Want to join the ensemble cast of Operation Black Antler?
Full details are here at our partner Blast Theory's website. Or email Associate Director nathan.crossan-smith@hydrocracker.co.uk to sign up for one of the following recruitment workshop dates:Feb 23 10am-1pm / Feb 27 6pm-9pm / Mar 2 10am-1pm
Full details are here at our partner Blast Theory's website. Or email Associate Director nathan.crossan-smith@hydrocracker.co.uk to sign up for one of the following recruitment workshop dates:Feb 23 10am-1pm / Feb 27 6pm-9pm / Mar 2 10am-1pm
Go undercover for one night to infiltrate a covert protest group active on the fringes of British society.
In Operation Black Antler, you join a small team, create a new identity, and then head out to join an undercover operation.
Moving from the safe house to your target location, you can choose to take part in a series of challenges. You must decide what is and isn’t acceptable in the name of security while getting the job done.
From a first-hand perspective, make your decisions and then reflect on the consequences. What will you do when the power is in your hands?
Premiered at Brighton Festival, May 2016
Last performed: Manchester HOME, June 7-17, 2017
A co-production with Blast Theory
Commissioned by Brighton Festival & Ideas Test 2016
Supported by Arts Council England, Dramatic Resources & Chalk Cliff Trust
"The genius of Black Antler is it doesn’t tell us what to think. Like me, you could sit within spitting distance of an unflinchingly truthful performer and experience the friendly face and soft tones of evil in a social setting."
Morning Star. Full review here.
"This disturbing piece of immersive theatre shines a light on the morality of police surveillance."
Michael Billington, The Guardian. Full review here.
Moving from the safe house to your target location, you can choose to take part in a series of challenges. You must decide what is and isn’t acceptable in the name of security while getting the job done.
From a first-hand perspective, make your decisions and then reflect on the consequences. What will you do when the power is in your hands?
Premiered at Brighton Festival, May 2016
Last performed: Manchester HOME, June 7-17, 2017
A co-production with Blast Theory
Commissioned by Brighton Festival & Ideas Test 2016
Supported by Arts Council England, Dramatic Resources & Chalk Cliff Trust
"The genius of Black Antler is it doesn’t tell us what to think. Like me, you could sit within spitting distance of an unflinchingly truthful performer and experience the friendly face and soft tones of evil in a social setting."
Morning Star. Full review here.
"This disturbing piece of immersive theatre shines a light on the morality of police surveillance."
Michael Billington, The Guardian. Full review here.
Operation Black Antler is a groundbreaking piece of immersive theatre created by Hydrocracker and artist collective Blast Theory.
For 40 years British police officers have been undercover inside protest groups. Scandals such as WikiLeaks, the Snowden affair and revelations about the Special Demonstration Squad show that secret forces within the state have little respect for law.
Operation Black Antler explores this moral corruption as well as the wider ethical question of when surveillance is justified. Participants are invited to assume the role of an undercover officer at a protest meeting. You are given power and control. And you have to choose how to exercise it. From a firsthand perspective, you must make decisions about what is and is not acceptable. And then reflect on the consequences of your decisions.
Listen to BBC Radio Four's Front Row interview with Hydrocracker's Jem Wall and Blast Theory's Matt Adams here.
For 40 years British police officers have been undercover inside protest groups. Scandals such as WikiLeaks, the Snowden affair and revelations about the Special Demonstration Squad show that secret forces within the state have little respect for law.
Operation Black Antler explores this moral corruption as well as the wider ethical question of when surveillance is justified. Participants are invited to assume the role of an undercover officer at a protest meeting. You are given power and control. And you have to choose how to exercise it. From a firsthand perspective, you must make decisions about what is and is not acceptable. And then reflect on the consequences of your decisions.
Listen to BBC Radio Four's Front Row interview with Hydrocracker's Jem Wall and Blast Theory's Matt Adams here.