Restaging the sixties : radical theaters and their legacies / edited by James M. Harding & Cindy Rosenthal.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Harding, James Martin, 1958-

Rosenthal, Cindy, 1954-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Theater--United States--History--20th century.

Theater.

Theater--Political aspects.

History.

United States.

Theater--Political aspects--United States--History--20th century.

Physical Description:

viii, 452 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, [2006]

Summary:

In the volatile period of the late sixties and early seventies, several theater groups came to prominence in the United States, informing and shaping activist theater as we know it today. Restaging the Sixties examines the artistry, politics, and legacies of eight radical collectives: the Living Theatre, the Open Theatre, the Performance Group, the San Francisco Mime Troupe, El Teatro Campesino, At the Foot of the Mountain, the Free Southern Theater, and Bread and Puppet Theater. Each of the specially commissioned essays is from a leading theater artist, critic, or scholar. The essays follow a three-part structure that first provides a historical overview of each group's work; then an exploration of the group's significant contributions to political theater; and finally, the legacy of those contributions.

The volume explores how creations such as the Living Theatre's Paradise Now and the Performance Group's Dionysus in 69 overlapped with political interests that, in the late 1960s, highlighted the notion of social collectives as a radical alternative to mainstream society. Situating theatrical practice within this socio-political context, the book considers how radical theaters sought to redefine the relationship between theater and political activism, and how, as a result, they challenged the foundations of theater itself.

Contents:

Introduction: Between Characteristics, Continuities, and Change-Theorizing the Legacy of Radical Theaters / James M. Harding, Cindy Rosenthal 1

The Living Theatre: Historical Overview 27

Only Connect: The Living Theatre and Its Audiences / Erika Munk 33

Four Scenes of Theatrical Anarcho-Pacifism: A Living Legacy / Alisa Solomon 56

The Open Theatre: Historical Overview 75

After Paradise: The Open Theatre's The Serpent, Terminal, and The Mutation Show / Carol Martin 79

Ways of Working: Post-Open Theatre Performance and Pedagogy / Roger Babb 106

At the Foot of the Mountain: Historical Overview 125

Cut by the Cutting Edge: Martha Boesing and At the Foot of the Mountain / Lynne Greeley 129

The Beautiful Legs of Feminist Theater: At the Foot of the Mountain and Its Legacy / Charlotte Canning 150

The San Francisco Mime Troupe: Historical Overview 169

Revolution Should Be Fun: A Critical Perspective on The San Francisco Mime Troupe / Claudia Orenstein 175

San Francisco Mime Troupe Legacy: Guerrilla Theater / Susan Vaneta Mason 196

El Teatro Campesino: Historical Overview 213

Re-Constructing Collective Dynamics: El Teatro Campesino from a Twenty-First-Century Perspective / Yolanda Broyles-Gonzalez 219

The Legacy of El Teatro Campesino / Jorge Huerta 239

The Free Southern Theater: Historical Overview 263

The Free Southern Theater: Mythology and the Moving between Movements / Annemarie Bean 269

Comforting the Afflicted and Afflicting the Comfortable: The Legacy of the Free Southern Theater / Jan Cohen-Cruz 286

The Performance Group: Historical Overview 307

The Performance Group between Theater and Theory / Martin Puchner 313

A Different Kind of Pomo: The Performance Group and the Mixed Legacy of Authentic Performance / Mike Vanden Huevel 332

Bread and Puppet Theater: Historical overview 353

"Go Have Your Life!": Self and Community in Peter Schumann's Bread and Puppet Theater / Sonja Kuftinec 359

Bread and Puppet and the Possibilities of Puppet Theater / John Bell 377.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 411-421) and index.

ISBN:

047209954X

0472069543

OCLC:

70258966

Publisher Number:

9780472099542

9780472069545