Forced Entertainment

Forced Entertainment originally focused on making and touring theatre performances before expanding to long durational performance, live art, video and digital media. Their work has been presented throughout the UK and Europe as well as Australia, Japan, Canada and the US.{{cite web| url = http://www.britishcouncil.org/arts-performanceinprofile-2010-forced-entertainment.htm| access-date = 27 October 2013| title = Forced Entertainment – Performance in Profile 2010| publisher = British Council=| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131224113417/http://www.britishcouncil.org/arts-performanceinprofile-2010-forced-entertainment.htm| archive-date = 24 December 2013| url-status = dead}} They develop projects using a collaborative process – devising work as a group through improvisation, experimentation and debate.{{cite web | url = http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/funding/browse-regularly-funded-organisations/npo/forced-entertainment-ltd/ | access-date = 27 October 2013 | publisher = Arts Council England | title = Forced Entertainment Ltd | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131010231835/http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/funding/browse-regularly-funded-organisations/npo/forced-entertainment-ltd/ | archive-date = 10 October 2013 | url-status = dead }} Their core members are Tim Etchells (artistic director), Richard Lowdon (designer and performer) and performers Robin Arthur,{{cite news |url = http://www.scotsman.com/what-s-on/theatre-comedy-dance/theatre-review-tomorrow-s-parties-glasgow-1-3138994 | date = 12 October 2013 | access-date = 18 November 2013 | first= Joyce |last= McMillan |newspaper=The Scotsman| title = Theatre review: Tomorrow's Parties, Glasgow}} Claire Marshall, Cathy Naden and Terry O'Connor, who have all been with the company from the start.{{cite news |url = https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2009/feb/23/forced-entertainment-sheffield | date = 23 February 2009 | access-date = 18 November 2013 | first= Lyn |last= Gardner|author-link=Lyn Gardner|newspaper=The Guardian| title = We are waging a war}}

A book was published about them in 2004, "Not Even a Game Anymore": The Theatre of Forced Entertainment. In 2012 BBC Radio 4 aired a programme following their creative process developing, writing and rehearsing The Coming Storm.

{{div col}}

• Jessica in the Room of Lights, 1984, theatre performances{{cite book |last= Peacock |first= Keith | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=UIgi0UkHKy8C&q=forced+entertainment+Jessica+in+the+Room+of+Lights | title= Thatcher's Theatre: British Theatre and Drama in the Eighties | access-date = 20 November 2013 |year= 1999 |publisher= Greenwood Publishing Group | page= 206 | quote = Foremost amongst such groups to emerge during the 1980s was Forced Entertainment which in the context of the urban landscape, confronted contemporary cultural mythology. The company was founded in 1984 and based in Sheffield. Its first "show" was Jessica in the Room of Lights (1984). This was followed by Set-up and Nighthawks (1985), Let the Water Run its Course To the Sea That Made the Promise (1986) and The Day that Serenity Returned to the Ground (1986), 200% and Bloody Thirsty (1987) and Some Confusions in the Law About Love (1989) |isbn= 9780313299018}}
• The Set-up, 1985, theatre performances
• Nighthawks, 1985, theatre performances
• (Let the Water Run its Course) to the Sea that Made the Promise, 1986, theatre performances
• The Day that Serenity Returned to the Ground, 1986, theatre performances
• 200% and Bloody Thirsty, 1987, theatre performances
• Some Confusions in the Law about Love, 1989, theatre performances
• Marina & Lee, 1991, theatre performances{{cite journal| title = Searching for redemption with cardboard wings: Forced entertainment and the sublime| journal = Contemporary Theatre Review|volume = 2| issue = 2| pages = 25–35| doi = 10.1080/10486809408568296 |year = 1994|last1 = Quick|first1 = Andrew}}
• Cardboard Sign Photographs, 1992, photography{{cite book | first1 = Judith | last1 = Helmer | first2 = Florian | last2 = Malzacher | title= "Not Even a Game Anymore": The Theatre of Forced Entertainment |year = 2004 | publisher = Alexander Verlag Berlin | location= Berlin | isbn = 978-3-89581-115-9 | pages = 293–316}}
• Emanuelle Enchanted, 1992, theatre performances
• 12 am: Awake & Looking Down, 1993, long durational performances{{cite magazine|url = http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/kulturspiegel/d-8831654.html | date = 24 November 1997 | access-date = 19 November 2013 | first= Georg |last= Diez |magazine=Der Spiegel| title = Forced Entertainment}}{{dead link|date=February 2025}}
• Club of No Regrets, 1993, theatre performances{{cite journal | url = https://www.academia.edu/1821789 | last1 = Venning | first1 = Dan | year=2012 | title = Performance Theatre and the Poetics of Failure: Forced Entertainment, Goat Island, Elevator Repair Service, by Sara Jane Bailes (Book Beview) | periodical = Journal of Dramatic Theatre and Criticism | volume = 26 | issue= 2 | pages=246–8 | publisher = Department of Theatre, University of Kansas | quote = She goes on to suggest that contemporary theatre groups such as Shefeld-based Forced Entertainment (founded 1984), Chicago-based Goat Island (1987–2009), and New York-based Elevator Repair Service (founded 1991) have used and constructed failure as an integral part of their performances. | doi = 10.1353/dtc.2012.0020| s2cid = 191461687 }}
• Looking Forwards, 1993, photography
• Red Room, 1993, gallery/installation
• A Decade of Forced Entertainment, 1994, theatre performances
• Dreams' Winter, 1994, site-specific works{{cite news |url = https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre--quiet-please-mayhem-in-progress-from-off-the-wall-to-off-the-shelf-forced-entertainments-latest-theatre-piece-takes-a-leaf-out-of-the-manchester-central-library-ellen-cranitch-reports-1413545.html | date = 13 July 1994 | access-date = 19 November 2013 | first= Ellen |last= Cranitch |newspaper=The Independent| title = Theatre / Quiet please, mayhem in progress: From off the wall to off the shelf: Forced Entertainment's latest theatre piece takes a leaf out of the Manchester Central Library. Ellen Cranitch reports }}
• Speak Bitterness, 1994, long durational performances{{cite book |last= Lehmann |first= Hans-Thies | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=mGbjDCKP164C | title= Postdramatic Theatre | access-date = 20 November 2013 |year= 2006 |publisher= Routledge | page= 11 | isbn= 9780203088104}}
• Ground Plans for Paradise, 1994, gallery/installation
• Hidden J, 1994, theatre performances{{cite news |url = https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/new-stages-fighting-over-their-share-of-the-cake-1572054.html | date = 8 February 1995 | access-date = 19 November 2013 | first= Clare |last= Bayley |newspaper=The Independent| title = New stages: Fighting over their share of the cake}}
