In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Editorial Comment:Abolition and Performance Ariel Nereson [A]bolition has to be the way to relate to one another. So, not a tool to implement, but a posture and a way of life. —Ashon Crawley1 Theatre, dance, and performance studies offer many methodological tools for understanding practice and interpreting theories embedded in and arising

Abstract: John Brown is a figure so intensely contested as to embody diametrically opposed meanings according to the varied contexts in which his image has been activated. At times hailed as the man who started the US Civil War, Brown has been variously described as a righteous abolitionist, a religious zealot, a gifted orator, a formidable military strategist, a self-appointed white savior, and a

Abstract: Taking the popular podcast series Violation as its point of departure, this article examines the dramaturgy within the parole system, its affective politics, and its performative speech acts to consider its role in the perpetuation of mass incarceration in the United States. By training an eye on the affective economy of parole hearings, this article explores the retributive turn in the criminal

Abstract: In Atlanta, South River (Weelaunee) Forest is the proposed home of the $90 million Public Safety Training Center, also known as "Cop City." On June 5, 2023, when the Atlanta City Council opened the floor for public comment on Cop City, hundreds of people voiced their opposition for nearly fifteen hours, frequently using humor as a tactic of resistance. What are the radical political potentials

Abstract: This article explores how the police state choreographs active shooter drills as "performances of protection," or embodied actions framed around an anticipatory threat. During these scenarios, choreographic imperatives—or movement directives in response to specific cues—become tools for directing bodies through public space to preempt crisis. While these measures protect students, teachers

Abstract: Two plays focusing on the postincarceration experiences of sex offenders opened in 2018: Life Jacket Theatre Company's America Is Hard to See and Bruce Norris's Downstate. Both plays ask spectators to recognize the humanity of sex offenders while also keeping in mind the harm they caused. The questions at the heart of these plays are ultimately about ethics and space: how close do we as a

Abstract: Black theatremakers have utilized performance to imagine and stage an alternative place where policing is abolished. They usurp the normative theatrical apparatuses to enact countergeographies that become meaningful ways to resist social control. In so doing, they inhabit (and push other artists and audiences to inhabit) theatre differently through transforming the geography of the theatre

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: Vanessa in Bedby Diana Grisanti Gina M. Di Salvo VANESSA IN BED. By Diana Grisanti. Directed by Pirronne Yousefzadeh. Audible Theater. Digital audio production released 09 23, 2023. Downloaded 02 10, 2024. Finally, a comedy about dead mothers, millennial flailing, and the legacy of colonial wealth that spans from an abortion

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: The Jungle Book Reimaginedby Tariq Jordan Alexandra A. Rego THE JUNGLE BOOK REIMAGINED. By Tariq Jordan. Directed and choreographed by Akram Khan. Music by Jocelyn Pook. Animation by YeastCulture ( Adam Smith and Nick Hillel). Akram Khan Company, Rose Theater, Lincoln Center. 11 18, 2023. The Jungle Book Reimaginedpremiered

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: The Theatre of Christopher Durang by Miriam M. Chirico Amy S. Osatinski THE THEATRE OF CHRISTOPHER DURANG. By Miriam M. Chirico. Methuen Drama Critical Companions. London: Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, 2020; pp. 234. Christopher Durang's works have opened on Broadway, and he's won the Tony Award for Best Play and been nominated

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: Latinx Shakespeares: Staging U.S. Intracultural Theater by Carla Della Gatta Guillermo Avilés-Rodríguez LATINX SHAKESPEARES: STAGING U.S. INTRACULTURAL THEATER. By Carla Della Gatta. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2023; pp. 265. For too long, a decidedly multicultural Shakespearean analysis that foregrounds European

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: Performing Copyright: Law, Theatre and Authorship by Luke McDonagh, and: Owning Performance | Performing Ownership: Literary Property and The Eighteenth-Century British Stage by Jane Wessel, and: Copyright and the Value of Performance, 1770–1911 by Derek Miller, and: Negotiating Copyright in the American Theatre: 1856–1951

