Bodden, Michael Henry (1993) Imagining the Audience as Agent of Its Own History: Brecht, Grassroots Theater and Representations of Interclass Alliance in the Philippines and Indonesia. Doctoral thesis, University of Wisconsin - Madison.
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
In this dissertation, I examine the nature of the relationship between the ideas, plays and practice of Bertolt Brecht, and those of several groups of theater workers in the Philippines and Indonesia from the late 1960s to the present. I argue that the relationship is not one of simple imitative borrowing, rather it entails a complex refitting of concepts and practices into radically different contexts. My approach involves tracing the development of two major groups: PETA in the Philippines, and the Arena Teater of Indonesia. In each instance, I give special attention to the ways in which these groups appropriate aspects of Brecht's work, or that of Augusto Boal and Ross Kidd, who have themselves appropriated features of Brecht's practice and ideas. Of central concern is the construction, by PETA, MSPCS Creative Drama Team, and Arena, of grassroots theater practices during the 1970s and 1980s, which parallel Brecht's attempts to create a pedagogical theater practice--the Lehrstuck. These practices are intended to conscientize and mobilize peasants, workers, and others to take greater control of their lives and ultimately, to change the prevailing social systems. As such, they are one part of the forging of a social alliance between middle-class intelligentsia and more populous national constituencies. I then examine five original plays produced by PETA and Arena in order to investigate the ways in which they represent dramatically, primarily for urban middle-class audiences, the possibility of interclass alliance. I will look at how both Brechtian notions and grassroots practices have been incorporated into these plays in order to facilitate representations of alliance, arouse critical thinking and to mobilize the support of the audience. Such a reading reveals the real strengths of these groups, as well as the problematic nature of imagining and constructing social alliances across class lines.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Bertolt Brecht, grassroots theatre, PETA, theatre, theatre criticism |
| Depositing User: | Machine Whisperer |
| Date Deposited: | 13 Jun 2017 08:29 |
| Last Modified: | 13 Jun 2017 08:29 |
| URI: | http://philippineperformance-repository.upd.edu.ph/id/eprint/1558 |
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