El Teatro Campesino and the San Francisco Mime Troupe essays

El Teatro Campesino and the San Francisco Mime Troupe essays By and large, the art form deals with the aesthetic whereas political endeavors are often related to logic yet as societies around the world developed, the mergence of the art forms with the other facets of knowledge have become common. The mergence of theatrical art that is stage performances, with politics is one of these instances and has come to be known as political theaters. Political theaters according to the Wikipedia Encyclopaedia (2003) are basically dramas or performances that emphasize on political issues in its theme or plot for a politically conscious society. The basic premise is to raise the issue in public and make them aware of the problem. According to author Mary Thomas Crane (2001) in her analysis on what comprise of performances in theaters, notes that political theaters often address social behaviors and through the performances focus on the effects of political authority on social cohesion and structure. The purpose of these performances is to either resolve conflicts within the society or address the legitimization of the changing social norms. Early political theaters originate from the Greeks and as Western civilization developed renowned names like Jonson, Valpone and Shakespeare are also associated with the same. In more contemporary societies, however, the nature and production of political theaters changed as these are performed in amphitheatres, on the streets or projected through the various modern Two of the most important political theaters in American history are perhaps the Political Theatre of El Teatro Campesino (elteatrocampesino.com) and the San Francisco Mime Troupe (sfmt.org/) under the leadership of Luis Valdez. What make these two theaters landmark in the history of political theater is the fact that it started during the 1950sa period when America had been striving to establish stability amidst civil rights movements ...