“Four legs badass, two legs wasteman!” Reimagining Orwell for Austerity Britain

The use of public environment as alternative auditoria and ‘mixed economy’ participation to create new writing which originates from, and is rooted in, a community’s history, culture and people. With special reference to Revolution Farm, my contemporary, urban update of Orwell’s Animal Farm, in this paper I contend that the originality of my plays/works lie in the exploration and practical application of a London-centred, urban, community-based arts aesthetic towards new writing and performance. This promotes the use of unorthodox and/or local performance spaces, and also reconfigures and recalibrates the relationship between audience and performers through ‘mixed economy’ casting and celebration of local culture, with the aim of creating a theatre that is rooted in a local neighborhood’s social, economic and cultural fabric.