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First published in 1985, this book examines how workers theatre movements intended their performances to be activist - perceiving art as a weapon of struggle and enlightenment - and an emancipatory act. An introductory study relates left-wing theatre groupings to the cultural narratives of contemporary British socialism. The progress of the Workers' Theatre Movement (1928-1935) is traced from simple realism to the most brilliant phase of its Russian and German development alongside which the parallel movements in the United States are also examined. A number of crucial texts are reprints as well as stage notes and glimpses of the dramaturgical controversies which accompanied them.
List of contents
Preface; Acknowledgments; Introduction: theatre and politics; Part 1 Theatre and socialism in Britain (1880-1935) Part 2 The Workers' Theatre Movement (1926-1935) Part 3 The Yiddish-speaking WTM Part 4 The debate on naturalism Part 5 Proletkult: a view from the Plebs League Part 6 Some origins of Theatre Workshop Part 7 The political stage in the United States; Index
About the author
Raphael Samuel, Ewan MacColl, Stuart Cosgrove
Summary
First published in 1985, this book examines how workers theatre movements intended their performances to be activist — perceiving art as a weapon of struggle and enlightenment — and an emancipatory act. An introductory study relates left-wing theatre groupings to the cultural narratives of contemporary British socialism. The progress of the Workers’ Theatre Movement (1928-1935) is traced from simple realism to the most brilliant phase of its Russian and German development alongside which the parallel movements in the United States are also examined. A number of crucial texts are reprints as well as stage notes and glimpses of the dramaturgical controversies which accompanied them.
