David Wiles, "Democracy, Theatre and Performance: From the Greeks to Gandhi" (Cambridge UP, 2024)

Apr 13, 2025

David Wiles, Emeritus Professor of Drama at the University of Exeter, delves into the intriguing intersection of democracy and theatre. He discusses how oratory and performance have been essential to democratic movements from ancient Greece to Gandhi. Wiles argues that political authenticity is a complex illusion, often requiring hypocrisy. By examining historical examples from the Puritan Revolution to modern populism, he challenges listeners to rethink the role of theatre in shaping political discourse and civic identity.

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INSIGHT

Democracy as Theatre

Democracy must be understood as a form of theatre where politicians act to engage audiences emotionally and politically.
Calls for absolute sincerity in politics ignore the performative nature essential to persuasion and leadership.

INSIGHT

Politics Always Theatrical

Politics has always contained elements of theatricality and performance, not just modern social media age.
Ancient Athenian democracy relied on public performances to prepare citizens for debate and decision-making.

INSIGHT

Plato's Critique of Rhetoric

Plato distrusted rhetoric because politicians manipulated truth and emotions instead of seeking it.
He preferred authoritarian control over democratic debate due to theatre's disruptive impact on social stability.

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Democracy, argues David Wiles, is actually a form of theatre. In making his case, the author deftly investigates orators at the foundational moments of ancient and modern democracy, demonstrating how their performative skills were used to try to create a better world. People often complain about demagogues, or wish that politicians might be more sincere. But to do good, politicians (paradoxically) must be hypocrites - or actors.

Moving from Athens to Indian independence via three great revolutions – in Puritan England, republican France and liberal America – Democracy, Theatre and Performance: From the Greeks to Gandhi (Cambridge UP, 2024) opens up larger questions about the nature of democracy. When in the classical past Plato condemned rhetoric, the only alternative he could offer was authoritarianism. Wiles' bold historical study has profound implications for our present: calls for personal authenticity, he suggests, are not an effective way to counter the rise of populism.

Brilliantly reveals the ways in which culture shapes politics, with apposite historical examples
Reframes politics as theatre, allowing politically-minded readers to reflect upon the way performance must always shape the democratic process and in turn allowing theatrically-oriented readers to look afresh at political processes
Proposes a novel and striking historical framing of contemporary issues – Brexit, Trump, political polarization – by using theatre as a tool to imaginatively unlock these issues
Deploys wide-ranging case studies to contrast the ancient Greek city-state with modern electoral democracy around the world

David Wiles is Emeritus Professor of Drama at the University of Exeter. A British theatre historian, he specialises in classical and early modern theatre and has spent his career in departments of drama, where his teaching has always engaged with practice. His research interests include performance space and time, mask, acting and citizenship.

Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube channel. Twitter.

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