Guerrilla Theatre - Guerrilla Theater in Practice

Guerrilla Theater in Practice

Guerrilla theater 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 guerrilla art. Although this movement is widely studied in Theater History classrooms, the amount of research and documentation of guerrilla theater is surprisingly lacking. The term, "Guerrilla Theater" seems to have emerged during the mid-1960s primarily as an upshot of radical activist theaters such as The Living Theatre, San Francisco Mime Troupe, Bread and Puppet Theater, El Teatro Campesino, and the Free Southern Theater. It also has important roots in Allan Kaprow's "happenings". The first widely documented guerrilla performances were carried out 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 onto the trading floor 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 "guerrilla theater." Another guerrilla performance group that continued the use of the term was the Guerrilla 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 Guerrilla Girls began their work through guerrilla art tactics which broadened to include guerrilla theater. Some common practices in their guerrilla theater techniques that have been replicated by other groups include appearing in costume, using assumed names, and disguising their identity. The origins and legacy of guerrilla theater can be seen in the work of these political/performance groups:

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