From the Federal Theatre Projects of the Great Depression, to the disruptive performances of the 1960s and 1970s, theatre has played an important role in American radicalism. This special issue of Theater reports on socially conscious, politically active theatres in the United States. Despite the evaporation of Cold War passions and the rise of Conservatism in the 1980s and 1990s, such theatre work remains a persistent and evolving presence on the political landscape. With the inauguration of George W. Bush, new opportunities have arisen for political performance and for significant new challenges to these artists.
Theater and Social Change tracks not only the historical evolution of political theatre but explores current state and future prospects of different modes, including agit-prop, demonstrations, solo performance, Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed, and community-based production. With such notable contributors as Anna Deavere Smith, Jonathan Kalb, Holly Hughes, and Tony Kushner, the issue offers a diverse assemblage of personal statements, conversations, photographs, interviews, and performance text.
Contributors include: Reverend Billy, Jan Cohen-Cruz, Arlene Goldbard, Sharon Green, Lani Guinier, Holly Hughes, Jonathan Kalb, Tony Kushner, Judith Malina, Robbie McCauley, John O'Neal, Claudia Orenstein, Bill Rauch, Julie Salverson, Anna Deavere Smith, Alisa Solomon, Roberta Uno