Manifesto for a Workers Theatre

1. The Workers Theatre is democratically owned and managed by its workers for its workers, its city, and its world
2. The Workers Theatre will put on shows that entertain and radicalise
3. The Workers Theatre will take risks
4. All labour is equal and should be equally well-paid
5. The shit jobs should be shared
6. Our art will be committed to the liberation of all people
7. The Workers Theatre will find and explore new economic models that enable anyone to live from and enjoy art.
8. The Workers Theatre rejects privatised profit as the enemy of good art
9. The Workers Theatre will be professional, organised, and effective
10. Our art will not be used for exploitation or gentrification – it will resist
11. The Workers Theatre will be populist but not shit
12. The Workers Theatre will be experimental but not shit
13. The Workers Theatre rejects ‘edginess’ as a political statement
14. The Workers Theatre can be any kind of theatre and theatre can be any kind of thing
15. The Workers Theatre will be diverse – in its people, its content, and its discussions
16. The Workers Theatre will be deeply comfortable and deeply accessible – a free community space
17. The Workers Theatre will be a safer space, where everyone can feel welcomed and respected
18. The Workers Theatre believes in pleasure
19. The Workers Theatre is internationalist; it will tour and be toured to
20. The Workers Theatre does not recognise borders
21. The Workers Theatre aims to be truly independent, free of the restrictions of state and corporate funding — even if it takes a hundred years
22. The Workers Theatre is a process, an experiment, a work of art, that will take time and compromise