1st Edition

Into Abolitionist Theatre A Guidebook for Liberatory Theatre-making

Edited By Rivka Eckert Copyright 2024
344 Pages 8 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

344 Pages 8 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

344 Pages 8 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

Seeking to transform community-based theatre-making, this book explores the transformative potential of abolitionist theatre, as theatre artists and teachers collaborate with marginalized communities to challenge systems of oppression and inspire profound societal change. Focusing on the idea of bringing people together to demand collective care and community-led practice, this collection works... Read more

Introduction

Rivka Eckert

SECTION I: Prison Industrial Complex/Capitalism

1. Interlude 1

2. Holding Ourselves Accountable and Holding Out for the Horizon: Facilitating the Arts in Prisons

Julie Rada

3.Redefining Stereotypes: Abolitionist Theatre and Correctional Officers

Rivka Eckert

4. Staging Student Resistance: A Case Study in Campus Abolitionist Theatre

Misty Saribal

5. Amplifying Undocumented Stories: On Resisting the “Crimmigration” Regime at Albany Park Theater Project

Devika Ranjan

6. Reflections on Section I

SECTION II: No Reforms

7. Interlude 2

8. Radical Values in Reflection: Navigating Arts and Abolition with Incarcerated Youth

Julie Rada and Maya Osterman-Van Grack

9. Abolition in Prisons and Teacher Education through Theatre of the Oppressed: A Conversation between Practitioners and Participants

Rachael Rhoades and Lori Pitts

10. Disrupting Hierarchies: Theatre for Social Change as Rehearsal for Liberation in Secondary Education

Aubrey Helene Neumann

11. Reflection on Section II

Section III: Building Community

12. Interlude 3

13. The Takers’ Tower Will Fall: Epic Lessons in Co-Creation

Mariana Green and Alyssa Vera Ramos

14. Impact: A Conversation among Katherine Nigh, Robert Villanueva, and Brandon de Santiago

Katherine Nigh

15. Creating a Supernova

Elizabeth Hawes

16. The Power of Difference: Solidarity on the Path

Sarah K. Chalmers

17. Reflections on Section III

Section IV: Interconnection/Future Dreaming

18. Interlude 4

19. Spiritual Gifts for Changing Times/Paradigms

Tyrell Blacquemoss

20. Gaining Freedom and Healing Through Theatre

Lynn Baker-Nauman, MA, LMFT, RDT and Spoon Jackson

21. A Play Is a Vehicle to Incite: An Interview with Playwright Erika Dickerson-Despenza

Nicholas Fesette

22. A Queer Jail-Time: Disclosure Art and Transformative Justice in Los Angeles Men’s Central Jail

Joey Martinez

23. Reflection on Section IV

Biography

Rivka Eckert is an Assistant Professor in the Theatre and Dance Department at SUNY Potsdam, USA. Eckert is a community cultural development theatre-maker using performing arts as a means of cross-cultural communication. She has taught Theatre and English in prisons, high schools, and middle schools and worked with the Peace Corps in Samoa and Liberia.