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The author discusses the depiction of politics and social issues in popular American theater in the 1960s, and mentions plays such as "Heartbreak House" by George Bernard Shaw, "Triple-A Plowed Under," and "Look Back in Agner" by John Osborne. Theater audiences, Americans' internet in politics, and escapism in theater are discussed, as well as the social conditions of successful American dramatists.

The article presents some plays on the U.S. politics. Some of these include "The Establishment," "The Premise," and "Beyond the Fringe." Probably the last truly political play seen in Europe or in the U.S. is "The Dirty Hands" and even that play was only partly political. There were two main characters in it, and audiences were at liberty to decide which of the two main characters was the play's real protagonist. Jed Harris, who directed "The Dirty Hands" on Broadway was later elected for the communist bureaucrat. The latest political theme for plays in the U.S. is the Negro liberation.

Writer Rolf Hochhuth has made his name by stepping on mighty toes, In his historical political plays he has attacked prominent persons and myths, basing his dialogue on historical documents and frequently using their actual texts. However, he as a citizen of what he calls an American "satellite state whose industry is hit by bit swallowed up by U.S. corporations," Hochhuth feels entitled to place his urban guerrilla revolution in the epicenter of power, the U.S. itself. His "Deputy," written in 1963 and shown on Broadway amidst considerable controversy, attacked Pope Pius XII for not having raised his voice and his influence against German ruler Adolf Hitler's extermination of the Jews.

This article discusses political theatre. Is all theatre political? Some people claim that it is. To some extent, this view is based upon a misunderstanding of the word "political." Webster defines "political" as: 1) Of or concerned with government, the state or politics; 2) Having a definite governmental organization; 3) Engaged in or taking sides in politics; as political parties; 4) Of or characteristics of political parties or politicians: as political pressure. These definitions may help us to understand the nature of political theatre, but they do not apply to all theatrical activity. Some people who claim that all theatre is political seem to confuse "political," "social," and "economic." Of course, all theatre exists in a certain socio-economic context. By definition, it involves an audience; it is not a solitary activity. But this does not mean that it necessarily is concerned with government or that it must take sides in politics. A basic functional independence of theatre and politics can be illustrated by certain indigenous performances that have remained unchanged for many years under various political parties, systems and orders.

This article deals with political theatre as popular entertainment. Political theatre has done more than adopt past entertainment forms, it has also adopted their spirit of fun. Jean-Jacques Lebel, The Happener and political activist who was making street theatre during the Paris events of May 1968, says that the Revolution should be fun, even the planning of it. It is this sense of livingness, of vitality, that must imbue all revolutionary political activity, coming as a continual demonstration of the energy of the Movement toward desired goals, in contrast with the boredom of the status quo. It is this vitality, which comes in part from taking on the Establishment, that is the most obvious characteristic of the contemporary political theatre groups.

Describes the state of the Living Theatre in the U.S. Criticisms against the theater company; Depiction of reality in the theater company's productions; Analysis of the political direction of the theater company.

This article probes into the political aspects of theater in India as of March 1971. Until a hundred years ago, the Tamil theater of South India was devoted exclusively to the presentation of stories derived from Indian epics and other religious sources. The first plays focusing on contemporary social problems were written in the 1870s. Although the bulk of Tamil drama continued to be primarily religious in content, this newly articulated concern with social problems introduced a separate line of development which was to become a major factor in the political evolution of Madras in the second quarter of this century. Starting in the 1920s, the Indian independence movement began to draw the Tamil theater into direct involvement with social and political reform. The theater was used to propagandize the activities of the Congress Party, which led the struggle against British rule. The theater also absorbed some of Gandhi's reformist zeal, and the earlier line of social drama received a new impetus from the independence movement. By the late 1930s, the theater had firmly established an alliance with the movement for political independence, to the extent that when a play had no direct political message, it was customary for the leading players to appear onstage during intermissions and scene changes, singing songs in praise of the independence movement leaders like Gandhi and Nehru.

The article presents an update on politics and government in France as of April 1960. Citizens were surprised with the efforts of General Charles de Gaulle to bring Russian Prime Minister Nikita Khrushchev back to the city for a visit and the warm welcome received by the general in London, England. The demonstration made by a farmers' union to protest the financial crisis they faced led to violence. The International Theater will showcase productions with political themes.

