As artist and social researchers working in health research, we work 'against the grain' in marginalised spaces to resist the marketisation of knowledge and related neoliberal practices. Our cross-disciplinary alliance, between theatre / performance studies and critical health science, is premised on engaging the humanities, arts, and social sciences to resist the subversion of both critical qualitative research and arts-based inquiries, and to interrogate structural inequalities that foster human injustices. Here we offer reflections on tensions we experienced with our interdisciplinary collaborations, how these tensions exposed limitations of our own disciplines/fields, and also enhanced the fruitfulness of our partnership.