Bad Political Theater | alexanderharrington

The following is an excerpt from "Bad Politcal Theater" from the anthology New Threats to Freedom, which can be bought at

Bad Political Theater

Alexander Harrington

In prerevolutionary France, Beaumarchais’ The Marriage of

Figaro brought out into the open criticism of the aristocracy. In 1852,

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin (of which numerous

stage adaptations were produced) stirred up opposition to the fugitive

slave law and won people over to the abolitionist cause. Many

believers in the politically transformative power of art would cite

the Group Theatre’s production of Clifford Odets’s Waiting for Lefty,

which sent its audience out into the street shouting “Strike!”

I imagine the Group Theatre’s audience was predisposed to shout

“Strike!” and I do not know whether these demonstrations translated

into political action. But such works as Uncle Tom’s Cabin and

The Marriage of Figaro are unusual. Political art rarely has political

effects. Also, political art is, more often than not, inferior art. Most

of the greatest works of literature present human beings in all their

complexity without tailoring that complexity to fit an agenda.

Nonetheless, a political play can be an aesthetically and/or viscerally

powerful work of art, despite being one-sided and didactic

and, therefore, intellectually unchallenging. Political satire is often

very funny and entertaining. And while it is rare for political theatre

to have immediate practical consequences, it can serve a political

purpose. Producing dissident theatre in authoritarian societies that

brutally repress artistic expression is an act of courage that may be

one of many small acts of defiance that can, in the long run, bring

about change. Even if such plays are presented only to audiences

in agreement with the play’s views, under such oppressive circumstances,

there is something to be said for building the morale of the

opposition. When presented to an audience that does not share the

play’s assumptions, a political play can challenge political beliefs

and open minds. However, in relatively comfortable and relatively

free liberal democracies, like the United States, theatre that panders

to its audience’s political assumptions has the opposite effect:

it enforces conformity and shuts down debate.

ALEXANDER HARRINGTON