{{short description|English theatre group}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Use British English|date=October 2013}} {{Infobox theatre group | name = Forced Entertainment | image = | imagesize = | caption = | formed = 1984 | disbanded = <!-- {{End date|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> | genre = | location = Sheffield | members = | artistic_director = Tim Etchells | notable = | website = {{URL|www.forcedentertainment.com|forcedentertainment.com}} }}
'''Forced Entertainment''' is an experimental theatre company based in Sheffield, England, founded by Tim Etchells in 1984.<ref name="bbc-radio-4">{{cite web|url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01k12qv | date = 18 June 2012 | access-date = 18 November 2013 |publisher=BBC| title = Forced Entertainment}}</ref><ref name="aesthetica">{{cite magazine|url=https://aestheticamagazine.com/experimental-theatre-provoking-ideas/|access-date=28 February 2025|last=Fairweather|first=Shona|magazine=Aesthetica|title=Experimental Theatre: Provoking Ideas}}</ref><ref name="robert-avila">{{cite news |url = http://www.sfbg.com/2012/12/04/london-diary | date = 4 December 2012 | access-date = 18 November 2013 | first= Robert |last= Avila |newspaper=San Francisco Bay Guardian| title = London diary}}</ref><ref name="mary-brennan">{{cite news |url = http://www.heraldscotland.com/arts-ents/stage/forced-entertainment-storm-back-with-two-shows.22362114 | date = 7 October 2013 | access-date = 18 November 2013 | first= Mary |last= Brennan | work = Sunday Herald | title = Forced Entertainment Storm back with two shows}}</ref>
==Details and history== Forced Entertainment originally focused on making and touring theatre performances before expanding to long durational performance, live art, video and digital media.<ref name="mary-brennan" /><ref name="lyn-gardner-guardian-crazy" /> Their work has been presented throughout the UK and Europe<ref name="mary-brennan" /> as well as Australia, Japan, Canada and the US.<ref name="aesthetica" /><ref>{{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}}</ref> They develop projects using a collaborative process – devising work as a group through improvisation, experimentation and debate.<ref name="aesthetica" /><ref>{{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 }}</ref> Their core members are Tim Etchells (artistic director),<ref name="bbc-radio-4" /><ref name="aesthetica" /> Richard Lowdon (designer and performer)<ref name="aesthetica" /> and performers Robin Arthur,<ref name="aesthetica" /><ref name="joyce-mcmillan">{{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}}</ref> Claire Marshall,<ref name="aesthetica" /><ref name="joyce-mcmillan" /> Cathy Naden<ref name="aesthetica" /> and Terry O'Connor,<ref name="aesthetica" /> who have all been with the company from the start.<ref name="bbc-radio-4" /><ref name="lyn-gardner-guardian-war">{{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}}</ref>
A book was published about them in 2004, ''"Not Even a Game Anymore": The Theatre of Forced Entertainment''.<ref name="not-even-a-game-anymore-amazon" /> In 2012 BBC Radio 4 aired a programme following their creative process developing, writing and rehearsing ''The Coming Storm''.<ref name="bbc-radio-4" />
==Projects== {{div col}} * ''Jessica in the Room of Lights'', 1984, theatre performances<ref name="keith-peacock">{{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}}</ref> * ''The Set-up'', 1985, theatre performances<ref name="keith-peacock" /> * ''Nighthawks'', 1985, theatre performances<ref name="keith-peacock" /> * ''(Let the Water Run its Course) to the Sea that Made the Promise'', 1986, theatre performances<ref name="lyn-gardner-guardian-crazy" /><ref name="keith-peacock" /> * ''The Day that Serenity Returned to the Ground'', 1986, theatre performances<ref name="keith-peacock" /> * ''200% and Bloody Thirsty'', 1987, theatre performances<ref name="keith-peacock" /> * ''Some Confusions in the Law about Love'', 1989, theatre performances<ref name="keith-peacock" /> * ''Marina & Lee'', 1991, theatre performances<ref name="searching-for-redemption">{{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}}</ref> * ''Cardboard Sign Photographs'', 1992, photography<ref name="judith-helmer-florian-malzacher-verlag">{{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}}<!