{{Short description|British experimental theatre group}} '''Welfare State International''' was a British experimental theatre group formed in 1968 by John Fox<ref name=dggjf/> and Sue Gill,<ref name=dggsg/> Roger Coleman<ref name=WSIArch/> and others.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last=Nuttall|first=Jeff |title=Performance Art Memoirs |volume=1 |year=1979 |publisher=John Calder |isbn=0714537888 |page=72}}</ref> It became "A collective of radical artists and thinkers who explored ideas of celebratory art and spectacle between 1968 and 2006."<ref name=WSIArch>{{cite web |url=http://www.welfare-state.org/pages/aboutwsi.htm |title=Welfare State International - About WSI |website=welfare-state.org |access-date = 26 May 2018}}</ref>
== Background ==
The company's name was originally 'The Welfare State', based on the concept of offering art for all on the same basis as education and health.<ref name=WSIArch/><ref name=":1">{{cite web |url=https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/dspace-jspui/bitstream/2134/12293/3/Whiteley-Final%20accepted%20paper.pdf |title=‘New Age’ radicalism and the social imagination: Welfare State International in the Seventies |first=Gillian |last=Whiteley |website=dspace.lboro.ac.uk |access-date = 30 May 2018}}</ref>
Welfare State International was initially known for staging large-scale outdoor spectacular events. At this time (the late 1960s), forsaking theatres and galleries for the street was unusual for arts companies.
In November 2001, Welfare State International was described by the Guardian Guide as "Britain's foremost arts and installations collective."<ref name=":2">{{cite web |url=http://www.welfare-state.org/pages/john.htm |title=Welfare State International - John Fox |website=welfare-state.org |access-date = 26 May 2018}}</ref> Welfare State International's 'The Raising of the Titanic' (Limehouse Basin, London, 1983) has been listed among "Productions that transformed theatre".<ref name=":3">{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2009/apr/01/experimental-theatre-spill-festival |title=Guardian article ''Experimental theatre to spill into the mainstream'' |website=theguardian.com |date=1 April 2009 |access-date = 26 May 2018}}</ref>
Welfare State International ceased operating on April Fools' Day 2006 after a performance at Ulverston.<ref name=dggjf>{{cite web |url=http://www.deadgoodguides.co.uk/?page_id=2250 |title=Dead Good Guides page for John Fox |website=deadgoodguides.com |access-date = 26 May 2018}}</ref><ref name=dggsg>{{cite web |url=http://www.deadgoodguides.co.uk/?page_id=2254 |title=Dead Good Guides page for Sue Gill |website=deadgoodguides.com |access-date = 26 May 2018}}</ref>
== Dead Good Guides == Gill and Fox have transitioned their work into the artist-led organisation 'Dead Good Guides',<ref>{{cite web |title=Dead Good Guides {{!}} An artist-led company |url=https://deadgoodguides.co.uk |website=deadgoodguides.co.uk |access-date=4 December 2023}}</ref> which seeks, for art, a role "that weaves it more fully into the fabric of our lives."<ref name=":0" /> As part of this practice, they have published multiple guides on creative and artist-led rites and rituals for daily life. Sue Gill and Gilly Adams founded and continue to lead ''Rites of Passage'' retreats and workshops, which enable artists to train as celebrants.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Events & Workshops {{!}} Dead Good Guides |url=https://deadgoodguides.co.uk/events-workshops/ |website=deadgoodguides.co.uk |access-date=2023-03-16 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=A Hand on the Tiller {{!}} Total Theatre Magazine Print Archive |url=http://totaltheatre.org.uk/archive/features/hand-tiller |access-date=2023-03-16 |website=totaltheatre.org.uk}}</ref>
== Related Publications ==
* ''Engineers of the Imagination'' (1983, 1990), eds. Tony Coult and Baz Kershaw {{ISBN|9780413528001}}.<ref name=":2" /> * ''The Dead Good Funeral Books'' (1996), Sue Gill and John Fox {{ISBN|9780952715900}}.<ref name=":1" /> * ''The Dead Good Book of Namings and Baby Welcoming Ceremonies'' (1999), ed. Jonathan Howe w/ Sue Gill and John Fox {{ISBN|0952715929}}. * ''In All My Born Days'' (2021), Sue Gill {{ISBN|9780956858375}}.<ref name=":3" />
== See also ==
===Techniques=== * Community theatre * Experimental theatre * Mask * Medieval pageant * Street theatre
===Related companies=== * Horse and Bamboo Theatre * Kneehigh Theatre * Shadowland Theatre
===Former members=== * TJ Eckleberg
== External links == * [http://welfare-state.org/ Welfare State International (WSI) homepage.]
== References == {{reflist}}
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Category:Acting techniques Category:Modernist theatre Category:Alternative theatre Category:Theatre companies in England Category:Arts organizations established in 1968 Category:1968 establishments in England Category:2006 disestablishments in England Category:Arts organizations disestablished in 2006
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