Joan Littlewood’s Post-Theatrical Engagements Beyond Theatre Workshop: A Comparison of the Original Fun Palace Project With the 2014 – 2015 Revivals

Bahar KARLIDAĞ

doi:https://doi.org/10.26650/jtcd.906365

Article Details

Joan Littlewood’s Post-Theatrical Engagements Beyond Theatre Workshop: A Comparison of the Original Fun Palace Project With the 2014 – 2015 Revivals

Authors:

Bahar KARLIDAĞ

Publisher:

Istanbul University

Main Topics:

Stage presentations

Journal:

Journal of Theatre Criticism and Dramaturgy 2021 Issue 32, pp.37-56

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

6/2021

Document Language:

English

Document ID (Org No.):

2000804383

Frequency:

Bi-Annual

eISSN:

2687-4636

pISSN:

1303-8605

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26650/jtcd.906365

Keywords:

Abstract:

 

This paper suggests recognizing Joan Littlewood and Cedric Price’s Fun Palace project as a blend of the Old Left and the New Left as it fulfills 1960s’ faith in social progress through change in people’s work/leisure balance on account of era’s technological advances and also prioritizes Joan Littlewood’s working-class politics as it seeks to make urban centers accessible to all people’s pastime activities. Fun Palace project was also introduced by Richard Schechner in The Drama Review issue of 1968 and therefore can be regarded in the whereabouts of early performance art definitions delineated by Schechner. Although Fun Palace resides in the dynamic New Left moment on the timeline, recognizing Littlewood’s communistic commitments in Fun Palace idea is a necessary tribute to Joan Littlewood’s life in working-class theatre, and a relevant perspective in probing the social and political potentials of the annual Fun Palace revivals initiated by Stella Duffy in 2014, the Joan Littlewood Centenary.

 

This paper suggests recognizing Joan Littlewood and Cedric Price’s Fun Palace project as a blend of the Old Left and the New Left as it fulfills 1960s’ faith in social progress through change in people’s work/leisure balance on account of era’s technological advances and also prioritizes Joan Littlewood’s working-class politics as it seeks to make urban centers accessible to all people’s pastime activities. Fun Palace project was also introduced by Richard Schechner in The Drama Review issue of 1968 and therefore can be regarded in the whereabouts of early performance art definitions delineated by Schechner. Although Fun Palace resides in the dynamic New Left moment on the timeline, recognizing Littlewood’s communistic commitments in Fun Palace idea is a necessary tribute to Joan Littlewood’s life in working-class theatre, and a relevant perspective in probing the social and political potentials of the annual Fun Palace revivals initiated by Stella Duffy in 2014, the Joan Littlewood Centenary.

Article Details

Joan Littlewood’s Post-Theatrical Engagements Beyond Theatre Workshop: A Comparison of the Original Fun Palace Project With the 2014 – 2015 Revivals

Authors:

Bahar KARLIDAĞ

Publisher:

Istanbul University

Main Topics:

Stage presentations

Journal:

Journal of Theatre Criticism and Dramaturgy 2021 Issue 32, pp.37-56

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

6/2021

Document Language:

English

Document ID (Org No.):

2000804383

Frequency:

Bi-Annual

eISSN:

2687-4636

pISSN:

1303-8605

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26650/jtcd.906365

Joan Littlewood

Fun Palace

relational art

Old Left

New Left

Issues

Article Details

Joan Littlewood’s Post-Theatrical Engagements Beyond Theatre Workshop: A Comparison of the Original Fun Palace Project With the 2014 – 2015 Revivals

Authors: Bahar KARLIDAĞ

Publisher: Istanbul University

Main Topics: Stage presentations

Journal: Journal of Theatre Criticism and Dramaturgy 2021 Issue 32, pp.37-56

Document Type: Article

Publication Date: 6/2021

Document Language: English

Document ID (Org No.): 2000804383

Frequency: Bi-Annual

eISSN: 2687-4636

pISSN: 1303-8605

DOI: https://doi.org/10.26650/jtcd.906365

Joan Littlewood

Fun Palace

relational art

Old Left

New Left

Issues

Authors:

Bahar KARLIDAĞ

Publisher:

Istanbul University

Main Topics:

Stage presentations

Journal:

Journal of Theatre Criticism and Dramaturgy 2021 Issue 32, pp.37-56

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

6/2021

Document Language:

English

Document ID (Org No.):

2000804383

Frequency:

Bi-Annual

eISSN:

2687-4636

pISSN:

1303-8605

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26650/jtcd.906365