Comparative inquiry can be both exciting and tricky. THEAGENT’s five case studies, Istanbul, Warsaw, Berlin, Paris, and London, were selected not only because they harbored certain commonalities and connectivities when it came to theatre and urban transformation, but also because of the key differences that structured their urban histories, theatre and performance fields, and property regimes. In practice, this has meant that we are learning to work with unexpected familiarities, but also with jarring disparities.

Over the course of the project lifetime, our goal is to maintain this spirit of “estranging” the familiar by holding team meetings in the project’s five cities, and immersing ourselves in the neighborhoods that exemplify the processes we are studying. The reflections chronicled here present our informal reactions and hope to share those moments when we experienced affinity but also confusion, familiarity but also wonder.