Scenes from the Revolution

Book excerpt: Political theater thrives on turbulence. Transmuting Brexit, Trump, and impending ecological disaster into a potent, dramatic art form, its practitioners hold a mirror up to our society, wielding the power to entertain, shock, and discomfit. Scenes from the Revolution is a celebration of fifty years of radical theater in Britain. Beginning with a short history of pre-1968 political theater--covering Brecht, Joan Littlewood, and Ewan McColl--the editors move on to explore agit-prop, working-class, youth, community, POC, women's, and LGBTQ theater. Comprehensive in scope, and featuring many of the leading voices in the field today, as well as "lost" scripts from the radical theater companies of the past, Scenes from the Revolution is a must-read for anyone interested in politics in the arts.