Navigating the Theatrical Battlefield: A Management Perspective on Violence in Edward Bond's Rational Theatre

Abstract

Violence and aggression have become pervasive in the modern world. This research paper sets out to examine the themes of violence and aggression in Edward Bond’s rational theatre. What is most striking about Bond’s plays is his representation of visible violence and insanity on an amplified scale and his refusal to accept the conventional limits in his critique of society through an unconventional structuring of the elements of violence and aggression. Bond’s plays navigate through different forms of crude and macabre forms of violence. By managing such forms of violence on the stage, Bond’s theatre for social change challenges diverse misleading rationalist and realist interpretations, myths, and fallacies of violence and dismantles them through unconventional treatment and interrogation of aggression and irrationality. The article draws on various theoretical perspectives on violence as set forth by Domenach (1981), Galtung (1981), Joxe (1981), and Freire (1970). This close reading of Bond’s texts helps establish that the foundations of Bond’s rational theatre are, in fact, laid on politics of violence portrayed in all its transgressive excesses, ambivalence, and graphic visuality. This alternative reading of Bond’s political vision through a range of theoretical perspectives also helps appreciate the breadth and depth of Bond’s political vision. The paper also conceptualizes the notion of Arts-Based Training (ABT) that delves into the application of improvisational theatre techniques within management development. Understanding a phenomenon through a theatrical approach proves to be effective for advancing management development by actively engaging managers in an in-depth exploration of problems and the creation of solutions.