51³ÉÈËÁÔÆæ

Course Description

Summary

The arts have always been one of the most effective means of political or social protest in history. Sometimes a work of art itself becomes a part of the protest whether or not it was so intended. In spring 2011 right before the Gezi Protests, Mi Minör, a play by Meltem Arıkan, was staged by a Turkish actor, Mehmet Ali Alabora, near the Gezi Park. Although Alabora and his play had no role in provoking the people against the government, the subsequent Gezi protests hosted many artistic interventions that empowered the protesters who had to cope with daily police violence. This course will attempt to analyze the performativity and the power of protest in social movements. What is the extent of the power that performance and theater have during social movements? What forms of theater and performances are staged during and after social upheavals? Who designs these performances? When, where, and how do they take place? What kind of resistance can theater artists exert against the oppression of social movements? This course will also evaluate performances and theater productions not just during but also after the social uprisings in Egypt and in Turkey. Corequisites: a drama lab is required.