Theatre and Development in the Pluriverse/Disrupting the Sensible

This chapter seeks to reimagine theatre, development and partnerships in light of the arguments made thus far. I borrow from emerging critical insights from postdevelopment scholars. In particular, I am interested in what it might mean to reimagine our partnerships in the ‘pluriverse’. Bringing these understandings together with Rancière’s concept of the distribution of the sensible and notions of social justice, I argue that we need to resist and reject common sense assumptions that limit and manage the roles performed by individuals in theatre and development. The forms of reimagined partnerships and modes of collaboration I envisage are predicated on greater equality between partners, on interconnectedness and care, and on the possibilities for partnerships to move away from modernising, interventionist agendas and towards forms of mutually beneficial and reciprocal action.