First published in 1985, this book examines how workers theatre movements intended their performances to be activist — perceiving art as a weapon of struggle and enlightenment — and an emancipatory act. An introductory study relates left-wing theatre groupings to the cultural narratives of contemporary British socialism. The progress of the Workers’ Theatre Movement (1928-1935) is traced from simple realism to the most brilliant phase of its Russian and German development alongside which the parallel movements in the United States are also examined. A number of crucial texts are reprints as well as stage notes and glimpses of the dramaturgical controversies which accompanied them.
Preface; Acknowledgments; Introduction: theatre and politics; Part 1
Theatre and socialism in Britain (1880-1935) Part 2 The Workers Theatre
Movement (1926-1935) Part 3 The Yiddish-speaking WTM Part 4 The debate on
naturalism Part 5 Proletkult: a view from the Plebs League Part 6 Some
origins of Theatre Workshop Part 7 The political stage in the United States;
Index
Raphael Samuel, Ewan MacColl, Stuart Cosgrove