Active Inquiry

Platformed returns to The Out of the Blue Drill Hall 12th-14th August as part of the Edinburgh Fringe!!

↪️ Fresh from our run of performances in March, we are back at the Drill Hall for an updated version of the play....

🎭 The warehouse is normally a quiet place where the statues of Edinburgh can rest. But the arrival of a new tenant and some shady characters means that The Great Lafayette, Sherlock Holmes, Cowboy Joe and others can no longer stay in their sculpted poses.

They must confront the question of who best represents Edinburgh whilst protecting their secret at all costs. 🎭

📆 Thursday 12th - Friday 14th August
⏲️ 6.30pm
📍 The Out of the Blue Drill Hall
🎫 £7 - £11

🎟 Tickets:

Characters of Edinburgh: Platformed | Out of the Blue Arts & Education Trust Performance from Active Inquiry where host of characters must confront the question of who best represents Edinburgh whilst protecting their secret at all costs.

Edinburgh's Active Inquiry are running two workshops this autumn:
• Feminist Aesthetics for Political Poetics with Barbara Santos
10 - 12 Sep 2026
https://ytas.org.uk/events/feminist-aesthetics-for-political-poetics/
• Creating Legislative Theatre with Gavin Crichton
23 – 24 October 2026
https://ytas.org.uk/events/creating-legislative-theatre-2/

https://activeinquiry.co.uk/training.php
We are running TWO Theatre of the oppressed training courses this autumn. Sign up now!

Training - Active Inquiry ACTive INquiry seeks to be an advocate for the work of Augusto Boal and the Theatre of the Oppressed in Scotland by offering various training workshops for artists and other professionals. Like all our practice, we seek to keep our training at the cutting edge of the work.

We are so excited to be bringing Brazilian theatre director, activist and Joker Barbara Santos to Edinburgh for three days of training in September. This will be popular so book now so you don't miss out!

Feminist Aesthetics for Political Poetics A three-day workshop with Brazilian theatre director, joker and actor Barbara Santos exploring a feminist Theatre of the Oppressed

We are so excited to be welcoming Brazilian theatre director, joker, activist and actor Barbara Santos to Edinburgh for a three day training workshop in September. We expect demand to be high for this so please book quickly if interested!

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/feminist-aesthetics-for-political-poetics-tickets-1992623867628?aff=oddtdtcreator&_gl=1*1dkkqza*_up*MQ..*_ga*MTMyNDI5NDMxMC4xNzgyNDY0OTA2*_ga_TQVES5V6SH*czE3ODI0NjQ5MDYkbzEkZzAkdDE3ODI0NjQ5MDYkajYwJGwwJGgw

A three-day workshop with Brazilian theatre director, joker and actor Barbara Santos exploring a feminist Theatre of the Oppressed

The workshop “Feminist Aesthetics for Political Poetics – TEATRO DE LAS OPRIMIDAS” delves into the challenges and discoveries made during practical applications developed since 2010 with theater groups and artist-activists from Latin America, Europe and Africa. And theoretical formulation of a theatrical methodology dedicated to the portrayal of oppressions intertwined with the intersections of gender, race and class, all from a structural standpoint. Our objective is to reframe perceptions of oppression and the associated responsibility to initiate change, all while avoiding the pitfalls of individualizing the issue or assigning blame to the people who contend with it.

We work with a repertoire of original exercises, games, and techniques, employing feminist aesthetics from an anti-racist, decolonial, and community perspective, in a practical demonstration of the method’s applicability. Also working with the strategies for enacting a theatrical dialogue that is both horizontal and contextual to foster a collaborative atmosphere among audience members during Forum Theatre proposals, enabling collective interactions. In this dynamic, each individual, drawing from their unique social standing and position, collaborates with others to collectively craft and improvise alternatives to the problem being portrayed on stage.

This workshop is open to all people interested in aesthetic tools which aim of a view to dismantling patriarchy.

Bárbara Santos

Playwright, director, actress, kuringa, author, poet/melodist, screenwriter, filmmaker, researcher and feminist-anti-racist-decolonial activist, Bárbara Santos is the artistic director of the KURINGA theater space and the Madalena-Berlin group in Berlin, Germany; consultant to the Center for the Theatre of the Oppressed, editor of METAXIS magazine and artistic director of the groups Cor do Brasil, Madalena-Anastácia, and Cia Teatral CTO RIO, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and founder of the Ma-g-dalena International Network of Teatro de las Oprimidas, made up of theater groups from Latin America, Africa, and Europe. Her artistic journey includes diverse experiences in more than 40 countries.

Over the span of her career, Bárbara has researched and developed innovative artistic approaches that deal with the intersections between gender, race, and class from a contextual perspective, through feminist aesthetics, with a focus on creative sound and rhythmic paths. These artistic processes have been systematized in three books she has written, including Teatro de las Oprimidas – feminist aesthetics for political poetics, published in Portuguese, Spanish, and English.

As a performer, she explores the aesthetic transition from the colonized body to the political body.

Cinema has been her main area of activity as an actor, with a highlight being her performance as Filomena (Filó) in The Invisible Life (by Karim Aïnouz), winner of the Grand Prix at the Un Certain Regard showcase in Cannes 2019, which earned her a nomination for best supporting actress for the 2020 Brazilian Cinema Grand Prix. In 2023, she made her debut as a filmmaker and screenwriter with Ash Wednesday, a medium-length musical film with her music, selected for BERLINALE (Germany), Rio Film Festival (Brazil), War on Screen (France), Filmets Badalona (Spain), among others, throughout 2023.

Very excited to be performing at The Leith Walk Police Box on Thursday! Pop along anytime between 11.30am and 12.30pm.

Sunday 21st June sorry to cancel Cuaddu Sicilian pizza pop up due to an equipment malfunction. But you can still browse vintage and rings by Bex Parkman Trading Co 12-1830 today
And our coming week looks like this dear listener:-
Monday 22nd 11-8 or s/o Himalayan street food - momos, pakora and refreshing drinks by Hope Cafe Abbeyhill
Tuesdays 11-8 or s/o Japanese Korean street food by Smoked Tamago. Come and try their signature dish tamagoyaki rolled omelette.
Wednesday 24th 11-4 or s/o mild blowing fusion food by Phoebe's Kitchen. Thai noodles, sushi tempura style and corn dogs
Thursday 25th 11-8 or s/o Sheng Jian Bao. Shanghai street food consisting of pan fried, pork and soup filled buns PLUS
Free street theatre Democratic experiments by Active Inquiry 1130-1230 all welcome, drop in. This is NOT a consultation!
Friday 26th 12-6 or s/o Argentine street food by La Querencia UK.
Sat 27th 9-6 or s/o Asian bakery HK Er for cheesy garlic bread and a new pistachio chocolate mochi bite
Sunday 28th 11-6 Massage tasters with Machi Massage book your spot by emailing [email protected] 20 minutes for £15 PLUS Aluen jewelry handmade with love in Chilean Patagonia
PLUS wholefood bakery The Trusted Crumb 10-4 or sellout
It's a full on week dear listener and hope to see you at the polisbox soon.