Performing Communities

by Leonard, Robert H.

• ISBN13: 9780976605447
• ISBN10: 0976605449
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-04-01
• Publisher: New Village Pr

Summary

Performing Communities is an inquiry into ensemble theater of inner-city Los Angeles, small-town northern California, African-American South, multicultural southern Texas, low-income central Appalachia, economically struggling South Bronx New York and cross-continental Native America. This compendium of critical writing about the role these theaters play in building community shows how these artist groups are not only affected by but forged by working in and with their communities over time. Grassroot ensemble theater is discovered to be neither alternative nor marginalized, but vanguard, a natural evolution of the movement that propelled regional theater "away from the commercial restraints of New York and toward a theater expressive of the rich diversity of American culture." Robert H. Leonard is Professor of Theater Arts at Virginia Tech and former artistic director of the Road Company, an acclaimed ensemble theater that produced two dozen original plays reflecting the issues of Central Appalachia. Ann Kilkelly is Professor of Theater Arts and Women's Studies at Virginia Tech and a nationally recognized scholar and performer who created the Diversity Training Laboratory that uses performance techniques to examine diversity issues. Linda Frye Burnham is co-director of Art in the Public Interest and the Community Arts Network. She founded High Performance magazine and is editor, with Steven Durland, of The Citizen Artist: 20 Years of Art in the Public Arena. Jan Cohen-Cruz is Director of Theater Studies in the NYU Tisch School of the Arts. She is author of Local Acts: Community-based Performance In The United States (Rutgers University Press 2005).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgement	vii
Editor's Preface	1	(2)
Linda Frye Burnham
Introduction: The Ecology of Theater-in-Community	3	(22)
Jan Cohen-Cruz
Findings: Knowing the Secrets Behind the Laughter	25	(20)
Robert H. Leonard and Ann Kilkelly
1. Carpetbag Theater Company: Cheerleader for the Revolution	45	(24)
Ann Kilkelly
Play Excerpt: "Nothin' Nice'	61	(20)
Linda Parris-Bailey
2. Cornerstone Theater Company: Love and Respect at Work in the Creative Process	69	(22)
Robert H. Leonard
Play Excerpt: "Steelbound"	81	(23)
Alison Carey
3. The Dell'Arte Company: Damn Good Theater — What It Is and How to Get It in Blue Lake, California	91	(20)
Robert H. Leonard
Play Excerpt: "Korbel" (First Episode: The Funeral)	104	(24)
The Dell'Arte Company
4. Jump-Start Performance Co.: Magic Glue — The Politics and Personality of Jump-Start	111	(22)
Ann Kilkelly
Play Excerpt: "Le Griffon"	128	(14)
Sterling Houston
5. Los Angeles Poverty Department: Theater as an Act of Citizenship	133	(14)
Robert H. Leonard
Play Excerpt: "Agents and Assets"	142	(15)
Los Angeles Poverty Department
6. Teatro Pregones: The Twin Rigors of Art and Community, or Not the People Who Said Green	147	(22)
Robert H. Leonard
Play Excerpt: "El apagón" (The Blackout)	157	(27)
José Luis González
7. Roadside Theater: Little Epiphanies	169	(24)
Ann Kilkelly
Play Excerpt: "South of the Mountain"	184	(20)
Ron Short
8. WagonBurner Theater Troop: Laughing at the Edge	193	(22)
Ann Kilkelly
Play Excerpt: "An Evolving Indian Theater Experience"	204	(11)
WagonBurner Theater Troop
Research Notes	215	(8)
End Notes	223	(3)
Index	226