In Defence of Theatre: Aesthetic Practices and Social Interventions ed. by Kathleen Gallagher and Barry Freeman (review)

In Defence of Theatre: Aesthetic Practices and Social Interventions offers a range of responses to the prominent question: "why do we need theatre"? This edited collection is timely and shares an interesting and diverse range of voices. Issues around politics of place, gender, and inclusivity are discussed through the lenses of current theatre and performance practices in Canada. Editors Kathleen Gallagher and Barry Freeman have assembled chapters written by authors in a variety of registers, including interviews with playwrights John Mighton and Ann-Marie MacDonald, the artistic director of Shaw Festival, Jackie Maxwell, and Julie Tepperman and Aaron Willis, artistic directors of Convergence Theatre. The style and delivery of each chapter is different, and a range of case studies are presented offering various standpoints on the importance of theatre. By using Canada as a grounded site of analysis, the contributions in this volume compromise a set of artistic practices that picture an interregional and international cultural landscape. This mode of enquiry coincides with Anatoli Vassiliev's 2016 message for the World Theatre Day in which he asks: "do we need theatre"?¹ Vassiliev's provocation alongside Gallagher and Freeman's edited volume, comes at a moment of ideological crisis in the cultural sector in which political instability and funding cuts forced many artists and organizations to reconsider their ethos and reposition themselves in relation to the marketization of the arts and to the instrumentalization of cultural policy. This political and economic instability reinforced a problematic notion of belonging within the theatre sector itself and in the humanities at large. Therefore, repositioning and resituating the importance of theatre making at the centre of the political and social landscape is imperative. The starting point of this volume is the introductory chapter by Gallagher and Freeman, in which they situate and conceptualize the rationale and themes of the book. Andrew Kushnir foregrounds these issues by presenting a case of theatre as a platform to humanize the audience and celebrate com munities. Drawing on her experiences conducting a series of workshops with military male students, Julie Salveson explores the issue of unspeakable vulnerabilities. She presents the argument that "theatre is vital in a pro foundly damaged world" and it can offer spaces for an open encounter with the participants' emotional and psychological complexities. Judith Thompson's exploration of the universality of theatre practices in the context of making theatre with performers with Down syndrome con cludes that its significance lies in its aliveness and presence in the here and now. This collection helpfully expands the debate on "why theatre now" by providing a selection of points of view and experiences offering a hopeful message for the future of theatre.