IMPROBABLE

DEVOTED AND DISGRUNTLED: ABOUT

“It leapt on to an empty stage: it wobbled, it looked as if it would never

take off, and then suddenly, it was flying. Sky-high. A Theatrical St
Crispin’s Day”
Susannah Clapp, The Observer, about Devoted and Disgruntled 1

As a result of a NESTA fellowship, Phelim McDermott was able to train in and

research some new ways of working with groups, learning from other creative and
developmental fields. One of these was Open Space Technology, a method of
democratising discussion in which participants create and manage their own
agenda of parallel working sessions. Finding himself devoted and disgruntled
about the world he worked in, Phelim decided to host with Improbable, their first
Open Space Event, in the hope of supporting some creative ideas and actions
around the issues people feel passionate about and wish could be different.

In January 2006, we hosted our first Open Space, Devoted and Disgruntled:
What are we going to do about theatre? The event, for 220 people, sold out and
generated a vast amount of interest.

Devoted and Disgruntled has become an ongoing Open Space forum, which
invites all areas of the theatre and performance community to unite to create new
models of being, thinking and doing. It is also an opportunity for the arts
community to address pressing issues that often get marginalised in the process
of day-to-day survival in the arts world.

THE IMPACT

We could never have imagined the impact of this event. As a result of this and the
issues emerging from the wider performance community we have facilitated
numerous Open Space Events throughout the UK and internationally, with a
diverse group of cultural organizations, addressing a wide variety of questions, all
aiming to take action and to make a difference. Organisations we have worked
with include: the National Theatre of Scotland; the London International Theatre
Festival; the Producers Forum; Theatre Bristol; British Council Brazil; The Place;
Dance UK and Total Theatre. As a company we are also using Open Space as a
model to aid more effective communication and collaboration within our own
organization.

THE FUTURE

We are planning a wide-ranging series of Open Space Events for 2009/10 with arts
organizations in the UK and abroad as well as the beginnings of work with the
corporate sector. If you are interested in engaging with us in this new adventure
of trying to make change happen, if you are just curious about a new way of
working with groups in a self organising way, or if you think this is something you,
your organisation or your particular world / community should engage with,
please phone Nick Sweeting on 0207 240 4556 to discuss it further.