SERVE AND PROTECT

Direct Action Theatre (D.A.T.)

September 12 + 13, 2026

*This event is free and open to the public.

Serve and Protect is a playful public intervention by Direct Action Theatre (Norway) that transforms familiar symbols of authority into moments of surprise, humor, and collective reflection. Through choreography, visual theater, and unexpected encounters in public spaces, performers invite audiences to reimagine what it means to serve and protect one another, our communities, nature, and the shared spaces we inhabit.

Blurring the boundaries between performance and civic engagement, Serve and Protect includes a multi-day workshop in performance activism. Bringing together community members, artists, and others interested in creative civic engagement, the workshop explores movement, public space, and collective action, informing the spirit of the project's performances and public interventions.

In addition to attending performances, audiences are invited to explore a free exhibition featuring documentation of Direct Action Theatre's interventions from around the world. Details on dates and location to come.

Direct Action Theatre (D.A.T.) is an international “artivism” collective that blends performance art, public intervention, and political activism. Operating outside traditional theater spaces, the anonymous group uses public environments to challenge social structures, provoke dialogue, and blur the line between reality and performance.

This project is supported by the Norwegian Consulate General in New York.