Quaker Arts Network highlight performance witness
'Singing affects onlookers too, she said, speaking directly to their hearts, rather than minds, and making them feel part of it.'
Friends gathered to discuss ‘performance as witness’ this month.
Linda Murgatroyd, clerk of the Quaker Arts Network (QAN), which organised the event, told the Friend that the idea occurred to her when she learned that a number of the initiators of Climate Choir were Quakers. ‘The movement has grown very quickly in the last year or so, with a number of magnificent pop-up concerts protesting about various acts of environmental damage,’ she said.
Jo Flanagan, founder of Climate Choir, was part of the online panel, as well as Michael Mears, actor and writer, and Mary Troup, musician, storyteller and teacher.
‘We had already seen how Mary Troup’s work with children had been invited to the Scottish Parliament, and how Michael Mears’ two recent plays, This Evil Thing (about conscription in world war one) and The Mistake (about the Hiroshima bomb), had brought the horrors of war to new audiences (including schools) and had reminded others of them,’ said Linda. ‘These are all really important areas of Quaker witness which don’t feature much in the mainstream of arts and culture.’
Although all these examples use performance art as a means of witness, they do it in different ways, said Linda. ‘We thought it would be interesting to explore how their experience had impacted on them personally, in terms of their spiritual life and sense of calling, or witness. It would also be interesting to hear about the impact on other participants in the performances, and on audiences.’
Jo Flanagan told the Friend that singing offers a ‘powerful’ way to witness. ‘It moves people in a different way. I have seen people reduced to tears. Singing is so healing.’
Singing affects onlookers too, she said, speaking directly to their hearts, rather than minds, and making them feel part of it. Footage can also live on after the witness, said Jo, reaching others through social media. ‘I try to incorporate pathos and humour. For instance, there are some videos we did of witnesses against HSBC. As the shareholders arrived, they were greeted by the Kurt Vonnegut quote: “Dear future generations, please accept our apologies. We were rolling drunk on petroleum.” We had people dressed as shareholder executives and board members, toasting their enormous profits in champagne flutes of oil. That got coverage all around the world.’
