Narratives of home: Exploring the practice of space in socially engaged theatre as a means of resisting

2018年7月，在当地居民长期强烈反对的情况下，南华克议会投票赞成拆除大象城堡购物中心。这一决定威胁到约130家现有零售商，以及伦敦最大的拉美社区。重建计划最初只包括900多个“经济适用房”中的33个，尽管通过当地的活动，这个数字已经增加到116个。尽管最近在反对拆除克里斯普街市场（Chrisp Street Market）的运动中取得了胜利，Focus E15运动也取得了成功，使一些居民有权留在纽汉的卡彭特斯庄园（Carpenters Estate），但伦敦的中产阶级化仍在无情地进行着，并无情地导致了市政房产的破坏和社会住房居民的流离失所。这一轨迹在很大程度上要归功于政府对理事会庄园及其居民的妖魔化，以及媒体通过“失败叙事”对它们的描绘，[Beswick, 2019]。我的研究调查了如何通过戏剧和社区内的表演探索家庭的叙述，可以通过加强社区身份并将这些与关键机构一起发挥作用来创造战略性的社会变革。通过在不同社区的一系列实践研究项目，以及纵向研究，我将记录促进理事会屋苑和社区士绅化和流离失所的战略要素，以及居民实践这些空间的方式，以记录社会住房的使用和弹性的持久见证。其结果将是发展一种社会变革的舞台模式，其目的是在战略上抵制为流离失所提供便利；通过创建一份关于这一主题的政策文件，旨在为这项工作的未来提供建议。

In July 2018, amid long-standing and fierce opposition from local residents, Southwark Council voted in favour of demolishing the Elephant & Castle shopping centre. The decision threatens some 130 existing retailers, and the biggest Latin American community in London. The planned redevelopment originally included only 33 'affordable' properties out of over 900, although this has been raised to 116 through local campaigning.Despite recent victories against the demolishing of Chrisp Street Market, and the success of the Focus E15 campaign which gave some residents the right to stay on the Carpenters Estate in Newham, the story of gentrification in London is relentless and ongoing, and inexorably contributes to destruction of council estates and the displacement of residents of social housing.This trajectory owes a debt in no small part to both the demonisation of council estates and their residents through government, and the portrayal of them in the media through a 'failure narrative', [Beswick, 2019]. My research investigates how exploring narratives of home through theatre and performance within communities, can create strategic social change by strengthening community identities and putting these into play with key agencies. Through a series of practice research projects in different communities, and a longitudinal research study, I will document both the strategic elements that facilitate the gentrification and displacement of council estates and communities, and the way in which these spaces are practiced by residents, in order to record alasting testimony to the use and resilience of social housing.The outcome will be to develop a model of theatre for social change that aims to work strategically to resist the facilitation of displacement; and through creating a policy paper on the subject, aim to offer recommendations for the future borne out of this work.