The Spatial Politics of Site-Specific Theatre in ANU’s The Party to End All Parties (2020)

This paper analyses ANU’s The Party to End All Parties in relation to the changing spatial politics and value of live performance in the context of the global pandemic. Presented as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival, ANU’s site-specific piece premiered online on October 8, 2020. Set in Dublin, the performance follows the movement and thoughts of three Dubliners—played by Nandi Bhebhe, Robbie O’Connor and Niamh McCann—having their epiphanic moments on and around O’Connell Bridge, a symbolic site of “protest, revolution and change”, where thousands gathered to celebrate the declaration of the Republic on 18^th April, 1949. Using the city itself as the mise en scene (instead of replicating or representing it on a stage set), director Louise Lowe’s commitment to site-specificity was at play. Nevertheless, to what extent could the principles of site-specificity, which relies heavily on the liveness of performance, apply to the mediated spatial experience in Party, where the camera lens dictates what we see and how we move, the main actions unfolding on our laptop screens placed within our own household setting? The experience of space has shifted radically since the start of lockdown. “Being together” has meant “staying apart” and the spatial politics of gathering en masse as forms of protest, solidarity and celebration have been corrupted into toxic rallies, irresponsible parties and forced imprisonment. ANU’s intervention into our “intimate” space manifests differently: the intimate spaces of our bedrooms, living rooms and kitchen have become “the” site, sites that make up Dublin as it is now. The context by which theatre is performed has become ever more pertinent. This paper explores how site-specificity as a performance practice addresses the social values - “socially engaged,” “socially interdependent” (Harvie) - of theatre and its significance in the current pandemic.