Chapter 3 Theatre and Cultural Diversity

Critical Mirror: Art and Entertainment Reflect Culture Culture – the values, standards, and patterns of behavior of a particular group of people Culture – the values, standards, and patterns of behavior of a particular group of people Enculturation – the process by which we learn our culture Enculturation – the process by which we learn our culture

Theatre Outside the Dominant Culture Multiculturalism – the endeavor to overcome all forms of discrimination, including racism, sexism, and homophobia, so that people can coexist peacefully and attempt to achieve a pluralistic society. Michal Daniel/Proofsheet

Basic Types of Theatre of the People Theatre of Identity Theatre of Identity Theatre of Protest Theatre of Protest Cross-cultural Theatre Cross-cultural Theatre

Theatre of Identity P romotes a particular people’s cultural identity and invites members of that culture and others to experience their joys, problems, history, traditions, and point of view. © Martha Swope Photography

Yiddish Theatre During the first half of the 20 th Century, NYC’s Second Avenue was known as the “Yiddish Broadway” because so many Jewish theatres were located there. Hulton Archive/Getty Images

African American Theatre August Wilson’s plays have chronicled the decades’ long struggle of Blacks in his native Pittsburgh. Don Ipock Photography/Kansas City Repertory Theatre

African American Theatre With Topdog/Underdog, Suzan-Lori Parks became the first African American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Michal Daniel/Proofsheet

Asian American Theatre In response to a white British actor playing the Asian lead in Miss Saigon on Broadway, actor B.D. Wong asked, “If Asian American actors aren’t good enough to play Asian roles, what are we good for?” Joan Marcus/Photofest

Theatre of Protest Objects to the dominant culture’s control and demands that a minority culture’s voice and political agenda be heard.

Hispanic American Theatre El Teatro Camesino (The Farmworkers Theatre) was founded in 1965 by Luis Valdez. Valdez’s play concerning the Zoot Suit riots in the 1940s is Zoot Suit. Universal/The Kobal Collection

Cross-cultural Theatre Mixes different cultures in an attempt to find understanding or commonality among them. Denver Center for Michal Daniel/Proofsheet the Performing Arts

Cross-cultural Theatre The play Black Elk Speaks, which was adapted from an oral biography of a Sioux holy man, tells the story of white America’s westward expansion from the Native American perspective. Japanese director Shozo Sato stages Western classics such as Medea, Faust, and Macbeth in Japanese Kabuki style.

Theatre as a Way of Seeing through Another’s Eyes Ethnocentrism – privileging how one sees other cultures through the lens of one’s own Michal Daniel/Proofsheet

Keeping Theatre of the People Alive “A healthy state needs vigorous, lively, pluralistic debate, not enforced acquiescence to a bullying majority.” Tony Kushner, playwright own L. Mueller/Staff/The Charlotte Observer

National Endowment for the Arts The NEA enriches our nation and its diverse cultural heritage by The NEA enriches our nation and its diverse cultural heritage by supporting works of artistic excellence supporting works of artistic excellence advancing learning in the arts advancing learning in the arts strengthening arts in the communities throughout the country strengthening arts in the communities throughout the country Jane Alexander, former head of the NEA, testifies before Congress in the early 1990s. Terry Ashe/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images

Curtain Call “Cultural diversity is as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature.” UNESCO’s Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity