Is theatre more left wing than other art forms? Yes – and so it should be

A couple of nights ago a question arose in our post-show discussion. It is a question I am familiar with. I run Theatre Uncut. We commission writers to create short plays that explore social or political issues. We then release these plays, rights free, to be performed by anyone anywhere for a limited period and stage them in leading theatres across the country. So far this year 328 groups in 25 countries have downloaded the plays. While we don’t advertise our own political persuasion it is pretty obvious to which side we lean: we were set up in response to the cuts. We use the word ‘social’ believing that society very much exists. We give plays to other makers rights free. So the question that arose is what we often get asked: what about right-wing voices? What about a play by a right-wing writer?

There are two elements that underlie this question: whether it’s our job as theatre makers from a certain political persuasion to show a voice that we don’t agree with, and what exactly constitutes ‘right-wing’.