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: Staging Haiti in Nineteenth-Century America: Revolution, Race and Popular Performance by Peter P. Reed Guo Shuyu STAGING HAITI IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY AMERICA: REVOLUTION, RACE AND POPULAR PERFORMANCE. By Peter P. Reed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022; pp. 231. Peter P. Reed's new and prodigious volume, Staging Haiti

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: Theatre Blogging: The Emergence of a Critical Culture by Megan Vaughan Kevin J. Wetmore Jr. THEATRE BLOGGING: THE EMERGENCE OF A CRITICAL CULTURE. By Megan Vaughan. London: Methuen Drama, 2020; pp. 280. Hiya. I'm Kevin. Thanks for reading this review. I figured if I was gonna review a book on theatre blogging that reproduced

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Decarcerating the University:A Roundtable Discussion Courtney Erin Colligan (bio), Aaron Moore Ellis (bio), Nicholas Fesette (bio), Donatella Galella (bio), Megan E. Geigner (bio), Lindsay Livingston (bio), Ariel Nereson, Leticia L. Ridley (bio), and Misty Saribal (bio) This roundtable discussion took place on Zoom on June 6, 2024, and

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: 8 to abolition to infinity (8 => abolition => ∞) Aaron Moore Ellis (bio) How do I hold a systemic analysis and approach when each system I am critical of is peopled, in part, by the same flawed and complex individuals that I love? This question always leads me to self-reflection. If I can see the ways I am perpetuating systemic oppressions

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Consent Pedagogies:Classroom Lessons from Intimacy Practice Lindsay Brandon Hunter (bio) In 2023, I took part in a conversation gathered under the title "Decarcerating the Field: Building Abolitionist Networks of Care at ATHE" at the Association for Theatre in Higher Education conference in Austin, Texas. Where others entered that conversation

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Looking at/for Disappearing John Brown Ben Spatz (bio), SAJ (bio), Eero Laine (bio), Michelle Liu Carriger (bio), and Henry Bial (bio) Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 1. John Brown BBQ in Queens, New York City, https://www.johnbrownbbq.net. (Photo: Eero Laine.) In the mid-nineteenth century, John Brown (1800-59) riveted

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: Macbeth by William Shakespeare Paul Innes MACBETH. By William Shakespeare. Directed by Richard Twyman. Dubai Opera House, Dubai. November 4, 2023. Major theatrical productions were understandably on hiatus in the United Arab Emirates during the COVID-19 emergency. Large-scale events are beginning to resume, however, and the

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: Pageant By Joan FitzPatrick Dean David J. Eshelman PAGEANT. By Joan FitzPatrick Dean. Forms of Drama Series. London: Methuen, 2021; pp. 177. Pageants are large-scale scripted events designed to appeal to, include, and build communities. Joan FitzPatrick Dean’s book serves as an introduction to the pageant form, with three

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: Marginality Beyond Return: Us Cuban Performances in the 1980s and 1990s by Lillian Manzor Eric Mayer-García MARGINALITY BEYOND RETURN: US CUBAN PERFORMANCES IN THE 1980s AND 1990s. By Lillian Manzor. Routledge Advances in Theatre & Performance Studies. London: Routledge, 2023; pp. 321. Lillian Manzor’s Marginality beyond Return:

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: Professional Wrestling: Politics and Populism ed. by Sharon Mazer, Heather Levi, Eero Laine, and Nell Haynes Scott Magelssen PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING: POLITICS AND POPULISM. Edited by Sharon Mazer, Heather Levi, Eero Laine, and Nell Haynes. Enactment Series. London: Seagull Books, 2020; pp. 241. Professional wrestling might

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Editorial Comment: More Life Laura Edmondson I write this comment in the midst of rage. Earlier this month, on May 1, students at my home institution of Dartmouth College erected five tents in the college’s central green space as part of a pro-Palestine protest. In the context of widespread police action on US campuses, Dartmouth’s administration

Abstract: Sissieretta Jones (1868-1933) is perhaps best remembered as one of the first Black opera singers, despite having never performed on the operatic stage. Exploring race and phonography as interlinking technologies of perception underlying and structuring the ability of audiences to perceive black performers, this essay analyzes the multiple Joneses produced through her archive—in reviews, promotional

