Rehearsing revolutions
Subtitle: the labor drama experiment and radical activism in the early twentieth century
By: Mary McAvoy
Series: Studies in theatre history and culture; Studies in theatre history and culture
Publisher: University of Iowa Press
Published: 2019
Place of publication: Iowa City
Language: eng
Number of pages: 260
ISBN-13: 9781609386412
Subjects: Workers' theater; History; Amateur theater; Experimental theater; College theater; Labor unions and education; Labor union members; Education; Labor unions and the arts; Socialism and theater; Political activists; Radicalism
Description: "Between the world wars, several labor colleges sprouted up across the U.S. These schools, funded by unions, sought to provide members with adult education while also indoctrinating them into the cause. As Mary McAvoy reveals, a big part of that learning experience centered on the schools' drama programs. For the first time, Rehearsing Revolutions shows how these left-leaning drama programs prepared American workers for the 'on-the-ground' activism emerging across the country. In fact, McAvoy argues, these amateur stages served as 'training grounds' for radical social activism in early twentieth-century America"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: The labor drama experiment; title: Performance from the ranks : the advent of labor drama at Portland Labor College, 1922/25; title: The variegated shoots : Hazel MacKaye and the advent of labor dramatics at Brookwood Labor College, 1925/26; title: Of untold possibilities : Hollace Ransdell and the ladies of Southern labor dramatics, 1928/36; title: Something very different : Southern labor drama at Highlander Folk School, 1934/40; title: Lee Hays, a preaching hillbilly, and the FBI : the last gasps of labor drama at Commonwealth Labor College, 1932/39; title: Conclusion: Labor drama's legacies.