Auto-theatre in the era of post-truth

Abstract

Detoxification of society polluted with the post-truth and establishing communication with other people under new principles, in the context of fundamental trust, is today the most urgent social need. The politics of post-truth can only by confronted with a utopia of authenticity, nowadays practiced and tested in the most comprehensive way by auto-theatre. Auto-theatre is the kind of theatre in which artists speak from the stage on their own behalf and under their own names, not the names of characters. They refer to their own experiences, explore their personal limitations, reveal their weaknesses, problematize the situation in which they speak, define and question their identities, disclose the backstage of theatrical process, relations inside the team, institutional restrictions, economic conditions, ideological uneasiness. Auto-theatre is not necessarily a theatrical convention, but rather a formula for initiating communication with the audience under new principles.

Auto-theatre can, of course, have many variations, from autobiographical solo performance to elaborate ensemble performances, but always focuses on at least one of two issues: deconstructing the theatre medium into its component parts, and/or empowering participants in the performance.