those things that people don’t know how to express, or don’t have the resources to express, or don’t have command over the resources, we reach for that and pull them forward. That’s our job”

“Imagination is divine” says Wybrow. “We are giving the resources. We are inviting the people in, and we are handing it over to audiences.”