“A stunning work of theatrical activism that has the potential to move and motivate.”
THE QUEER REVIEW NEW YORK
“A highly original mix of personal memoir, pungent testimony and political resistance.”
It is heartfelt, passionate and lovably odd.”
MICHAEL BILLINGTON
’Truth to Power Cafe’ is our internationally acclaimed live and digital theatre event told through memoir, image, film, poetry,
and live testimony from community participants whose contribution to the social fabric has shaped the world as we know it.
Participants speak passionately from the truth of their lived experience in response to the question
‘who has power over you and what do you want to say to them?’
Since 2016, over 700 community participants of all ages, experiences and backgrounds have taken part in 54 live shows
and digital theatre events in UK, Australia, Singapore, The Netherlands, Croatia, and USA.
Created, written and performed by JEREMY GOLDSTEIN with HENRY WOOLF
Directed by JEN HEYES Banners by ED HALL Lighting by NIGEL EDWARDS
Video by CONOR MACMAHON Soundtrack by LEWIS GIBSON
Original photo portraits created by SARAH HICKSON
Adelaide Fringe Festival presents ‘Truth to Power Cafe’ at Kimba Town Hall, Eyre Peninsula 21-23 February 2024
“A truly global show that knows no borders.”
TIME OUT
“A priceless repository of living social history, wit, wisdom and defiance.”
ATTITUDE
“The socially engaged theatre work gives poignant political expression to lived experiences.
It is a fierce test of Noam Chomsky’s critique that there is no point speaking truth to power
because power already knows the truth and is busy concealing it;
it’s the oppressed, not the oppressors, who need to hear it.”
THE SATURDAY PAPER
“The audience is very much taken on a journey which uncovers the climate in which
Harold Pinter created his plays; it’s a masterclass in the influences of post-Second World War theatre.
Compelling and cathartic...dignified and passionate...the essence of live performance.”
THE QUEER REVIEW
”A triumphant rebellion…brave, empowering and inspirational event which truly
has the power to restore your faith in humanity.”
TO DO LIST LONDON
“It was as moving as any play and because everyone spoke unedited and retained control over what they said it felt entirely authentic.
The revolutionary potential of theatre at its simplest and most direct.”
GUARDIAN
“The piece is a carefully crafted and loving triple-aspected memoir…uniting past and present political concerns,
and the ongoing history of turmoil and resistance…collaborative art-making at its best.”
TOTAL THEATRE
”Jeremy Goldstein performs with pride, attitude, and more. He has created a celebration of a lost world from Henry Woolf’s verse, Pinter’s letters,
and a memory lost. He is as fearless as those before him, his body full of spirit and movement. Then others stand to speak, to their own truths.
This is their chance to be counted, to stand in the spotlight and gain their own power. It is community writ large; it is fresh, confident, and unnerving.
It is effective resistance without weapon or attack.”
LOU REVIEWS
“It’s a remarkable show and it does the most important work that theatre can,
giving voice to those who are expected, and expect to remain silent."
TELEVISION IS NOT FURNITURE
“A haunting, lyrical meditation on personal power, family and identity.”
THE STAGE
“Jeremy Goldstein has created a new theatrical genre to empower people
to speak the truth of their lived experience”
SOUTH SYDNEY HERALD
Click here to explore our online archive of participants’ photos and stories drawn from our live events
Photo portraits: Ken Leanfore (Riverside Theatres, Sydney, Australia)
Mark
“To Bulan and Sidapa from pre-colonised Filipino mythology: Thank you for existing and bringing me closer to my culture.”
Wilfred
”To those who doubted me. Who felt I was less than. It didn’t work. What it did was strengthen me.”
Subini
“Through pain came the healing of me as a beautiful strong woman restoring the meaning of acceptance and letting go.”
Shawn
”I’m taking control of my problems, trying to figure out who I am, and what makes me break free from my mental chains.”
Julie
”Grief masquerades under aliases of loss, pain, regret and sorrow. I emerge from its absolute control.”
Mark
”I am me, a proud Trans gumbaynggirr, murriwarri warrior. I will grow big and strong and be like the ghost gum tree.”
Graham
”That person who holds power over me is the most important person in my life. That person is my mother, Lynette Sims.”
Kate
”Ageing and death have power over all of us. At 70 I’m taking stock of my body, mind, and soul.”
The COVID-19 emergency was the catalyst for the creation of our digital platform as participants
recorded 1 min videos from their homes in lockdown.
Since 2020 the platform has achieved over 100,000 views on Facebook alone.
Click here to explore our online archive
Image: Graham Denhom (Bunjil Place, Melbourne, Australia)
Image: Darren Black (Conway Hall, London, UK)
Image: Graham Denhom (Bunjil Place, Melbourne, Australia)
‘Truth to Power Cafe’ is one part of a long term project inspired by the political and philosophical beliefs of Nobel Prize winning playwright
Harold Pinter and his Hackney Gang. For sixty years the Hackney Gang maintained their belief in speaking truth to power
and remained firmly on the side of the occupied and the disempowered and their allies.
It is these people we invite to appear in the live show and digital platform.
The Hackney Gang included Jeremy Goldstein’s late father Mick Goldstein, and poet polymath Henry Woolf,
who up until recently was the sole surviving member of the Gang.
‘Truth to Power Café’ is a London Artists Projects production developed with theatre director Jen Heyes
and the Harold Pinter Archive at the British Library, London; Soho Theatre, London; Theatre in the Mill, Bradford; Cast, Doncaster;
Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games; and Leeuwarden-Friesland European Capital of Culture in The Netherlands.
Supported by Arts Council England and British Council Artists’ International Development Fund.
Thanks to Run-Riot