2.  Entertain
 Provide catharsis We’ve talked about a lot of
different things this
 Challenge us semester that theatre can
 Teach us do. And I guess that leaves
us with a big question:
 Make us laugh SO WHAT?
 Make us cry
 Make us think
 Inspire us
 And so on and so forth…

3.  Co-founder of the NAACP
 Believed that African-
Americans had a
responsibility to make art
that was political in nature,
taking on the injustices they
faced in the world around
them. He believed that
making art for its own sake
“All art is propaganda and
was a waste of time and ever must be, despite the
resources. wailing of the purists.”

4. Verfremdungseffekt (Alienation
 A Marxist whose overtly political effect) – a set of techniques designed
form of theatre was called Epic to keep audiences from getting sucked
into the world of the play. He would
Theatre include discordant songs, projected
 He believed that audiences titles, puppets, etc.
shouldn’t get too caught up in
the reality of the world of the
play they are watching – they
should always stay a big
removed so that they can be
thinking about the political
points being made.
 Mother Courage and her Children
 Threepenny Opera
 Good Person of Setzuan

5.  During The Great Depression, the WPA
(Works Progress Administration) created
a unit called the FTP (Federal Theatre
Project) headed by Hallie Flanagan. It
was designed to put actors, directors,
designers, writers and stagehands back
to work. One of these divisions was The
Living Newspaper. A group of
playwrights wrote plays based on current
issues and headlines and sent the scripts
to FTP theatres around the country. The Movie Cradle Will Rock is a
They had large casts and even some really lovely account of the last
months of the FTP. And it’s got
flashy effects – like a tenement burning
a GREAT cast. If you ever get a
down on stage! chance, I highly recommend it!

6.  A Brazilian director who used
improvisation methods to
work with communities –
particularly oppressed
communities – to open up
discussions about issues that
face them. His work, known
as Theatre of the Oppressed,
creates interactive theatre
used for radical popular
education and exploring
conflict within a community.

7. Though he passed away a
few years ago, Augusto
Boal’s work is still thriving
around the world. This is an
illustration of the multiple
branches and applications
of his work. If you’re
interested in learning more
about his work, click on the
image to visit their website.
He also has several books –
Theatre of the Oppressed,
Rainbow of Desire, etc. He
was a fascinating man with
a lot of ideas about how to
use theatre to make the
world a better place.

8.  Born LeRoi Jones, he was an His play Dutchman
activist poet and playwright starts out as a realistic
in the 1960s and 1970s. meeting between a
Growing from the tradition young black man and
white woman on a
of W.E.B. DuBois, he subway, but it takes a
believed that art should be dark turn when she
revolutionary, and he provokes him,
himself was far more murders him, the
passengers throw his
militant than DuBois. His
body out onto the
plays explore the tracks, and she
exploitation and devaluation approaches another
of African-Americans by young black man –
white people. apparently to start the
whole cycle again.

9.  A leader of the Chicano
Theatre Movement, he
worked with migrant
workers in California to
create theatre that
addressed their issues,
forming a group called
Teatro Campesino.

10.  Led by playwright Moises
Kaufman, the Tectonic
Theatre Project creates
documentary theatre pieces
that are made up of real
interviews, documents, etc. to
address issues facing the
LGBTQ community.
 Gross Indecency: The Three
Trials of Oscar Wilde is based The Laramie Project is a famous play
featuring interviews with the people of
on letters, journals and court Laramie, WY in the wake of the murder
transcripts from Oscar Wilde’s of Matthew Shepard in 1998. It was
trials at the end of the 19th made into a pretty good HBO movie – I
century. highly recommend it!

11.  Founded in 1998 by playwright
Eve Ensler. Every year she
releases the rights to her play The
Vagina Monologues, allowing
theatres all over the world to put
on performances that benefit
organizations dedicated to ending
violence against women and girls.
The play itself is funny, moving,
thought provoking and
controversial. To date, these performances have
 The V-Day organization also raised over $80 million for various
organizations dedicated to helping
sponsors workshops about various women around the world.
issues facing women around the
world.

12.  A program that goes into
medium security prisons and
stages full productions of
Shakespeare plays with inmates
in order to rehabilitate them and
work through issues surrounding
their incarceration and eventual
reintegration into society.
 Nationally, 67% of people who
have been in prison end up back
in prison. For people who have CLICK HERE to watch a trailer for
the documentary about SBB (it’s
participated in SBB, it’s 6%. available on Netflix instant view, if
you’re interested – it’s worth the
time), and CLICK HERE for a link to
other SBB info.

13. CLICK ON
THE TITLE
Said one soldier: “I’ve been Ajax, I’ve
 An organization that spoken to Ajax.” Today’s soldiers still
experience many of the same problems
performs readings of that their Greek predecessors did, and
Sophocles’ Ajax and these plays are one way to show them that
they are not alone.
Philoctetes for military
audiences followed by
discussion sessions
designed to help open up
a dialogue about the
difficulties veterans face
when they return home.

14.  Many children’s theatres across the country
do a variety of different plays intended to
help children deal with issues facing them
every day. Drugs and
bullying are two
common topics.
Watching plays helps
children to see options,
consequences and
opportunities.

15.  The Exonerated – Jessica Blank
 The Guys – Anne Nelson
 Waiting for Lefty – Clifford Odets
 Zink the Myth the Legend the Zebra
 God’s Country – Steven Dietz
In case you’re interested, this is just a small list of some other plays that address a
variety of different issues from prison to politics to 9/11 to AIDS to racism to
terrorism… there is no topic that theatre won’t touch. And I’m a firm believer that
theatre has the power to open up some remarkable dialogue among artists,
audiences and communities. So yes, sometimes it’s fun to just go be entertained and
escape the everyday, but theatre can do so much more than that!

16.  Master Harold… and The Boys – Athol Fugard
 Translations – Brian Friel
 Back of the Throat – Yussef el Guindi
 Talking to Terrorists – Robin Soans
 Execution of Justice – Emily Mann
 As Is – William M. Hoffman
 Angels in America – Tony Kushner
 The Normal Heart – Larry Kramer & Joseph
Papp