I think Theatre gets a bad rap because it’s not in a great state these days, and many of you will think of ‘theatre kids’ and Hamilton before anything else.
However, it’s a medium with a very radical history, and a lot of potential for interactive pieces that that can truly educate people about revolutionary practice and so on. I truly think it’s overlooked.
If you’d be interested in a Theatre comm existing on hexbear then leave an upvote or a comment.
Bonus question: what’s your favourite piece of Theatre that you’ve seen?
My favourite is Accidental Death of An Anarchist, a surreal farce comedy about an anarchist dying in an Italian police station. The writer, Dario Fo, was a dedicated anti-fascist, and The Internationale was played at his funeral. Here’s a translated production of it from the 80’s:
https://youtu.be/TqKfwC70YZI?si=-Avy69WBnU4d2mfR
How they got away with explicitly Marxist material on Channel 4 at the time I’ll never know.
Hell yes. I’d be willing to be a mod too if that’s needed. I did a lot of community theatre in high school and college and a couple local paid gigs in college, haven’t been involved in a while though.
Hard to even pick favorites I’ve seen. Big professional productions probably The Lion King, it’s been on Broadway for a long time for a reason, it’s real good.
Smaller local ones, Peter and the Starcatcher was great, and my college did Sweeney Todd which is obviously fantastic. There was also this all women “Frankenstein” but it was a very very different story from the normal Frankenstein but it was great.
Favorite I was in is split between Les Mis (duh) and Every Christmas Story Ever Told, a Christmas meta comedy, where the second act is a mashup of A Christmas Carol and It’s a Wonderful Life and I got to play Scrooge/George Bailey. Doing both of their big monologues simultaneously swapping between Scrooge voice and Jimmy Stewart voice between lines was so fun.
Also if anyone likes podcasts where leftists talk about theatre check out Worst of All Possible Worlds, it’s not the primary focus but the hosts all have lots of experience in theatre and/or currently work in live theatre. The last free episode is on Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins, and the episode on Dear Evan Hansen, “The Gang Exploits a Teenager’s Death” is hilarious.
I don’t know much about musical theatre, but I was talking on someone on hexbear who did - they recommended:
‘great 18th century Bourgois revolutionary operas William Tell (Rossini) and La Muette di Portici (Auber). The first was the trigger for the 3 days in July, the latter for the Belgian Revolution.’
They also suggested ‘the ballad musical Reedy River, about the aftermath of the Australian 1891 Miner’s strike that triggered the formation of the Australian Labour Party, the first Social Democratic Party to take power in the world.’
Furthermore ‘the Maoist era plays (often filmed before staged, but they’re all quite stagey in scripting) are better than their reputation suggests. The Red Detachment of Women is a particular favourite, though I prefer the ballet to the other adaptations.’
Enjoy I guess.
I don’t know about “favorite” but I think a lot about when I first saw Ragtime at a local summer playhouse: https://youtu.be/aCxbEm_CTfY?feature=shared
It was one of the first positive depictions of workers rights I’d ever seen, and as an added bonus pointed me towards communism. I later attended college for a BFA in musical theatre but I found myself ever more drawn to plays bc capitalism has sterilized most of the messages I want to be heard in modern musical theatre. I would love a comm! I’ll be the Adjunct Professor of Musical Comedy.
This one has a lot of radical potential. Really love this version, was it this song? https://youtu.be/Xmsy6w0r7q0?feature=shared
i am sobbing so hard that was beautiful. i think we just did the prologue. it was this part of our showcase. the black kids LOVED it. they demanded it every year. it was one of the few things that didnt have colorblind casting which we all were sick of. it was this part https://youtu.be/17wP55Dqlbg?si=04tj8hocm9PZEURt
ooooh thank you for tagging me! my favorite theater piece was at a local community theater (where the best theater tends to be) that was like 5 pieces by black writers covering things from the complications in interracial relationships, trying to be a good mom, getting over being transphobic, there was one part about the strength and beauty of black women that made me cry. it was soooo good. as for musicals im gonna be super basic and say my favorites are hadestown and heathers (so gaddamn catchy) .
Hades town is fantastic! Out of the classics, I’m a big fan of Guys and Dolls. Repo: the Genetic Opera is really good too. Now you’ve got me wanting to write effort posts about deconstructing shows. The Whipping Man is a fantastic play that talks about race and religion in the immediate post Civil-war from an enslaved jewish perspective.
also boots riely started organizing by writing skits for striking farm workers that he and his friend would preform. theater is cool and underused!
