Our pledges
What we have put our name to
When we sign something, it lives here, in full, so you can read exactly what we agreed to.
The GRIP statement
Global Resistance of Improvisers for Palestine · Signed by Potluck Improv
Where we stand
As improvisers, we have a responsibility to challenge injustice and not allow our stages to normalise oppression through silence. As the genocide in Palestine continues alongside settler-colonialism, apartheid, and military occupation, neutrality is not an option.
Potluck Improv has signed the GRIP statement, joining improv theatres, festivals, artists, professionals, and students around the world committed to these principles. We encourage you to do the same. Read and sign the statement at @improvisersforpalestine or improvisersforpalestine.org.
The GRIP statement, in full
As professionals, artists, and students in the field of improvisation, we have a responsibility to use our platforms to challenge injustice and guard against ‘art washing’ in our theatres and festivals. The escalation of the genocide (and underlying regime of settler-colonialism, apartheid, and military occupation) in Palestine reveals this phenomenon as a growing problem in our industry and we cannot allow our stages to facilitate the normalisation of oppression through silence.
Collective censorship silences the voices of people experiencing oppression and pretends that the genocide does not affect our sector. Furthermore, the lack of positioning by organisations attracts teachers, performers, students, and audiences with Zionist views, creating spaces that are inherently unsafe.
The intention of many festivals inviting artists from Israel is to position them solely as individuals and assume they do not represent their country or Zionist ideology. However, by failing to simultaneously express a clear stance on the issue for fear of causing discomfort or generating controversy, such events become complicit in the normalisation of state violence.
We demand that theatres and festivals maintain a strong, clear, and public position against the genocide in Palestine and colonial oppression everywhere. This positioning must be visible to the public and reflected in communication channels online and in person at all stages of participation. Recommendations for doing so are listed below, and constitute the minimum requirement for signing this pledge.
In this way, invited professionals and individual participants must decide whether to join an event with the knowledge that the organisation has taken a clear stance. The goal is not to veto anyone based on their origin, but to ensure that the improvisers who attend do so under shared ethical principles; otherwise, they are free not to participate.
We understand that neutrality in the face of genocide does not exist and that remaining silent only serves to validate violence. We invite festivals and theatres to be unafraid in creating safe spaces, and we offer our public support to take this step forward collectively.
For these reasons, we the undersigned theatre companies, festivals, industry professionals, artists, and students agree to uphold the GRIP guidelines to create safe environments and favour the participation of people facing oppression.
Signed by GRIP (Global Resistance of Improvisers for Palestine) on behalf of the individuals, theatre collectives, and festivals listed.
Signed,
Barcelona