Amy Cuthbertson

Candidly titled A Theatre for a Thief, this thesis proposes a series of ‘theatrical props’ that serve to tackle an anatomy of socio-political, architectural and literary concerns which pervades the city of Tangier, northwestern Morocco.  Divided into four acts, this body of work is informed by lines of questioning borne from historical readings of the colonial, post-colonial and present-day city.  Jean Genet, a French playwright, novelist and vagabond, cryptically amalgamates such concerns in his extensive writings.  As an expatriate, unable to reside in many Western societies due to his sexual identity and criminal record, he identified as an outcast, criticising the Establishment both abstractly and directly.  His oeuvre encapsulates this sentiment, forming the chief reference material for this thesis.  

Residing in the affluent El Minzah Hotel in the 1970s, Genet occupied the paradoxical position of both local and visitor; outcast and upper class.  His arguably privileged presence in post-colonial Tangier tethers these conditions of polarity.  Observing a series of architectural moves, the thesis appraises how the city performs for each character - the wealthy visitor and the disempowered native.  Through close studies of a site that microcosmically portrays this collision of social conditions, A Theatre for a Thief endeavours to reconstruct a vision of Tangier which serves the desires, talents, and cultural history of the local population.  Each defined as ‘an architecture which enables performance’, four theatrical props seek to both understand and facilitate performance in the modern city, grounded in an appreciation of its complex history.