{"product_id":"staged-action-six-plays-from-the-american-workers-theatre-paperback","title":"Staged Action: Six Plays from the American Workers' Theatre - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eLee Papa\u003c\/b\u003e (Editor)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith this anthology of six plays, Lee Papa reintroduces readers and performers to a largely forgotten American theatrical genre from the 1920s and 1930s, the workers' theatre movement. In an introduction that gives background on the workers' theatre movement and traces its influence on American drama, from David Mamet and August Wilson to the work of Anna Deavere Smith and Vermont's Bread and Puppet Theatre, Papa explains the criteria for his selection of plays. Papa's section introductions provide historical, cultural, and literary context for each of the plays.The first two plays in the anthology--\u003ci\u003eProcessional\u003c\/i\u003e by John Howard Lawson and Upton Sinclair's \u003ci\u003eSinging Jailbirds\u003c\/i\u003e--reflect the large-scale arrests of strikers and union organizers during and after World War I. The next two plays were produced at labor colleges. Bonchi Friedman's 1926 play, \u003ci\u003eThe Miners\u003c\/i\u003e, combines expressionism and realism in a drama about a violent strike that has an unusual female union leader as its hero. In \u003ci\u003eMill Shadows\u003c\/i\u003e by Tom Tippett, a town changes from a simple industrial village into a place of rebellion and eventually a union community.The last two plays are representative of those produced by the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. In contrast to Irwin Swerdlow's one-act agitprop \u003ci\u003eIn Union There Is Strength\u003c\/i\u003e, the musical revue \u003ci\u003ePins and Needles\u003c\/i\u003e--until \u003ci\u003eOklahoma\u003c\/i\u003e the longest-running musical on Broadway--is a collection of satirical sketches that parodies workers' theatre while simultaneously taking on serious issues like the treatment of blue- and white-collar workers and the rise of fascism overseas.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLee Papa is Assistant Professor of Drama Studies in the Department of English at the College of Staten Island\/CUNY. He is also the political blogger known as the The Rude Pundit, and the blog has tens of thousands of weekly readers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 304\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.72 x 8.86 x 5.96 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e May 20, 2009\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42131400720519,"sku":"9780801475238","price":66.51,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0601\/2623\/2711\/files\/71248fe4462a57707d5fe489fae480b3.webp?v=1732618650","url":"https:\/\/booksby.splitshops.com\/products\/staged-action-six-plays-from-the-american-workers-theatre-paperback","provider":"Books by splitShops","version":"1.0","type":"link"}