--| access-date = 26 November 2013 --></ref> * ''Emanuelle Enchanted'', 1992, theatre performances<ref name="searching-for-redemption" /> * ''12 am: Awake & Looking Down'', 1993, long durational performances<ref>{{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 | archive-date = 24 December 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131224102355/http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/kulturspiegel/d-8831654.html | url-status = dead }}</ref> * ''Club of No Regrets'', 1993, theatre performances<ref name="dan-venning">{{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 }}</ref> * ''Looking Forwards'', 1993, photography<ref name="judith-helmer-florian-malzacher-verlag" /> * ''Red Room'', 1993, gallery/installation<ref name="judith-helmer-florian-malzacher-verlag" /> * ''A Decade of Forced Entertainment'', 1994, theatre performances<ref name="judith-helmer-florian-malzacher-verlag" /> * ''Dreams' Winter'', 1994, site-specific works<ref name="ellen-cranitch-independent">{{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 }}</ref> * ''Speak Bitterness'', 1994, long durational performances<ref name="lyn-gardner-guardian-crazy" /><ref name="lyn-gardner-guardian-war" /><ref name="hans-thies-lehmann">{{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}}</ref> * ''Ground Plans for Paradise'', 1994, gallery/installation<ref name="lyn-gardner-guardian-war" /> * ''Hidden J'', 1994, theatre performances<ref>{{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}}</ref> * ''Hotel Photographs'', 1994, photography<ref name="judith-helmer-florian-malzacher-verlag" /> * ''Nights in this City'', 1995, site-specific works<ref name="judith-helmer-florian-malzacher-verlag" /> * ''Showtime'', 1996, theatre performances<ref>{{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 }}</ref> * ''Quizoola!'', 1996, long durational performances<ref name="lyn-gardner-guardian-crazy" /><ref name="hans-thies-lehmann" /><ref>{{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?}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref> * ''Pleasure'', 1997, theatre performances<ref name="judith-helmer-florian-malzacher-verlag" /> * ''Frozen Palaces'', 1997, CD-ROM/interactive<ref name="judith-helmer-florian-malzacher-verlag" /> * ''Dirty Work'', 1998, theatre performances<ref name="hans-thies-lehmann" /> * ''Filthy Words & Phrases'', 1998, film/video<ref name="lyn-gardner-guardian-war" /><ref name="tate">{{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}}</ref> * ''Paradise'', 1998, CD-ROM/interactive<ref name="judith-helmer-florian-malzacher-verlag" /> * ''Nightwalks'', 1998, CD-ROM/interactive<ref name="judith-helmer-florian-malzacher-verlag" /> * ''Disco Relax'', 1999, theatre performances<ref name="lyn-gardner-guardian-crazy" /> * ''Who Can Sing a Song to Unfrighten Me?'', 1999, long durational performances<ref name="hans-thies-lehmann" /><ref name="tate" /> * ''Spin'', 1999, CD-ROM/interactive<ref name="judith-helmer-florian-malzacher-verlag" /> * ''And on the Thousandth Night...'', 2000, long durational performances<ref name="hans-thies-lehmann" /> * ''Hotel Binary'', 2000, gallery/installation<ref name="judith-helmer-florian-malzacher-verlag" /> * ''Scar Stories'', 2000, site-specific works<ref name="judith-helmer-florian-malzacher-verlag" /> * ''Rules of the Game'', 2000, gallery/installation, text/photographs<ref name="judith-helmer-florian-malzacher-verlag" /> * ''First Night'', 2001, theatre performances<ref name="lyn-gardner-guardian-crazy" /><ref name="lyn-gardner-guardian-war" /><ref name="hans-thies-lehmann" /> * ''Instructions for Forgetting'', 2001, theatre performances<ref name="judith-helmer-florian-malzacher-verlag" /> * ''The Travels'', 2002, theatre performances<ref name="judith-helmer-florian-malzacher-verlag" /> * ''The Voices'', 2003, theatre performances<ref name="judith-helmer-florian-malzacher-verlag" /> * ''Imaginary Evidence'', 2003, CD-ROM/interactive<ref name="judith-helmer-florian-malzacher-verlag" /> * ''Marathon Lexicon'', 2003, long durational performances<ref>{{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)}}</ref> * ''Years 0 – 20'', 2004, photography * ''Bloody Mess'', 2004, theatre performances<ref name="hans-thies-lehmann" /><ref name="colombia-aprende">{{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 | archive-date = 3 March 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303231811/http://www.colombiaaprende.edu.co/html/home/1592/article-154378.html | url-status = dead }}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref><ref name="tobias-becker">{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref> * ''Exquisite Pain'', 2005, theatre performances<ref>{{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}}</ref> * ''The World in Pictures'', 2006, theatre performances<ref name="lyn-gardner-guardian-war" /> * ''Spectacular'', 2008, theatre performances<ref name="lyn-gardner-guardian-war" /><ref name="tobias-becker" /> * ''Sight is the sense that dying people tend to lose first'', 2008, theatre performances<ref>{{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}}</ref> * ''Void Story'', 2009, theatre performances<ref name="bbc-radio-4" /><ref name="lyn-gardner-guardian-war" /><ref name="tobias-becker" /><ref>{{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}}</ref> * ''The Thrill of It All'', 2010, theatre performances<ref name="bbc-radio-4" /><ref name="tobias-becker" /><ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref> * ''Tomorrow's Parties'', 2011, theatre performances<ref name="mary-brennan" /><ref name="joyce-mcmillan" /><ref>{{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}}</ref> * ''Although