The Forest and the Field

CAN THEATRE CHANGE THE WORLD? In his first full-length book, critically acclaimed writer and maker Chris Goode explores the relationships that make up the theatrical encounter: between ‘empty’ space and inhabited place; between actors and audiences; between theatre itself and the world around it. Drawing on a wealth of examples from the broadest possible range of practice – performative, artistic and political – his conclusions are radical, urgent and profoundly humane. ‘Using Goode’s terminology, this is a book for “makers againstthe- grain”. But it’s also for anyone living under capitalism who has ever thought about art. The breadth of Goode’s frame is mind-boggling: his subjects range from theatre to poetry to the photographs of Ryan McGinley; from Marina Abramović to John Berger to Rodgers and Hammerstein; from the queerness of noise to the poetics of nakedness. No one thinks into his subject more deeply and no one writes with more rigour and more candour. This book is burrowing, roaming, illuminating, respectful – but it’s also unafraid to take a swipe where a swipe is needed. It’s personal and passionately reasoned. It reads like a fiercely brainy love letter from someone who believes for dear life that theatre can change the world and that the world needs changing. The Forest and the Field is not easy. It should not be easy. It will require your attention. But your attention will be rewarded.’ Tim Crouch