Political Theatre

Chantal Bilodeau kicks off this week's series on Theatre in the Age of Climate Change, and argues that we as a theatre community need to recognize when our practices and systems are detrimental to the earth and other people, and strive to change them.

Jonathan Mandell runs down the recent past and present dramatization of dystopian novels on stage, including 1984, and asks whether what’s on stage is reflected in the political era that we are in now.

MJ Kaufman writes about the decision not to see To the End of the Land ​at Lincoln Center. 

Matthew Clinton Sekellick discusses moving beyond awareness with action, advocating for theatre artists and administrators to join forces with existing social justice movements.

Gary English looks at the production Other Places by the Palestinian theatre group Al Khashabi Ensemble.

Lydia K. Valentine looks at Hands Up, a series of monologues that address the killing of unarmed black men by police.

Jonathan Mandell compares the countrywide reaction to the anti-Trump play Building the Wall with its reception in New York, where it's closing a month early.

Director and dramaturg Linda Lombardi discusses Lindsey Ferrentino’s Ugly Lies the Bone, and examines how changes to our political climate effect audience reaction.

Holly L. Derr looks at ethnodrama and Her Opponent, a restaging of excerpts of the 2016 presidential debates with gender-reversed casting.

Robert Stanton for #FairWageOnstage considers the recent success of negotiations for salary increases for Off-Broadway actors and how theatre can support and lead the resistance to oppressive political administrations.

Bari Hochwald of the Global Theatre Project discusses the need for artist activists today to “inflame the civic temper” and address the refugee crisis.

Director Alex Hare discusses using a town hall format for Chains Don’t Rattle Themselves, a song cycle performance about incarceration and how it affects individuals and their families.

Katie Pearl talks with Caridad Svich, a maker of work for live audiences, about the breath of theatre, the us in the room, and her new script Town Hall.

Cherry Lou Sy looks at the one-woman show Mary Speaks written and performed by Angela Polite, about using Mary, the mother of Jesus, as a vehicle to explore black grief.

Professor of Theatre Kenn Watt discusses environmental participatory performance.

Puppeteer Fedelis Kyalo shares his puppet background, and discusses how puppetry intersects with popular entertainment and street protests in Kenya.

Kirsten Greenidge reflects on the playwright's relationship to this unruly moment of cultural shift and what happens to one’s work when the world around us is changing so rapidly?  

Allison Raynor interviews Anthony Atamanuik, a Donald Trump impersonator who critiques both the president and audiences in his latest solo piece.

Kitty Drexel writes about Stephen Sondheim's Assassins , and the need for artists to defend natinoal arts funding.

Playwright Charles Gershman talks with seven fellow theatre practitioners about the impact of the 2016 presidential election on their work and view of theatre.

Holly Derr writes about Jacqueline E. Lawton’s new play at Arena Stage, part of their Power Plays commissioning initiative.