Abstract: Occupying a central place in Jacques Derrida’s formulation of hauntology, Hamlet’s Ghost is familiar to contemporary performance theory, standing in for the secondariness and self-division that define dramatic representation. But there was another figure more emblematic of performance in the early modern English playhouse: the revenant. Examining the convention of resurrection as it was frequently

Abstract: The technology industry’s recent spatial turn presents new opportunities for theatre and performance in the twenty-first century. One such opportunity is augmented reality (AR), a technology that overlays digitally rendered assets onto the user’s physical space, giving the appearance that those assets populate the physical world. Through an analysis of The Builders Association’s Elements

Abstract: This essay takes as its central concern the historical transmission of Reza Abdoh’s performance works via their circulation in the artist’s retrospective exhibit at the KW Institute for Contemporary Art in 2019. I analyze two interlaced defining features in the KW exhibition—archival remixing and viscerality—that the curators used to honor Abdoh’s artistic legacy. Focusing on the exhibit

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: Stereophonic by David Adjmi Elizabeth L. Wollman STEREOPHONIC. By David Adjmi, with music by Will Butler. Directed by Daniel Aukin. Playwrights Horizons, New York. October 15 and November 26, 2023. When Stereophonic began previews in October 2023, David Adjmi argued that despite its setting in a 1970s recording studio and

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 by Dave Malloy Adam Day Howard NATASHA, PIERRE & THE GREAT COMET OF 1812. Book, music, and lyrics by Dave Malloy. Directed by Victoria Bussert. Great Lakes Theater, Cleveland. September 24, 2023. The Great Lakes Theater needs no introduction. It has been at the forefront of the regional

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: Die Zauberflöte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Joseph A. Heissan Jr. DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE. By Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. Directed and choreographed by Simon McBurney. Metropolitan Opera House, New York. May 25, 2023. In Mozart’s singspiel Die Zauberflöte, the characters struggle to distinguish truth from

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: Byggmeister Solness by Henrik Ibsen Andrew Friedman BYGGMEISTER SOLNESS. By Henrik Ibsen. Created by Vegard Vinge and Ida Müller, with music by Trond Reinholdtsen. Det Norske Teatret, Oslo. September 12 and 14, 2023. The words “Byggmeister Angst” flashed in neon above the stage throughout Vegard Vinge and Ida Müller’s eight-and-a-half-hour

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: Oregon Shakespeare Festival Lindsey Mantoan OREGON SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL. Ashland, OR. September 21-23, 2023. In the wake of tremendous upheaval at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF), from leadership turnover to the COVID-19 pandemic to wildfires to audiences balking at a reduction in plays by Shakespeare in favor of new

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: National Arts Festival April Sizemore-Barber NATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL. Makhanda, South Africa. June 22-July 2, 2023. For nearly half a century, South Africa’s National Arts Festival (NAF) has been the premier platform for the artistic state of the nation. Its most recent outing in 2023 marked a hearty post-pandemic rebound,

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: Root Beer Lady the Musical by Barbara Cary Hall Eero Laine ROOT BEER LADY THE MUSICAL. Book, music, and lyrics by Barbara Cary Hall. Directed by Laurie Kess. Ely’s Historic State Theater, Ely, MN. September 8, 2023. If you drive far enough, you eventually run out of road. And if you’re driving north through Minnesota, you

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: Watch Night by Marc Bamuthi Joseph Sonja Arsham Kuftinec WATCH NIGHT. Co-conceived and libretto by Marc Bamuthi Joseph. Co-conceived and directed by Bill T. Jones. Music by Tamar-kali. Perelman Performing Arts Center, New York. November 12, 2023. Where are we? A marbled cube of cultural life in lower Manhattan, Perelman Performing

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: The Second Wave: Reflections on The Pandemic Through Photography, Performance and Public Culture by Rustom Bharucha Amanda Culp THE SECOND WAVE: REFLECTIONS ON THE PANDEMIC THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHY, PERFORMANCE AND PUBLIC CULTURE. By Rustom Bharucha. Kolkata: Seagull Books, 2022; pp. 230. Rustom Bharucha begins The Second Wave

