PERFORMING COMMUNITIES Grassroots Ensemble Theaters Deeply Rooted in Eight U. S. Communities

Leonard, Robert H. & Ann Kilkelly & Linda Frye Burnham & Jan Cohen-Cruz

ISBN 10: 0976605449 / ISBN 13: 9780976605447

Published by New Village Press, 2006

8vo 8" - 9" tall; 230 pp. Seller Inventory # 57494

Synopsis:

Ensemble theater is one of the vibrant, meaningful American performance forms today. It's more than art- it's a social movement.
Ensemble theater is one of the hottest, most engaging American performance forms today. It's more than art- it's a movement. Performing Communities is an inquiry into a genre of theater that arises from and empowers the grassroots. The book profiles established ensemble groups from 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 forged by working in and with their communities over time. 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." It is theater that is politically and emotionally charged. It can be cathartic, healing, and has a proven ability to effect social change. The book Performing Communities is a project of the Community Arts Network. It has been created from interviews, analytical essays, and play excerpts from the "Grassroots Theater Ensemble Research Project," an inquiry into American ensemble theaters that have been working in communities for 10 to 35 years. Although originating from a scholarly report, the language has been edited for a popular audience and offers an intimate glimpse into each local ensemble community. The book will appeal to followers of contemporary and popular theater, social change activists, community building specialists, and a public curious about cultural development in the United States.

About the Authors: Robert H. Leonard is a professor in the Department of Theatre Arts at Virginia Tech where he directs the master of fine arts program in directing and public dialogue.

Ann Kilkelly is a professor of performance studies in the Department of Theatre Arts and in the Women's Studies Program in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies at Virginia Tech.

Jan Cohen-Cruz is a former professor of drama at NYU and founder of the department’s applied theater minor. As a past director of Imagining America: Artists and Scholars in Public Life, she co-founded its journal, Public. Her numerous books include Meeting the Moment: Socially Engaged Performance, 1965–2020, by Those Who Lived It, Local Acts, Engaging Performance, Remapping Performance, and two co-edited texts on Augusto Boal. Cohen-Cruz was director of field research for A Blade of Grass and an ATHE awardee for Leadership in Community-Based Theatre and Civic Engagement. She currently teaches at Touchstone Theatre/Moravian University.

Linda Frye Burnham is a writer of national reputation on a variety of subjects, with special emphasis in artists working in community, education and activism. She has also written extensively on performance art and feminism and multiculturalism in the arts.

Bibliographic Details

Title: PERFORMING COMMUNITIES Grassroots Ensemble ...
Publisher: New Village Press
Publication Date: 2006
Binding: Softcover
Condition: Near Fine