ABSTRACT This essay offers an account of the tenants’ activist theatres, which developed in Sheffield, UK, in the 1980s, and the role played by myself, and collaborator John Goodchild, in their development. A response by working-class communities to the devastating effects of globalisation, rapid de-industrialisation, and mass unemployment, the theatres were a contribution to local and national campaigns. The essay sets out the political and social context in which the theatres arose, beginning with the election of Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister of a Conservative government in 1979. The key themes of what came to be known as Thatcherism, defined by a focus on free market economics, de-regulation, and attacks on trade unions and local government powers, are then detailed. These attacks gave rise to national and local resistance in the forms of strikes and campaigns, which provided the context for the emergence of Manor Campaign Theatre, the first of the tenants’ groups. The main body of the essay offers a narrative of the tenants’ theatres, their processes and organisation, and their role within campaigns around housing, welfare, credit unions, and water poverty. The conclusion connects these struggles with current injustices, sourced in the still-unfolding impacts of Thatcherism.

中文翻译：

---

1980 年代谢菲尔德的租户剧院：剧院、社区和激进主义

摘要 本文介绍了 1980 年代在英国谢菲尔德发展起来的租户激进剧院，以及我自己和合作者约翰·古德柴尔德 (John Goodchild) 在其发展中所扮演的角色。作为工人阶级社区对全球化、快速去工业化和大规模失业的破坏性影响的回应，剧院是对地方和国家运动的贡献。这篇论文列出了剧院的政治和社会背景，从1979年开始作为一个保守派政府总理选举玛格丽特·撒切尔的选举。所谓的撒切尔主义的关键主题是由重点免费定义的然后详细介绍了市场经济、放松管制以及对工会和地方政府权力的攻击。这些袭击以罢工和运动的形式引起了国家和地方的抵抗，这为第一个租户团体 Manor Campaign Theatre 的出现提供了背景。这篇文章的主体叙述了租户的剧院、他们的过程和组织，以及他们在围绕住房、福利、信用合作社和水贫困的运动中的作用。结论将这些斗争与当前的不公正联系起来，这些不公正源于撒切尔主义仍在不断发展的影响。