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: Shakespeare and Latinidad ed. by Trevor Boffone and Carla Della Gatta Dennis Sloan SHAKESPEARE AND LATINIDAD. Edited by Trevor Boffone and Carla Della Gatta. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2021; pp. 236. In Shakespeare and Latinidad, editors Trevor Boffone and Carla Della Gatta join twenty-three additional contributors

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: Tom Stoppard In Context ed. by David Kornhaber and James N. Loehlin Katherine Weiss TOM STOPPARD IN CONTEXT. Edited by David Kornhaber and James N. Loehlin. Literature in Context Series. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021; pp. 269. Tom Stoppard in Context, a collection of thirty-one short essays, is part of Cambridge

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: Cultures of Witnessing: Law and The York Plays by Emma Lipton Gillian Redfern CULTURES OF WITNESSING: LAW AND THE YORK PLAYS. By Emma Lipton. The Middle Ages Series. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2022; pp. 200. Written in lively, engaging prose that is equally authoritative and accessible, the central argument

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: The Taylor Mac Book: Ritual, Realness and Radical Performance ed by David Román and Sean F. Edgecomb Benjamin Gillespie THE TAYLOR MAC BOOK: RITUAL, REALNESS AND RADICAL PERFORMANCE. Edited by David Román and Sean F. Edgecomb. Triangulations Series. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2023; pp. 307. Written and compiled

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: Eco-Performance, Art, and Spatial Justice in The Us by Courtney B. Ryan Jonah Winn-Lenetsky ECO-PERFORMANCE, ART, AND SPATIAL JUSTICE IN THE US. By Courtney B. Ryan. Routledge Environmental Humanities Series. New York: Routledge, 2023; pp. 182. How can we use small instances of material performance to address the global crises

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: Monumental Cares: Sites of History and Contemporary Art by Mechtild Widrich Rebecca Jackson MONUMENTAL CARES: SITES OF HISTORY AND CONTEMPORARY ART. By Mechtild Widrich. Rethinking Art’s Histories Series. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2023; pp. 228. Mechtild Widrich, professor of art history, theory, and criticism

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Theatre and Translation, Again Avishek Ganguly In 2007, Jean Graham-Jones coordinated a special issue of Theatre Journal dedicated to the topic of translation vis-à-vis theatre and performance. To my knowledge, it still remains the only occasion when a substantial discussion of that topic has taken place in the pages of the journal, including

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Digital Scholarship Roundtable: The State of the Field Sissi Liu, Derek Miller, Erin B Mee, Kate Elswit, and Sarah Bay-Cheng In the seventy-fifth anniversary issue of Theatre Journal, former editor Joanne Tompkins in her essay “The Digital Turn: Research and Publishing in Theatre Journal” presents a grippingly thorough historization of

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Editorial Comment Ariel Nereson The March 2024 issue of Theatre Journal comes on the heels of the landmark seventy-fifth anniversary issue (December 2023, coedited by Laura Edmondson and Sean Metzger) and is my first issue as coeditor. To say that I sense the weight of the journal’s history as I step into this role is an understatement

Abstract: In Soft Power (2019), David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori deconstruct and demonstrate the affective power of American musicals by reversing The King and I (1951). Soft Power satirizes democracy, white supremacy, and gun violence with whiteface, meta-propaganda, and a sweeping Broadway-style score. In the torch song “Democracy” and its reprise, the artists articulate Asian American ambivalence

Abstract: Below the Blanket (2019), a performance installation at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, staged the enmeshed multispecies relationships present in the Flow Country, the largest blanket bog system in the world. While Below the Blanket represented the Flow Country through various artistic mediums, the physical matter—the sphagnum and peat mosses—that comprises the bog was conspicuously absent

Abstract: This article examines how performance represents, reflects on, and reimagines the function of technology in drone culture. From a pharmaco-phenomenological angle, I analyze drone art practices, focusing on how drone performances invite audiences to feel/make their way through a networked reality. I highlight human tension, vulnerability, and precarity in their digital thrownness in conditions

