Network Resistance

The production and my role:

Network Resistance appeared as part of the second year module, the Political Theatre Performance Project at the University of York. This was part of the BA, Theatre: Writing, Directing and Performance course. The show took place May 2nd and 3rd, 2025.

The Political Theatre Performance Project challenges students to work in groups to create, manage and stage a 30-minute political performance following industry-standard methods under a theme provided, we were given the theme "hope." There were three groups total, and I worked in a group of 17 people to create what became Network Resistance. 

The first five (out of ten) teaching weeks were dedicated to generating ideas for our performance, and slowly allocating roles. The latter five weeks were time for us as a group to write, design and stage our production. The roles of director and producer, whose responsibilities align more with that of a company stage manager, were allocated by vote, where nominees would have a 10 minute presentation on why they would be the most suited for the role. 

As lots of the responsibilities I would usually hold were divided to other roles due to the departments outline, l ended up being key to making sure all elements of the process were going smoothly. More specifically, I worked with the director, DSM, production manager, key contact writer and key contact dramaturg to plan out a realistic timeline. I ended up mediating discussions between departments when tensions were high and there were disagreements. This was especially the case because we had to write, stage and design the show simultaneously. What didn't help was that we had a 2 week spring break which upon it finishing, left us with 2 weeks before the performance dates. Due to feedback we received before our spring break, it was decided by the writers to change the script completely. Meetings had to happen outside course time, and the conclusion that due to time when we were back and having to re-stage/design the whole show if given a new script, a compromise was made to adapt the script to follow as much feedback as we could to try and limit pressure from all departments. On top of being a mediator, I was responsible for managing the budget and filling out related documentation for reimbursement, and oversee that stage management complete the risk assessments.

This project was definitely a challenge and something I've never experienced before in terms of having to write, design and stage a show within a 5 week period. However, despite the stresses, the final product was a success!