Political Theatre Post 911: The Age of Verbatim, of Testimony, & of Learning from Fictional Worlds

Abstract

The first decade of the 21st century has been marked by a surge of political writing for the stage. Plays written in response to the events surrounding September 11, 2001 reveal an unprecedented level of theatrical experimentation directed specifically at describing the social, religious, and political forces that continue to rransform our post 9/11 world. These experiments have encompassed verbatim theatre; theatre based on real events and people, transcripts, speeches, and photographic evidence. They encompass the theatre of testimony where verbatim techniques are combined with first person narratives based on personal experience. These innovations also include theatre that employs fictionality to create possible worlds where transformations occur, and where the playwright has created a unique site for problem solving. Through text analysis of David Hare's Stuff Happens, Judith Thompson's Palace of the End, Heather Raffo's 9 Parts of Desire, and Tony Kushner's Homebody Kabul, this study will chart the course of these experiments, highlight the innovations, and assess their implications for political theatre.