We Fell Short'', 2011, theatre performances * ''The Coming Storm'', 2012, theatre performances<ref name="robert-avila" /><ref name="mary-brennan" /><ref name="joyce-mcmillan" /><ref name="lyn-gardner-coming-storm">{{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}}</ref> * ''The Last Adventures'', 2013, theatre performances<ref name="kultur-ruhr">{{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 }}</ref> * ''Complete Works: Table Top Shakespeare'', 2015, performances of all 36 plays * ''Real Magic'', 2016, theatre performance<ref>[https://totaltheatre.org.uk/this-magic-life-forced-entertainment-cast-their-spell/ "This Magic Life: Forced Entertainment cast their spell"], totaltheatre.org.uk</ref><ref>[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''</ref> * ''Out of Order'', 2018, theatre performance * ''To Move in Time'', 2019, theatre performance<ref>[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''</ref> * ''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<ref>[https://www.nachtkritik.de/index.php?view=article&id=20785 "Hölle der Geschäftigkeit"] by Dorothea Marcus, 25 March 2022, nachtkritik.de (in German)</ref> * ''If All Else Fails'', 2023, theatre performance<ref>[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''</ref> * ''Signal to Noise'', 2024, theatre performance<ref>[https://theatreweekly.com/forced-entertainment-40-international-season/ "Forced Entertainment @40 International Season"], 5 February 2024, theatreweekly.com</ref> {{div col end}}
==Awards== * 1999 – 2nd prize for ''Quizoola!'', Międzynarodowy Festiwal Teatralny Kontakt, Toruh / International Theatre Festival "Contact Us", Torun, Poland<ref>{{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;}}</ref> * 2003 – Awarded Honorary Associates of the National Review of Live Art,<ref>{{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.}}</ref> 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''<ref name="colombia-aprende" /> * 2013 – Mammalian Diving Reflex's Children's Choice Award, Ruhrtriennale, Germany for ''The Last Adventures''<ref name="kultur-ruhr" /> * 2016 – International Ibsen Award<ref>{{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}}</ref> * 2017 – Theater Treffen Award Real Magic
==Reception== Joyce McMillan, writing in ''The Scotsman'', called Forced Entertainment "legendary".<ref name="joyce-mcmillan" /> David Tushingham, writing in the ''Financial Times'', called them "The best group of stage actors in Britain".<ref name="david-tushingham-ft">{{cite news |url = https://www.ft.com/content/d60d8684-20a2-11d9-af19-00000e2511c8 | 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.}}</ref> Robert Avila, writing in the ''San Francisco Bay Guardian'', considered them "internationally successful and storied".<ref name="robert-avila" /> 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."<ref name="lyn-gardner-guardian-crazy">{{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}}</ref> They have been described in ''The Guardian'' as having "produced some of the most exciting and challenging theatre of the past few decades".<ref name="guardian-shockingly-brilliant">{{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}}</ref> 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".<ref name="lyn-gardner-guardian-crazy" /> The British Library claims that the group "continue to tour widely and to great acclaim throughout the world".<ref name="british-library">{{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. | archive-date = 25 January 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150125032547/http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelprestype/sound/drama/dramaex/forced/forcedentertainment.html | url-status = dead }}</ref>
The British Library holds a large collection of video and audio material documenting their performances and talks.<ref name="british-library" />
==Publications== Numerous books and journals on theatre have included chapters and essays about Forced Entertainment.<ref name="searching-for-redemption" /><ref name="dan-venning" /><ref name="nick-kaye">{{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".}}</ref><ref name="sara-jane-bailes">{{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 | archive-date = 4 March 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304132842/http://www-theatre.ucsd.edu/TF/backissues/TF26.html | url-status = dead }}</ref><ref name="greg-giesekam">{{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.}}</ref>
* ''"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}}.<ref name="not-even-a-game-anymore-amazon">{{cite book | title = "Not Even a Game Anymore": The Theatre of Forced Entertainment| id = {{ASIN|3895811157|country=uk}} }}</ref> *''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.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== * ''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}}
==External links== * {{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
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