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It has been suggested that this article be merged with Guerrilla theater. (Discuss) Proposed since November 2007.

Guerilla Theatre, or Guerilla Performance, is a style of street theatre popularized in the mid-late 1960s, usually political in nature. Guerilla (Spanish for “little war”) describes the act of spontaneous, surprise performances in unlikely public spaces to an unsuspecting audience. Typically these performances intend to draw attention to a political/social issue through satire, protest, and carnivalesque techniques. Although the exact derivation of the term is as yet to be identified, most scholars place its etymology around 1965-70 , as many of these performances were a direct result of the radical social movements circa 1967-69. Guerilla Theatre is most often related to agitprop (agitation propaganda), public performance first utilized by the Russian Communist Party. Although Guerilla Theatre shares the same political focus of agitprop, it is differentiated by the inclusion of Dada performance tactics.

Guerilla Theatre in Practice

Guerilla Theatre shares its origins with many forms of political protest and street theatre including agitprop (agitation-propaganda), carnival, parades, pageants, political protest, performance art, happenings, and, most notably, the Dada movement and guerilla art. Although this movement is widely studied in Theatre History classrooms, the amount of research and documentation of “guerilla theatre” is surprisingly lacking. The term, “Guerilla Theatre” seems to have emerged during the mid-1960s primarily as an upshot of radical activist theatres such as The Living Theatre, San Francisco Mime Troupe, Bread and Puppet Theatre, El Teatro Campesino, and the Free Southern Theatre. It also shares considerable roots in Allan Kaprow’s happenings. The first widely documented Guerilla Performances were under the leadership of Abbie Hoffman and the Youth International Party (Yippies). One of their most publicized events occurred on August 24, 1967 at the New York Stock Exchange where Hoffman and other Yippies threw dollar bills to the brokers below. Creating a media frenzy, the event was publicized internationally . In his later publication, Soon to be a Major Motion Picture (1980), Hoffman refers to his television appearances with specially planned subversive tactics as “guerilla theatre.” Another Guerilla Performance that helped bring the term to wide acceptance was the Guerilla Girls. This group of feminist artist/activists was established in New York City in 1985 with the purpose of bringing attention to the lack of female artists in major art galleries and museums. The Guerilla Girls began their work through guerilla art tactics which broadened to include guerilla theatre. Some common practices to their guerilla theatre techniques that have been replicated by other groups include appearing in costume, using assumed names, and disguising their identity. The legacy of guerilla theatre can be seen in the work of these political/performance groups:

• ACT UP!
• Billionaires for Bu
• Bread and Puppet Theatre
• Church Ladies for Choice
• The Church of Euthanasia
• Circus Amok
• Clown Army
• El Campesino Teatro
• Oil Enforcement Agency
• Reclaim the Streets
• Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping
• San Francisco Mime Troupe
• Welfare State International
• Free Southern Theatre

submitted by PRAFULLA KUMAR RAI DEPT OF ENGLISH BHU

References

• Random House Webster’s College Dictionary. New York: Random House, 1992, pp.593.
• Brockett, Oscar. History of the Theatre. 7th ed. Needham Heights, MA: Simon & Schuster, 1995, pp.575.
• Random House Webster’s College Dictionary. New York: Random House, 1992, pp.27.
• Cohen-Cruz, Jan, ed. Radical Street Performance. New York: Routledge, 1998.
• Brockett, Oscar. History of the Theatre. 7th ed. Needham Heights, MA: Simon & Schuster, 1995, pp.575.
• Durland, Steven. “Witness: The Guerilla Theatre of Greenpeace.” Radical Street Performance. Jan Choen-Cruz, ed. New York: Routledge, 1998, pp. 67-73.
• Hoffman, Abbie. “America Has More Television Sets Than Toilets.” Radical Street Performance. Jan Choen-Cruz, ed. New York: Routledge, 1998, pp. 190-195.

• Articles to be merged from November 2007
• Political activism
• Culture jamming techniques