Although it has been repeatedly described and predicted that political movements are largely shifting to digital media, expectations of political theater and action art have tended to increase: theater should not only reflect or criticize social reality, but also intervene directly in reality. The boundary between art and activism is becoming more permeable, resulting in increased demands on theater to have an impact. The book explores the forms and traditions of such interventionist theater practice—and what we can hope to gain from it. It is about theater that operates on the borderline of direct action, without being able to completely leave behind the refractions, detours, and indirectness of theatrical performances.

Matthias Warstat from subproject A01 will discuss the book and its theses together with Joy Kristin Kalu (Professor of Theory of Performative Arts at the Berlin University of the Arts) and Julius Heinicke (Professor of Cultural Policy at the University of Hildesheim).