• Hotel Photographs, 1994, photography
• Nights in this City, 1995, site-specific works
• Showtime, 1996, theatre performances{{cite news |url = https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-showtime-ica-london-1315249.html | date = 19 December 1996 | access-date = 19 November 2013 | first= Dominic |last= Cavendish |newspaper=The Independent| title = Theatre: Showtime; ICA, London }}
• Quizoola!, 1996, long durational performances{{cite news |url = https://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2013/mar/05/quizoola-forced-entertainment-barbican-lyn-gardner | date = 5 March 2013 | access-date = 19 November 2013 | first= Lyn |last= Gardner|author-link=Lyn Gardner|newspaper=The Guardian| title = Who wants to see Quizoola!, a 24-hour play?}}{{cite news |url = https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/its-only-a-game-show--and-then-some-638355.html | date = 22 October 2000 | access-date = 19 November 2013 | first= Louise |last= Gray |newspaper=The Independent| title = It's only a game show – and then some, Louise Gray previews 'Quizoola!', a performance that changes the rule-book}}
• Pleasure, 1997, theatre performances
• Frozen Palaces, 1997, CD-ROM/interactive
• Dirty Work, 1998, theatre performances
• Filthy Words & Phrases, 1998, film/video{{cite web|url = http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/live-culture/live-culture-organisers-and-participants/live-culture-1 | access-date = 20 November 2013 |publisher=Tate| title = Live Culture: Organisers and participants: Forced Entertainment}}
• Paradise, 1998, CD-ROM/interactive
• Nightwalks, 1998, CD-ROM/interactive
• Disco Relax, 1999, theatre performances
• Who Can Sing a Song to Unfrighten Me?, 1999, long durational performances
• Spin, 1999, CD-ROM/interactive
• And on the Thousandth Night..., 2000, long durational performances
• Hotel Binary, 2000, gallery/installation
• Scar Stories, 2000, site-specific works
• Rules of the Game, 2000, gallery/installation, text/photographs
• First Night, 2001, theatre performances
• Instructions for Forgetting, 2001, theatre performances
• The Travels, 2002, theatre performances
• The Voices, 2003, theatre performances
• Imaginary Evidence, 2003, CD-ROM/interactive
• Marathon Lexicon, 2003, long durational performances{{cite book | first1 = Liz | last1 = Aggiss | first2 = Billy | last2 = Cowie | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Mb1uBswaheEC | title= Anarchic Dance | access-date = 20 November 2013 |year= 2006 |publisher= Routledge | page= xv | isbn= 9780203016572 | quote = Deborah has written about performance and contemporary culture for a number of anthologies and media, including texts for Forced Entertainment's Marathon Lexicon of Performance (2003)}}
• Years 0 – 20, 2004, photography
• Bloody Mess, 2004, theatre performances{{cite web|url = http://www.colombiaaprende.edu.co/html/home/1592/article-154378.html | access-date = 16 November 2013 | publisher = Colombia Aprende | title = Reino Unido, invitado de honor}}{{cite news |url = https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2004/nov/03/theatre | date = 3 November 2004 | access-date = 19 November 2013 | first= Lyn |last= Gardner|author-link=Lyn Gardner|newspaper=The Guardian| title = Bloody Mess, Riverside Studios, London}}{{cite magazine|url = http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/gesellschaft/theatertruppe-forced-entertainment-starlets-in-der-manege-a-694729.html | date = 15 May 2010 | access-date = 19 November 2013 | first= Tobias |last= Becker |magazine=Der Spiegel| title = Theatertruppe "Forced Entertainment": Starlets in der Manege|language=de}}{{cite news |url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/3626580/When-the-title-says-it-all.html | date = 4 November 2004 | access-date = 20 November 2013 | first= Dominic |last= Cavendish |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph| title = When the title says it all}}
• Exquisite Pain, 2005, theatre performances{{cite news |url = https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2005/nov/03/theatre | date = 3 November 2005 | access-date = 18 November 2013 | first= Lyn |last= Gardner|author-link=Lyn Gardner|newspaper=The Guardian| title = Exquisite Pain, Riverside Studios, London}}
• The World in Pictures, 2006, theatre performances
• Spectacular, 2008, theatre performances
