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This book offers the first full-length scholarly study of Sistren Theatre Collective, one of the most significant theatre companies in the history of Caribbean drama. It looks critically at Sistren's theatre productions and its community outreach programme, as well as its leading role in the Caribbean women's movement and its relationship with development agencies. The book charts Sistren's emergence, influence and transformation from a women's only theatre company to a mixed-gender non-governmental organization. Covering Jamaica's socio-political history since the island's Independence in 1962, this study places Sistren's work in the context of Jamaica's past as a plantation economy and the ongoing impact of colonialism and neocolonialism in Jamaican society. This book will appeal to scholars and students in the discipline areas of Caribbean Studies, Theatre Studies, Gender studies and Development Studies as well as activists and theatre practitioners.
List of contents
1 Introduction: The Politics of Space and Place.- 2 Making Space: Shifting from Creole Nationalism to Democratic Socialism.- 3 Creating Sistren's 'Aesthetic Space'.- 4 Yard and Street: The Social Construction of Gender in Bellywoman Bangarang.- 5 Blackness and Spatial Politics: Nana Yah, Q.P.H. and Domestick.- 6 Sistren's Trans/national Alliances: A Tribute to Gloria Who Overcame Death and The Case of Miss Iris Armstrong.- 7 Theatrical Geographies of Resistance: Ida Revolt inna Jonkonnu Stylee and Muffetinna Alla Wi.- 8 Sistren's Internal Dynamics: From Bussout! (1989) to Burnout.- 9 Coda: Rising from the Ashes: Sistren's Use of Sociodrama in Inner-City Communities.
About the author
Karina Smith is Senior Lecturer in Literary and Gender Studies at Victoria University, Australia. She has published extensively on Caribbean literature and theatre, particularly the work of Sistren Theatre Collective. She is the co-editor of the book Adding Pimento: Caribbean Migration to Victoria, Australia with Lisa Montague and Patricia Thomas, 2014).
Summary
This book offers the first full-length scholarly study of Sistren Theatre Collective, one of the most significant theatre companies in the history of Caribbean drama. It looks critically at Sistren's theatre productions and its community outreach programme, as well as its leading role in the Caribbean women's movement and its relationship with development agencies. The book charts Sistren's emergence, influence and transformation from a women's only theatre company to a mixed-gender non-governmental organization. Covering Jamaica's socio-political history since the island's Independence in 1962, this study places Sistren's work in the context of Jamaica's past as a plantation economy and the ongoing impact of colonialism and neocolonialism in Jamaican society. This book will appeal to scholars and students in the discipline areas of Caribbean Studies, Theatre Studies, Gender studies and Development Studies as well as activists and theatre practitioners.
