Estrangement, embodiment and entanglement: Putting agonistic planning into practice through Urban Drama Labs

This paper explores how agonistic conflict can be made productive for urban governance by means of applied theatre. Discussing the development and implementation of Urban Drama Labs in the cities of Drammen (Norway), Gdynia (Poland), Tilburg (the Netherlands) and Genk (Belgium), the paper introduces three analytic principles for understanding the potential of applied theatre to put agonistic planning into practice: estrangement enables new perspectives on the conflict at hand by defamiliarising what is taken for granted; embodiment foregrounds the role of multiple senses, emotions and affect to stir engagement in conflictual situations; and entanglement moves beyond static oppositions by foregrounding how interests, roles and identities are woven together. While acknowledging the challenges of integrating Urban Drama Labs in planning in terms of navigating tensions between contingency and predictability, trust and control in procedural settings, the paper proposes new pathways for advancing agonistic approaches in participatory urban governance.