Truth to Power Café : Jeremy Goldstein
"Revolutionary theatre at its simplest and most direct"
- Guardian
Part theatrical performance, part activism - each event is told through memoir, monologue, music, film, image, poetry, and true and passionate stories from community participants of all ages, experiences, and backgrounds, speaking up in response to the question: 'Who has power over you and what do you want to say to them?’
From Adelaide to Zagreb and now at New Annual for its Newcastle premiere, Jeremy Goldstein’s Truth to Power Café is a profound theatrical reflection on loss, hope, and resistance.
This inspirational and award-winning performance event is told through memoir, image, film, poetry, music, and true and authentic stories in response to the question: ‘Who has power over you and what do you want to say to them?’
Personal, professional or political - speaking truth to power is a non-violent means of conflict resolution, the origins of which lie in the anti-war movement. Is it to your parents, a sibling, politician, landlord, neighbor, banker, boss, or simply your best friend? It’s time to tell them the truth before it’s too late.
Truth to Power Café is inspired by the political and philosophical beliefs of Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter and his inner circle “The Hackney Gang”, which included Café creator Jeremy Goldstein’s late father, Mick Goldstein, and poet and actor Henry Woolf. For sixty years “The Hackney Gang” maintained their belief in speaking truth to power and remained firmly on the side of the occupied and the disempowered and their allies. It is these people we invite to appear in the show.
NEW ANNUAL PARTICIPANTS
Rachel Bond, Beverley Burlakov, Catherine Grant-Geary, Damien Linnane, Emma Monk, Joey Porter, Zippie Tiffenright, Ed Wright.
REVIEWS
★★★★★
“A stunning work of theatrical activism that has the potential to move and motivate.”
~The Queer Review New York
★★★★★
“A priceless repository of living social history, wit, wisdom and defiance.”
~Attitude Magazine UK
“A highly original mix of personal memoir, pungent testimony, and political resistance. It is heartfelt, passionate, and lovably odd.”
~Michael Billington, Guardian theatre critic UK
“The socially engaged theatre work gives poignant political expression to lived experiences."
~The Saturday Paper Australia
DURATION
60 minutes
ACCESSIBILITY
Lift in eastern end of venue. All levels accessible.
CONTENT & SENSORY WARNING
Performances may contain course language and stories of lived experience that include trauma, political stances and adult themes. Recommended viewing for audiences ages 14+
ARTISTS & COLLABORATORS
Created, written and performed by Jeremy Goldstein with Henry Woolf
Director: Jen Heyes
Banner artwork: Ed Hall
Videographer: Conor MacMahon
Lighting: Nigel Edward
New Annual Participants: Rachel Bond, Beverley Burlakov, Catherine Grant-Geary, Damien Linnane, Emma Monk, Joey Porter, Zippie Tiffenright, Ed Wright
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Truth to Power Café is a London Artists Projects production developed with theatre director Jen Heyes and Harold Pinter Archive at the British Library London; Theatre in the Mill Bradford; Soho Theatre London; Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Australia; and Leeuwarden European Capital of Culture in The Netherlands.
