Over the last several years, I’ve been working on what I call “survivor-centered theatre.” This kind of theatre considers survivors of sexual and gender-based violence as a particular audience with their own specific needs. Survivor-centered theatre presents narratives of survivorship in ways that are meant to resonate with that audience of survivors– so that they may see and feel seen, knowing that they are not alone. The hope is that this shared theatrical experience can offer care and community to survivors in their healing journey. This practice works for justice by validating survivors’ experiences and empowering them to share their stories.
Below, I share a framework of guiding principles for making survivor-centered theatre. These come from years of theatre practice, collaboration and conversation with fellow artists, victim advocacy work, and scholarly research—and they’re perpetually evolving! As I offer them here, these principles represent foundational values that can take shape in a variety of practical ways. The aim is to promote a working practice that is grounded in intersectional feminism and an ethic of care. I hope that artists will find them useful and adaptable to all kinds of projects, to serve the specific needs and interests of their own communities.
Principle 1- Survivor-centered theatre imagines a receptive, affirming audience of survivors with shared, though not identical, experiences. In this space, survivor narratives are shared with the expectation that they will be believed. Most theatre shows are not literally “true stories” of actual historical people and events, but they represent “transmissible truths” (a term from trauma theorist & literary scholar Cathy Caruth[1])—they ring true and resonate with people who share similar experiences.
So often, when survivors of sexual violence tell their stories, they are met with what philosopher Kristie Dotson terms “epistemic violence” in response. They aren’t believed; they are discredited as knowers and as bearers of knowledge. This epistemic violence cuts to the core of one’s personhood—it’s dehumanizing. In survivor-centered theatre, we honor the truth of survivor narratives. This assumption of credibility is an act of resistance against epistemic violence, and of care, affirmation, and justice for survivors.
Principle 2- Survivor-centered theatre presents survivors as protagonists and represents narratives with care and specificity, using an intersectional lens. We represent survivors onstage as multifaceted, human characters, and we treat them with dignity—so no women in refrigerators. We know that survivors are not a monolith; gender-based violence doesn’t affect all individuals and communities in the same way, which is why survivor-centered theatre is grounded in intersectional feminism, with attention to the ways that various intersecting aspects of identity, power, and oppression impact how we tell stories and how they might be received.
Pop culture and media continue to perpetuate the myth of the “ideal victim”—a young, white, straight, cisgender, able-bodied, middle-class woman. This is the “survivor” who gets the most popular attention, but this is not representative of who experiences gender violence. In survivor-centered theatre, we challenge popular misconceptions and stereotypes about survivorship, and we offer diverse points of resonance and identification for audiences. This means collaboration among artists of diverse identities and lived experiences at all stages of the creative process—from the playwright to the director to the costume designer to the actors onstage.
Principle 3- Survivor-centered theatre is critical feminist political art. Simply representing and replicating violence and trauma onstage is not, in itself, a feminist statement. We need to think about our production as a whole, and how it fits into the bigger picture beyond the theatre. Theatre doesn’t happen in a vacuum—and neither do incidents of gender violence. We use theatre to interrogate the sociocultural factors and the systems of oppression that perpetuate violence. And we consider patriarchal violence holistically, along with racism, ableism, homophobia, and other intersecting oppressive structures.
We need to take care before and during the production process to ask: What messages are communicated in this dramatic text and in our staging? Which values are challenged and subverted, and which are promoted or affirmed? In theatre, we can denounce the oppressive status quo, and we can also represent and model the society we do want. Our stagings can depict acts of care and support, journeys of healing, and relationships and communities that are grounded in equity and collective care.
Principle 4- Survivor-centered theatre prioritizes a feminist ethic of care throughout rehearsal and production. Feminist philosophy emphasizes that care is essential to activist work. Patricia Hill Collins identifies “three components of the ethic of caring—the value placed on individual expressiveness, the appropriateness of emotions, and the capacity for empathy.”[3] Theatre often celebrates all three of these things—expressiveness! Emotions! Empathy! That’s what we’re all about, right? Well…for certain people.
Mainstream theatre spaces have historically marginalized people of color, women, trans and gender-nonconforming people, and people with disabilities and visible differences. Moreover, the white-dominated, patriarchal mainstream theatre industry has historically enabled and perpetuated abuse at systemic and personal levels. Within this—frankly—oppressive industry, if we sustain an ethic of care and support survivors of gender violence by prioritizing them as human artists, as narrative subjects, and as spectators – THAT is radical, subversive, powerful activist work.
Principle 5- Survivor-centered theatre incorporates trauma-informed, consent-based practices at all stages of rehearsal and production. We understand that trauma can impact individuals in different ways, and we are are conscious of this in our creative and professional processes. Audiences and artists may have various responses to seeing violence onstage or staging it in the rehearsal room, and we can’t predict what these will be. But we can be aware of possible trauma responses, and we can treat people with care. Being a victim advocate has taught me that survivors know best what their needs are; being trauma-informed means offering options for care, and empowering survivors to make their own decisions.[4]
These trauma-informed practices go hand in hand with informed consent at all steps of the production process, for artists and for audiences. This means:
- Clear communication about the content and staged action within texts and performances.
- Using consent-based practices in rehearsal. Lots of shows now involve intimacy choreographers, and this is awesome. I recommend that all theatre artists take some kind of intimacy training. It helps everyone become more intentional and caring in their work.
Centering trauma-informed care and empowering artists and audiences with agency are liberatory practices that support individual and collective healing as we envision paths forward from patriarchal violence.
Principle 6- Survivor-centered theatre works to cultivate a sense of community and solidarity among artists and spectators, while honoring differences in identity and lived experience. Theatre is a collaborative art form, so it’s very possible to build partnerships and create art based on shared experiences. But some identity- and community-based experiences are unique, and not all theatre shows will represent “all survivors”—in fact, there is no “all survivors.” And this is ok—specificity is key.
We want to prioritize audience engagement—and this means different things to different people; it can happen in a variety of ways. It’s important to have a relationship with the community we want to serve, so that we can understand what kinds of engagement they value and respond to. With each production, we ask: How can we create meaningful connections through the theatre experience that audiences and artists can take with them beyond the theatre experience?
These are the guiding principles of survivor-centered theatre. They are deliberately broad, as I outline them here; they emphasize intention and values. The details of how these principles take shape in actual theatre productions are what I explore in my ongoing work. Ultimately, what underpins all of the principles is care. Care is an actionable value that can manifest in many ways, and it should be centered in all theatre practice—not just when we do shows that deal with gender-based violence.
If you’re interested in talking more about survivor-centered theatre and the guiding principles, I would love to hear from you. If you are an artist interested in making survivor-centered theatre, definitely please do reach out! I am always interested in conjuring and collaborating with new folks, and I’m happy to talk shop anytime. Let’s make something incredible.
[1] Cathy Caruth, “Recapturing the Past: Introduction,” in Trauma: Explorations in Memory, ed. Cathy Caruth (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995), 151–57.
[3] Patricia Hill Collins, “The Social Construction of Black Feminist Thought,” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 14, no. 4 (1989): 745–73.
[4] For more on trauma-informed care, see Denise E. Elliott et al., “Trauma-Informed or Trauma-Denied: Principles and Implementation of Trauma-Informed Services for Women,” Journal of Community Psychology 33, no. 4 (July 2005): 461–77, https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.20063.