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: Torera by Monet Hurst-Mendoza Weston Twardowski TORERA. By Monet Hurst-Mendoza. Directed and choreographed by Tatiana Pandiani. Alley Theatre, Houston. May 17, 2023. When Elena María Ramírez (Jacqueline Guillén) and Tanok Cárdenas (Jesse Castellanos) ran onto the stage at the opening of Torera, the Alley Theatre’s world premiere

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: The Headlands by Christopher Chen Janine Sun Rogers THE HEADLANDS. By Christopher Chen. Directed by Pam MacKinnon. American Conservatory Theater, San Francisco. March 4, 2023. Set between fog-shrouded locales on either end of the Golden Gate Bridge, Christopher Chen’s The Headlands contends with how the precarities of memory

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: Miss Saigon by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg Jayoon Byeon and Jodie Passey MISS SAIGON. Book by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg. Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg. Lyrics by Alain Boublil and Richard Maltby, Jr. Directed by Robert Hastie and Anthony Lau. Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, UK. August 2, 2023

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: Shane by Karen Zacarías Robert Hubbard SHANE. By Karen Zacarías. Adapted from the novel by Jack Schaefer. Directed by Blake Robison. Guthrie Theatre, Minneapolis. July 29, 2023. Revising beloved classics to adjust for changing cultural mores may inspire antipathy from audience members nostalgically invested in the original

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: Fat Ham by James Ijames, and: White Girl in Danger by Michael R. Jackson Kevin Byrne FAT HAM. By James Ijames. Directed by Saheem Ali. American Airlines Theatre, New York. May 13, 2023. WHITE GIRL IN DANGER. Book, music, and lyrics by Michael R. Jackson. Directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz. Vineyard Theatre, New York. May 13, 2023

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: Mahabharata by Ravi Jain and Miriam Fernandes Stephen Low MAHABHARATA. Written and adapted by Ravi Jain and Miriam Fernandes. Directed by Ravi Jain. Shaw Festival Theatre, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. March 26, 2023. The Mahabharata is an ancient Sanskrit epic poem that is rarely performed on contemporary stages. Toronto’s

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: The Wife of Willesden by Zadie Smith Carla Neuss THE WIFE OF WILLESDEN. By Zadie Smith. Directed by Indhu Rubasingham. Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York. April 16, 2023. Zadie Smith’s The Wife of Willesden, which premiered in November 2021 at London’s Kiln Theatre, transposes Chaucer’s (in)famous Wife of Bath from The Canterbury

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: 76th Festival D’avignon Ljubiša Matić 76TH FESTIVAL D’AVIGNON. Palais des Papes and various other venues, Avignon, France. July 7–26, 2022. After the collective trauma that made the live (co-) presence of people in public irrelevant, or even dangerous, the breath of a certain freedom soared afresh along the ramparts of Avignon

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: Evita by Andrew Lloyd Webber Ryan McKinney EVITA. Book and lyrics by Tim Rice. Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Directed by Sammi Cannold. American Repertory Theater, Cambridge, Massachusetts. June 16, 2023. As audience members settled into their seats for the American Repertory Theater’s revival of Evita, a white, shimmering

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: Parade by Alfred Uhry I. B. Hopkins PARADE. Book by Alfred Uhry. Music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. Directed by Michael Arden. New York City Center, Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, New York. May 3, 2023. Time moves peculiarly in Alfred Uhry and Jason Robert Brown’s sobering Parade, which was revived on Broadway in 2023 for

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: Kpop by Jason Kim Kyungjin Jo KPOP. Book by Jason Kim. Music and lyrics by Helen Park and Max Vernon. Directed by Teddy Bergman. Circle in the Square Theatre, New York. November 27, 2022. When KPOP opened in 2017 as an immersive off Broadway production, curious audience members moved from room to room in a two-story building

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by: Stars: An Afrofuturist Space Odyssey by Mojisola Adebayo Isabel Stuart STARS: AN AFROFUTURIST SPACE ODYSSEY. By Mojisola Adebayo. Directed by Gail Babb and S. Ama Wray. Institute of Contemporary Arts, London. May 3, 2023. STARS, a play by Mojisola Adebayo, centers around an older Black woman, Mrs, who has spent her life searching