Viewers in Distress: Race, Gender, Religion, and Avant-Garde Performance at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century

Mihaylova, Stefka

doi:doi:10.3998/mpub.11504996

Viewers in Distress: Race, Gender, Religion, and Avant-Garde Performance at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century

Stefka G. Mihaylova

Open Access

Conventional notions of avant-garde art suggest innovative artists rebelling against artistic convention and social propriety, shocking unwilling audiences into new ways of seeing and living. Viewers in Distress tells a different story. Beginning in the tumultuous 1990s, after the fall of the Berlin Wall and in the wake of the Los Angeles riots, rebellious spectators in American and British theaters broke with theater decorum and voiced their radical interpretations of shows that were not meant to be radical. In doing so, audiences tried to understand the complex racial, gender, and religious politics of their times, while insisting that liberal societies fulfill their promise of dignity for all. Stefka Mihaylova argues that such non-conforming viewing amounts to an avant-garde of its own: a bold reimagining of how we live together and tell stories of our lives together, aimed to achieve liberalism's promise. In telling this story, she analyzes the production and reception politics of works by Susan-Lori Parks, Sarah Kane, Forced Entertainment, Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, and Young Jean Lee, as well as non-theatrical controversies such as the conflict over Halloween costumes at Yale in 2015. At the core of spectators' discontent, this book suggests, is an effort to figure out how to get along with people different from ourselves in the diverse U.S. and British societies in which we live.

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The Venus Hottentot, with her oversized buttocks turned toward the audience, observed by the Chorus of the Anatomists and the Chorus of the Spectators.

The Venus Hottentot and the Chorus of Spectators

From Chapter 1

Figure 1. The Venus Hottentot, the Chorus of the Anatomists, and the Chorus of the Spectators. Scene from Venus, by Suzan-Lori Parks, directed by Richard Foreman. Photo by T. Charles Erickson, 1996. Reproduced by permission from T. Charles Erickson.

Cate feeding Ian, who has been stuck into the floorboards, in the closing scene of Blasted.

Scene from Blasted, by Sarah Kane

From Chapter 1

Figure 2. Kelly Reilly (Cate) and Neil Dudgeon (Ian) in the 2001 revival of Blasted, by Sarah Kane, Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Downstairs. Photo by Donald Cooper. Reproduced by permission from Donald Cooper.

Robin welcoming spectators, while John squeezes his neck in his elbow, while the other actors smile at the audience.

Opening scene, First Night, by Forced Entertainment. The Place, 2001

From Chapter 2

Figure 3. Opening scene of First Night, by Forced Entertainment, at The Place, 2001. Photo by Hugo Glendinning. Photo courtesy of Forced Entertainment.

Robin Arthur, John Rowley, and Jerry Killick, with black bands covering their eyes, predicting spectators’ futures.

Fortune-telling scene, First Night, by Forced Entertainment. The Place, 2001

From Chapter 2

Figure 4. Fortune-telling scene, First Night, by Forced Entertainment, The Place, 2001. Photo by Hugo Glendinning. Photo courtesy of Forced Entertainment.

A wooden box lined with nails, containing three loose stones that produced sound when the box was moved.

Music Box (Elemental Sculpture)

From Chapter 2

Figure 5. Robert Rauschenberg, Music Box (Elemental Sculpture), ca. 1955. Wood crate with traces of metallic paint, nails, three unattached stones, and feathers, 11 x 7 1/2 x 9 1/4 inches (27.9 x 19.1 x 23.5 cm). Collection of Jasper Johns. ©Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. RRF Registration# 53.027.

University of Michigan Press
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Viewers in Distress: Race, Gender, Religion, and Avant-Garde Performance at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century

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The Venus Hottentot and the Chorus of Spectators

Scene from Blasted, by Sarah Kane

Opening scene, First Night, by Forced Entertainment. The Place, 2001

Fortune-telling scene, First Night, by Forced Entertainment. The Place, 2001

Music Box (Elemental Sculpture)

Final scene, First Night, by Forced Entertainment. The Place, 2001

Sikh Protest against Behzti

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Viewers in Distress: Race, Gender, Religion, and Avant-Garde Performance at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century

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