• Sight is the sense that dying people tend to lose first, 2008, theatre performances{{cite news |url = https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2009/feb/04/theatre-stage-culture-review | date = 4 February 2009 | access-date = 18 November 2013 | first= Lyn |last= Gardner|author-link=Lyn Gardner|newspaper=The Guardian| title = Sight Is the Sense That Dying People Tend to Lose First, Arnolfini, Bristol}}
• Void Story, 2009, theatre performances{{cite news |url = https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2009/apr/24/review-void-story-forced-entertainment-soho | date = 24 April 2009 | access-date = 19 November 2013 | first= Lyn |last= Gardner|author-link=Lyn Gardner|newspaper=The Guardian| title = Void Story, Soho, London}}
• The Thrill of It All, 2010, theatre performances{{cite news |url = https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2010/oct/27/the-thrill-of-it-all-review | date = 27 October 2010 | access-date = 18 November 2013 | first= Lyn |last= Gardner|author-link=Lyn Gardner|newspaper=The Guardian| title = The Thrill of It All – review, Riverside Studios, London}}{{cite news |url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/8097364/The-Thrill-of-it-All-Riverside-Studios-review.html | date = 29 October 2010 | access-date = 20 November 2013 | first= Daisy |last= Bowie-Sell |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|title=The Thrill of It All, Riverside Studios, review}}
• Tomorrow's Parties, 2011, theatre performances{{cite news |url = https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2013/oct/24/tomorrows-parties-theatre-review | date = 24 October 2013 | access-date = 19 November 2013 | first= Lyn |last= Gardner|author-link=Lyn Gardner|newspaper=The Guardian| title = Tomorrow's Parties – review, The Junction, Cambridge}}
• Although We Fell Short, 2011, theatre performances
• The Coming Storm, 2012, theatre performances{{cite news |url = https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2012/jun/22/the-coming-storm-review | date = 22 June 2012 | access-date = 19 November 2013 | first= Lyn |last= Gardner|author-link=Lyn Gardner|newspaper=The Guardian| title = The Coming Storm – review, BAC, London}}
• The Last Adventures, 2013, theatre performances{{cite web | url = http://www.ruhrtriennale.de/en/programm/produktionen/the-childrens-choice-awards/ | access-date = 28 October 2013 | publisher =Ruhrtriennale| title = The Children's Choice Awards | quote = {{lang|de|Die Show mit den verrücktesten Leuten, verrücktesten Klamotten und der verrücktesten Musik}} / The show with the craziest people, craziest clothes and craziest music: Forced Entertainment & Tarek Atoui: The Last Adventures| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131206013746/http://www.ruhrtriennale.de/en/programm/produktionen/the-childrens-choice-awards/ | archive-date = 6 December 2013 | url-status = dead }}
• Complete Works: Table Top Shakespeare, 2015, performances of all 36 plays
• Real Magic, 2016, theatre performance[https://totaltheatre.org.uk/this-magic-life-forced-entertainment-cast-their-spell/ "This Magic Life: Forced Entertainment cast their spell"], totaltheatre.org.uk[https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/feb/12/real-magic-review-forced-entertainment-in-between-time-arnolfini-bristol "Real Magic review – devilish gameshow is a Forced Entertainment tour de force"] by Lyn Gardner, 13 February 2017, The Guardian
• Out of Order, 2018, theatre performance
• To Move in Time, 2019, theatre performance[https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/aug/20/to-move-in-time-review-summerhall-edinburgh-festival-2019 "To Move in Time review – hypnotic tale of the time-traveller's strife"] by Mark Fisher, 21 August 2019, The Guardian
• End Meeting For All, 2020, on-line digital film series
• How The Time Goes, 2021, on-line digital film series
• Under Bright Light, 2022, theatre performance[https://www.nachtkritik.de/index.php?view=article&id=20785 "Hölle der Geschäftigkeit"] by Dorothea Marcus, 25 March 2022, nachtkritik.de (in German)
• If All Else Fails, 2023, theatre performance[https://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/if-all-else-fails-reviewat-exeter-phoenix-from-forced-entertainment "If All Else Fails review"] by Ben Kulvichit, 10 November 2023, The Stage
• Signal to Noise, 2024, theatre performance[https://theatreweekly.com/forced-entertainment-40-international-season/ "Forced Entertainment @40 International Season"], 5 February 2024, theatreweekly.com

