Led by renowned practitioners Katy Rubin (The People Act) and Jon Alexander (New Citizen Project), this introductory workshop will bring the legislative theatre process to life, offering concrete tools to transform relationships between citizens and governance structures.

What is Legislative Theatre?

Legislative Theatre brings residents, policymakers and activists together to co-create innovative and effective solutions to complex challenges, promoting equity, creativity and fun into local and national political spheres.

How does it work?

WATCH: Participants will experience brief theatrical presentations highlighting everyday civic challenges based on real community experiences.

ACT: Attendees are invited to step into the scenarios, improvise solutions, and collaborate with others to develop practical proposals to address systemic issues.

VOTE: The group deliberates, refines the proposals, and votes on prioritized actions, with commitments sought from present stakeholders to carry ideas forward.

Cities, governments, and communities around the world have been engaging the LT methodology over the past decade on housing and homelessness, climate justice, health care, cultural equity and more, from Medway Council to Kensington and Chelsea, from Zimbabwe to Austria, and beyond.

This workshop expands upon and brings to life the concepts introduced in Katy and Jon’s talk The Joy of Citizening: How to Open Up Our Institutions Before They Die at the Creative Bureaucracy Festival the day before (5th June). Find out more about this talk and get your Festival tickets to the preceding talk via the Festival website.

About the Leaders

Katy Rubin is the director of The People Act and a specialist in Legislative Theatre—a participatory democracy process that’s joyful, inclusive, and accessible. Her approach brings community members and policymakers together to create theatrical forums that transform policy through collective creativity. Katy’s work has influenced homelessness strategies, climate initiatives, and social services across the UK.

Jon Alexander (New Citizen Project) is the co-founder of the New Citizenship Project and author of »CITIZENS: Why the Key to Fixing Everything is All of Us.« His work focuses on reclaiming citizenship as a practice rather than just a status—emphasising that being a citizen means actively shaping the world around us for the better. Jon has partnered with organisations including the Co-op, The Body Shop, National Trust, and BBC to develop participatory approaches that involve people in decisions that affect their lives.