Blog 4 - Local Acts (Will)

The reading from the introduction of Local Acts: Community-Based Performance in the United States resonated with me the most due to the local aspect of it. Artists are "collaborating with people whose lives directly inform the subject matter, express collective meaning," which is very captivating to me as this seems like the most organic form of theater and performance. Personally, it really sparked my interest when reading about the fact that the performances are created and produced for a specific area based off of the culture and other unique aspects of that particular community. I would imagine a performance created off of my hometown (a suburb 45 minutes away from Boston) would resonate with me more than a performance produced for the city of Boston due to more real life experiences in my hometown. I also believe that there is great value in someone being able to depict their own experiences in their communities and portray them through storytelling, street theater, or any other forms of performance. As Cohen-Cruz also questioned, I still wonder if we do ourselves a disservice by reinforcing our communities identities through performance?

Below is a Ted-Talk featuring Eric Thomas talking about the value of storytelling and how it can be beneficial for marginalized communities. He talks about his own experience voicing his displeasure with the city of Detroit, and being backed by many other members of his community that did not feel their voice was heard.

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Politics and Theatrics

This post will focus on the correlations between politics and theater. Augusto Boal makes it a point to highlight how theater is political which makes me question: is politics is theater? Boal believes that by nature humans are political and since theater is a result of human activities it too is political. Politics and theater tend to portray different messages to society. For example, theater is not generally taken as seriously by people in society while politics is taken very seriously and impacts all people. Elections, voting, and media portrayals are all outlets in which politics is performed. If politics is a form of theater, then politicians would be the ones performing the theatrics. During the 2020 presidential debates between Donald Trump and President Biden, many people tuned in to hear out the political perspectives hashed out in real time. Eventually, as the debate continued the audience quickly realized that it was turning into a political spectacle based on ho...

Las Hijas de Violencia and Pussy Riot - Bella Blog Post #3

One thing that stuck with me from this week's reading was Las Hijas de Violencia. It reminded me of the forum theatre we did on Wednesday. More specifically, the power of confrontation against the oppressor. I think a lot of the time, they(oppressors) don't expect such a reaction which gives the oppressed a sort of power. I also think the use of the confetti gun instead of a violent weapon. In this way, the oppressed doesn’t become the oppressor through gaining their freedom. Then the addition of the song adds another element of surprise. The use of punk amplifies the harasser looking ridiculous as mentioned. They're bringing active energy to the problem of street harassment. I think their movement works because it makes noise and not just audibly. The article mentions taking inspiration from Pussy Riot. They are a Russian feminist protest and performance group that performs guerilla gigs of punk rock music in public places. They wear neon balaclavas and acid-bright tigh...

El Teatro Campesino - Will Blog 2

Yolanda Broyles-González's article "El Teatro Campesino and the Mexican Popular Performance Tradition" looks at the development and significance of the El Teatro Campesino theater company founded in the 1960s to support the United Farm Workers movement. Broyles-González argues that El Teatro Campesino draws on a long history of Mexican popular performance traditions like carnival and religious pageantry, as well as European avant-garde theater techniques. She examines how El Teatro Campesino's performances incorporated elements of these traditions, such as satire, physical comedy, and music, to engage audiences and create a sense of community. Broyles-González also explores how the theater company's performances challenged dominant cultural narratives and offered a vision of social change that centered the experiences and struggles of Chicano farm workers. A quote that resonated with me was that "the real language of African theatre is to be found in the stru...

Performance for Social Change

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