Workshopping Intervention

As a precursor to what became Stages of Transformation, a group of socially-engaged theatre artists from across the land came together for a digital gathering on an afternoon in June 2021 to discuss the possibilities and limits of what theatre (as a sector, as a craft, as a community) can learn from abolition movements.

Artists and writers Makram Ayache and Marilo Nuñez served as rapporteurs for this workshop, and present their accounts of the conversation in this duet of reports.

Message from Makram and Marilo

We are very honoured to be presenting our reflective essays as co-rapporteurs for Workshopping Intervention. Workshopping Intervention was a national gathering of activist theatre artists to reflect on the ways in which work is or could better be intersecting with prison abolition movements. Our reports are not a moment-to-moment transcription of the event. Our responses are very much coloured by our positionality, class, gender, and racial experiences. We were asked to distill and take away what was impactful and resonant. In reading our reflections, we hope you will be challenged with new ideas, implored to new questions, and shifted in your own thinking about how accountability and justice show up in our theatre sector.

We both felt excited by the prospect of writing two documents, which could allow us to see how our separate reflections, on the same event, collide and align. This experience felt much more than just reporting on a meeting. At times, we felt the stakes of abolition were personally affecting. We were curious about the ideas presented by the artists involved and ultimately, we wanted to write reports that shared the scope and depth of all who took part.

We approached the writing in distinct but similar ways. Makram is an essayist, blogger, and playwright, meaning he’s familiar with writing for an online audience. Makram took care to reflect the words and motivations of the artists with acuity and clarity. He, however, did not shy away from interjecting with his ideas, insights, and reflections. Marilo, on the other hand, is an experienced academic writer and playwright with a nuanced approach to writing that welcomes a personalized sensibility. Or: like a conversation between the reader (you) and Marilo. She wanted to have you see the experience through her eyes. She did not shy away from her own biases or ignorance within the process.

Both of us came away affected and moved by the entire enterprise. We felt the word, abolition, previously related to the emancipation of enslaved people, took on a different and broader meaning. Marilo felt abolition was a word that she did not think about or consider in her day-to-day or artistic life. The word made her come up against her own thoughts about government, policing, and laws. She had to take a step back and really ask herself: Where do I stand when it comes to abolition? Makram felt he came into the conversation with a sensibility around abolition – particularly relating to prison abolition. However, he was invigorated by the opportunity to expand and grow his knowledge, language, and strategizing around the pillars of abolition.

Thank you so much for joining us on this ride.

—Makram Ayache and Marilo Nuñez

Download the full report (PDF)

To request this report in an accessible format, please contact us.