When the National Socialists came into power in January 1933, the German theater was the liveliest in Europe. For more than a century the reigning monarchs had subsidized playhouses and encouraged native and foreign plays, players, and music. Then came fourteen years of republican rule, during which state and municipal support replaced court patronage. During this period a bold experiment in popular art was undertaken in the creation of the People's Theater. This association, with its own theater in Berlin and affiliations and touring companies throughout the country, provided its half-million members with good drama and music for the trifling price of from one mark to two marks fifty a performance.

The director of the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, Karl Gierow, assured that he suffers no political pressure in the choice of plays, actors, artistic staff, even though one-third of the theatre's income is state money. He manages his theatre in consultation with a committee of members of his acting company, some of his stage directors and certain gentlemen from the Ministry of Education. Actors are poorly paid, everyone in Stockholm agrees. But there is community of employment because even then privately-controlled theatres have permanent companies and actors supplement their salaries by work in pictures, recitals, radio.

This article literally appraises the book "Sixty Years of the Theatre," by John Ranken Towse. This volume affords a sweeping survey, accompanied with terse commentary, of the theatre in England and the United States during the past fifty years and more. It projects before us, in a varied succession of vivid and illuminated pictures, executed with left hand and tinted with loving artistry, the figures great and small, and the enterprises successful or abortive, of the second half of the nineteenth century which have cooperated to lend dignity, worth, and distinction to the theatrical art of the English and American people.

Presents the script of the political play "Toujours L'amour; or, the Eternal Try-Angle," by Katherine Dayton.

The article focuses on the changes in the operatic styles of Peking opera in China, under the leadership of cultural queen Chiang Ching, the wife of Communist Party Chairman Mao Tse-tung. It states that Madame Mao managed the creation of the new revolutionary librettos which convert the opera from esthetic to political opera. It says that the revolutionary productions such as "The Red Lantern" have eliminated the traditional elements of Peking opera except the singing part.

The article offers world news briefs. Machiavellian Mayor Italo Bombolini outwits half of German high command and successfully purports 1,320,000 bottles of vintage vermouths and rubost red wines. Broadway Impresario David Merrick, states that the strike will continue until five years and there will be nothing left of the theater. Hollywood actor Gary Merill lost to State Senator Horace Hildreth Jr. for the First Congressional District.

Presents a script for the play "The Good Ship Democracy," written by Newman Levy.

This article discusses theatre of agitation in Brazil with the play entitled The Blockade of Intervention: An Indictment from several Brazilian playwrights. The play was one of the most important manifestations of popular theatre--Brazil's theatre of agitation. It belongs to a large repertory of plays which include Patria o muerte, Cuba sí, Yankee no, and others which deal with international politics. This theatre of agitation also includes small "raids" made by theatrical brigades during special occasions. For example, during a political campaign a group of actors meet on a corner and began arguing about politics to the point of threatening physical violence; people gather around them and the group suddenly begins an improvised performance that deals with the most urgent political issues. Only midway through the performance does the crowd realize that it is attending a play. Another popular form, practiced before the military coup of 1964, was didactic theatre. To teach the farmers of northeast Brazil how to use new planting techniques and new chemical products, several actors presented a fable in which the heroine (Cabbage) has a terrible enemy, the Dragon (a threatening insect). Performed only a few times, the fables were very successful; the farmers rarely forgot the name of the insecticide.

Contends that the plays "Murderous Angels," by Conor Cruise O'Brien and "The Deputy," by Rolf Hochhuth are raising the question of the relationship between truth and art. Historical personages portrayed in the plays who were made to involve in actions which have little or no basis in fact; Moral and philosophical implications of the technique used by the playwrights in their plays.

Focuses on questions concerning theater workshop in the United States, which are produced, directed, written and acted by people of the hard Left. Focus on the state of the theater in the country; View that artistic and social unity, which has always been the enduring art of the theater is not possible in the midst of the industrialized mass society; Focus on an essay "The Stage As a Moral Institution," by Friedrich Schiller; Views on the socialists' control of the theater; Focus on several plays and playwrights; Statement that the American theater need not remain a retreat for the abnormal, exploring a peculiarly detached world of pseudo-intellectuals and psychopathic morons.