{{div col end}}

• 1999 – 2nd prize for Quizoola!, Międzynarodowy Festiwal Teatralny Kontakt, Toruh / International Theatre Festival "Contact Us", Torun, Poland{{cite web|url = http://culture.pl/pl/artykul/miedzynarodowy-festiwal-teatralny-kontakt | date = 23 September 2002 | access-date = 16 November 2013 | publisher = Instytut Adama Mickiewicza / Adam Mickiewicz Institute | title = Międzynarodowy Festiwal Teatralny "Kontakt" | quote = 2. nagroda Quizoola! Tima Etchellsa w reż. zespołowej, Forced Entertainment z Sheffield;}}
• 2003 – Awarded Honorary Associates of the National Review of Live Art,{{cite web|url = http://www.aspaceforliveart.org/?page=event.more&id=122 | access-date = 16 November 2013 | publisher = A space for live art | title = National Review of Live Art 09 | quote = NRLA Honorary Associates: Robert Ayers, Neil Bartlett, Mary Brennan, Forced Entertainment, Paul Hough, Lois Keidan, Richard Layzell, Alastair MacLennan, Michael Mayhew, Stephen Partridge, Geraldine Pilgrim, Anne Seagrave, Ian Smith.}} at the 17th edition of the NRLA, in recognition of their outstanding contribution to the festival over many years
• 2008 – Invitation de Honor, XI Festival Iberoamericano de Teatro de Bogota, Bogotá, Colombia for Bloody Mess
• 2013 – Mammalian Diving Reflex's Children's Choice Award, Ruhrtriennale, Germany for The Last Adventures
• 2016 – International Ibsen Award{{Cite news |date=2016-03-18 |title=Sheffield's Forced Entertainment win International Ibsen Award |language=en-GB |publisher=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-35833592 |access-date=2023-11-29}}
• 2017 – Theater Treffen Award Real Magic

Joyce McMillan, writing in The Scotsman, called Forced Entertainment "legendary". David Tushingham, writing in the Financial Times, called them "The best group of stage actors in Britain".{{cite news |url = http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d60d8684-20a2-11d9-af19-00000e2511c8.html | date = 18 October 2004 | access-date = 26 October 2013 | first= Tushingham |last= David | work = Financial Times|location=London | title = We go in and see what happens | quote = The best group of stage actors in Britain are Robin Arthur, Richard Lowdon, Claire Marshall, Cathy Naden and Terry O'Connor.}} Robert Avila, writing in the San Francisco Bay Guardian, considered them "internationally successful and storied". Lyn Gardner, writing in The Guardian, has said that "Beyond these shores, however, the company is regarded as one of the greatest British theatrical exports of the past 20 years. ... It is this ability to smash through the pretenses of theatre that has kept the company ahead of the game."{{cite news |url = https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2004/oct/25/theatre | date = 25 October 2004 | access-date = 26 October 2013 | first= Lyn |last= Gardner|author-link=Lyn Gardner|newspaper=The Guardian| title = The crazy gang|ref=none}} They have been described in The Guardian as having "produced some of the most exciting and challenging theatre of the past few decades".{{cite news |url = https://www.theguardian.com/stage/gallery/2009/apr/15/forced-entertainment-25-years | date = 16 April 2009 | access-date = 26 October 2013 |newspaper=The Guardian| title = Shockingly brilliant – 25 years of theatre company Forced Entertainment | quote = Their experimental style has been dismissed as too messy and chaotic by some – wilfully baffling by others – but British theatre company Forced Entertainment have produced some of the most exciting and challenging theatre of the past few decades}} Marie-Hélène Falcon, director of Montreal's Festival de Théatre des Amériques, said of Speak Bitterness that "I had never seen anything like it before, a piece that was so political, provocative and poetic because it was a group of artists speaking about their lives – and therefore our lives – in the most direct way," "To this day, Speak Bitterness is one of the very few experiences that have radically changed my understanding and vision of theatre". The British Library claims that the group "continue to tour widely and to great acclaim throughout the world".{{cite web|url = http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelprestype/sound/drama/dramaex/forced/forcedentertainment.html | access-date = 19 November 2013 | publisher = British Library | title = Forced Entertainment collection | quote = The British Library holds a large collection of video and audio material documenting the performances and talks of Forced Entertainment.}}{{dead link|date=February 2025}}

The British Library holds a large collection of video and audio material documenting their performances and talks.

