Browsing sites on feminism and theatre...

My Notes

http://www.globalissues.org/article/166/womens-rights#Progress

''Yet, despite many successes in empowering women, numerous issues still exist in all areas of life, ranging from the cultural, political to the economic.''

This website looks at women's  rights across the world: how their rights have improved fractionally over the years within many countries and governments yet not entirely improved as equality still doesn't exist

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http://www.pbs.org/wnet/women-war-and-peace/features/women-war-peace-in-afghanistan-healing-through-theater/

''Knott explains that the Theater of the Oppressed is an on-going experiment in Afghanistan. While the country has a strong arts tradition, particularly with poetry, acting has typically been reserved for men. The Theater of the Oppressed is one of the few ways in which women’s experiences of war are addressed.''

 

Women, War and Peace is a charity organisation aiming to 'help heal the wounds women have endured' during war. In this article, Leslie Knott talks about how they use Forum theatre techniques to help these women from Afghanistan to tell their stories and express themselves about what they have been through.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agitprop

I just discovered a form of theatre called 'Agitprop Theatre' and wikipedia seemed to help my understanding of it.

''Agitprop is derived from agitation and propaganda,^[1] and describes stage plays, pamphlets, motion pictures and other art forms with an explicitly political message.''

'' In the case of agitprop, the ideas to be disseminated were those of communism, including explanations of the policy of the Communist Party and the Soviet state. In other contexts, propaganda could mean dissemination of any kind of beneficial knowledge, e.g., of new methods in agriculture. Agitation meant urging people to do what Soviet leaders expected them to do; again, at various levels. In other words, propaganda was supposed to act on the mind, while agitation acted on emotions, although both usually went together, thus giving rise to the cliché "propaganda and agitation".''

 ''The term agitprop gave rise to agitprop theatre, a highly-politicized leftist theatre originated in 1920s Europe and spread to America; the plays of Bertolt Brecht being a notable example.^[2] Russian agitprop theater was noted for its cardboard characters of perfect virtue and complete evil, and its coarse ridicule.^[3] Gradually the term agitprop came to describe any kind of highly politicized art.''

This has made me question, is there any Agitprop theatre that has been made to emphasize and define issues associated with women's rights and politics surrounding the themes of feminism?

http://www.usq.edu.au/artsworx/schoolresources/madforest/political

Quoted from this university website:

''Feminist playwright, Caryl Churchill has been heavily involved with political theatre. The following is an exert from Feminism, appearing in Different Types of Feminist Theories by Cara Stewart: (I should also read this book)

‘Feminism is the organised movement which promotes equality for men and women in political, economic and social spheres. Feminists believe that women are oppressed simple due to their sex based on the dominant ideology of patriarchy. Ridding society of patriarchy will result in liberation for women, men, minorities, and gays.' 

It was Churchill's beliefs in materialist feminism that led her to the Romanian Revolution in a study into oppressed people and their empowerment.'' .....

 ''The empowerment of a people to rise as one against an oppressor is a fantastic example of the materialist feminist idea of ‘group over individual'. To enable a radical and persistent change in society is what lies at the core of the feminist belief system, the expectation that enlightened and determined action can bring about positive change that liberates oppressed peoples ...''

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Here is a feminist women-led political theatre company which looks at human rights issues and targets at creating political messages by looking at female perspectives of the world today. They also 'work in the community with the vulnerable and dispossessed, creating innovative street/site-specific performance theatre, celebrating their voices and exploring their experience.' 

  http://www.mamaquilla.org/