Devoted and Disgruntled at Improbable Theatre

Devoted & Disgruntled (D&D), Improbable Theatre’s annual nationwide three-day event where challenges in theatre and the arts are discussed, will take place March 16th - 18th at the Warehouse in Holbeck, Leeds. Now in its eighteenth year, anyone who is passionate about the arts from audiences to artists, CEOs to Front of House staff and grassroots groups to seasoned professionals is encouraged to attend. 

D&D uses Open Space technology which, aims to keep participants highly engaged by allowing them full control over their experience through organising their own agenda. Anyone can raise any particular issues or challenges at the start of the day, which are then discussed at breakout sessions where findings are later logged and reviewed. Attendees are free to come and go as they please and can sit in on any session they wish. On the final day of the event, reports are read out to the wider group and more sessions are held to discuss next steps and actions. All reports are saved to the D&D website and can be accessed by anyone at any time.  

Devoted & Disgruntled began in 2006 with the aim of nurturing a nationwide community of artists and theatre practitioners. Over the past eighteen years, the communities formed, and discussions held have started new venues, produced shows, formed theatre companies, and organised festivals including Fun Palaces, an annual, free celebration of culture in local communities across the UK. The project began at D&D’s 2013 event in a session lead by writer and theatre maker Stella Duffy, who wanted to honour groundbreaking theatre director Joan Littlewood. The first Fun Palace took place in 2014, with 138 events across the UK and internationally and now, ten years later, there are over 300 that take place each October.