Numerous books and journals on theatre have included chapters and essays about Forced Entertainment.{{cite book|last=Kaye|first=Nick|title=Art into Theatre: Performance Interviews and Documents|year=1996|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-3718657896|pages=235–252|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LJEB1ipgGUgC&dq=%22Tim+Etchells%22&pg=PA235 | quote = Art into Theatre investigates the processes of hybrid forms of performance developed between 1952 and 1994 through a series of interviews with key practitioners and over 80 pieces of documentation, many previously unpublished, of the works under discussion. Ranging from the austerity of Cage's 4′33″ through the inter-species communication of Schneemann's Catscan and the experimental theatre work of Schechner, Foreman, and Kirby, to the recent performances of Abramović, Forced Entertainment and The Wooster Group, Art into Theatre offers a fascinating collection of perspectives on the destabilizing of conventional ideas of the art "object" and the theatrical "text".}}{{cite web|url = http://www-theatre.ucsd.edu/TF/backissues/TF26.html | access-date = 19 November 2013 | publisher = TheatreForum International Theatre Journal | title = TheatreForum: TF26 | quote = Struggling to Perform: Radical Amateurism and Forced Entertainment by Sara Jane Bailes}}{{cite book|url = http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?pid=267797 | access-date = 19 November 2013 | publisher = Macmillan Publishers| title = Staging the Screen | quote = The use of film and video is widespread in contemporary theatre. Staging the Screen explores a variety of productions, ranging from Piscator to Forced Entertainment, charting the impact of developing technologies on practices in dramaturgy and performance.}}

• "Not Even a Game Anymore": The Theatre of Forced Entertainment. By Judith Helmer and Florian Malzacher. Berlin: Alexander Verlag Berlin, 2004. {{ISBN|978-3-895811-15-9}}.{{cite book | title = "Not Even a Game Anymore": The Theatre of Forced Entertainment| id = {{ASIN|3895811157|country=uk}} }}
• Certain Fragments: Contemporary Performance and Forced Entertainment. Routledge, 1999. By Tim Etchels. {{ISBN|978-0415173827}} – hardback edition. {{ISBN|978-0415173834}} – paperback edition. Essays and other material. With a foreword by Peggy Phelan. Illustrated with photographs by Hugo Glendinning. Includes performance texts from (Let the Water Run its Course) to the Sea that Made the Promise (1986). Emanuelle Enchanted (1992), Club of No Regrets (1993) and Speak Bitterness (1994).
• Things That Go through Your Mind When Falling: The Work of Forced Entertainment. Leipzig: Spector, 2023. {{ISBN|9783959053853}}. Edited by Adrian Heathfield. Photography by Hugo Glendinning. Performance texts by Tim Etchells and Forced Entertainment. With contributions from Robin Arthur, Sara Jane Bailes, Augusto Corrieri, Etchells, Matthew Goulish, Adrian Heathfield, Joy Kristin Kalu, Joe Kelleher, Richard Lowdon, Claire MacDonald, Claire Marshall, Rabih Mroué, Cathy Naden, Terry O'Connor, Giulia Palladini, Flora Pitrolo, Séverine Ruset, and Theron Schmidt.

{{Reflist}}

• Staging the Screen, the use of film and video in theatre by Greg Giesekam. "Third-hand Photocopies: Forced Entertainment" chapter. Palgrave MacMillan, 2007. {{ISBN|978-1-403916-99-0}}.
• Great Lengths: Seven Works of Marathon Theater by Jonathan Kalb. Chapter on Forced Entertainment's durational work. University of Michigan, 2011. {{ISBN|978-0472117956}}

• {{official website}}
• [https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2009/dec/21/tim-etchells-improvisation-theatre "Tim Etchells on performance: why a few heads are better than one"], The Guardian – Tim Etchells describes the Forced Entertainment working process

{{Portal bar|Theatre}}

{{Authority control|state=collapsed}}

Category:Postmodern theatre

Category:Contemporary art organizations

Category:Theatre companies in the United Kingdom

Category:English artist groups and collectives