Extending our research on peace-storytelling habits, and our interest in using narratives in different media to deepen peace literacy, we have been collaborating with professional theatre company NMT Automatics, who specialise in using ancient myths to tell modern stories.
Since theatre first became an art form, war has been frequently represented on stage; but we have seen fewer dramatisations of peace. And yet theatre has huge potential not only to present peace in many different ways but also to use drama to promote peacebuilding. Through our collaboration with NMTA we hope to change this. We have been working with them to produce a new play – Long After the Labyrinth – which will explore different dimensions of peace: from inner peace to geopolitical peace; post-conflict recovery to sustainable rebuilding; top-down and grassroots peace; securitisation and restorative justice; memorialisation and futures thinking. Working out from the myth of the Minotaur, and incorporating 20th-century Cretan history as well as antiquity, this play will centre young people’s voices in dialogue with adult habits of understanding peace and approaching peacebuilding.
You can read more about our production here. It will premiere in London October 2026, with a three-week run at Upstairs at the Gatehouse, Highgate, before going on tour around the UK. Performances will be accompanied by some post-show Q&As with the creative team; and we are also running peace storytelling workshops alongside performances for theatre makers and drama students.
You might be interested in the following items from our Museum of Peace, which reflect on theatre/drama: