This document summarizes several dance and theater works and their political themes and receptions: - Kurt Jooss's The Green Table (1932) critiqued 1930s peace negotiations and politicians, opposing Hitler and Nazism. It won awards for its revolutionary techniques. - Christopher Bruce's Ghost Dance (1981) metaphorically portrayed the corrupted Chilean government's oppression of common people under Pinochet. It educated audiences about Chile. - Alvin Ailey's Revelations (1960) focused on African American spirituality rather than politics, depicting the spiritual state after slavery rather than governmental handling of slavery. It received a standing ovation. - Bertolt Brecht's The Threepenny Opera (1928

1. Performance Studies Research
Nicole Holder

2. The Green Table (1932)
Kurt Jooss
The Green Table is based on the pointlessness of the peace negotiations in the
1930s and the behaviour of the politicians.
This piece is extremely political as 1932 was when the German Federal elections
took place and Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor. Jooss was completely
against Hitler and Nazism as a whole.
Ghost dance (1981)
Christopher Bruce
His piece was received well by most as he won first prize for the originality
which I understand as in 1932 the techniques used were quite revolutionary. This work is based on the corrupted power of Chile in 1981
and the terrible things which occurred to the poorer, common
people of Chile by the hands of Pinochet.
Revelations (1960) This work is extremely political as it directly metaphorically
characterises the people in power In Chile ‘The Ghosts’ and
Alvin Ailey demonstrates through dace the things these people have done
to the common people of Chile.
Alvin Ailey’s piece ‘Revelations’ is based on African- American faith, deliverance
from slavery and the freedom of African- Americans.
This piece was received well in a way that made people realise
what was going on in Chile, impacting audiences from around
This work is not as political as the other practioners because it focuses more on
the world.
the spiritual side of faith. This piece would be political if he would have focused
on the government in 1787 and how slavery was handled but Ailey focused
more on the spiritual state of the African- American people.
After the first performance the auditorium was coated with silence and then
flooded with a round of applause and a standing ovation.

3. Oh, What a lovely war! (1963)
Joan Littlewood
This work is a satire on World War I and was based on ‘The Donkeys’ by
military Historian and future conservative politician Alan Clark with some
scenes adapted from ‘The good solider Svejk’ by the Czech humourist,
Jaroslav Hašek.
I believe this work was definitely political due to the fact that it was based
on a conservative politician’s work A raisin in the sun (1959)
The piece was a surprise hit and was adapted for BBC Radio, much to Lorraine Hansberry
(theatre director) Joan Littlewood’s surprise as she did not believe it
would be a success. This piece is based on a black family’s experience in the
Washington park subdivision of Chicago’s Woodlawn
neighbourhood
This piece is political however it focuses more on the effects of
politics rather than a concentrated observation of politics itself.
The threepenny Opera (1928) Hansberry and producer Phillip Rose did not expect this piece to
Bertolt Brecht be a success however this piece received a positive reception
This work offers a socialist critique on the capitalist world
This piece is very political because it is based on a critique on the
capitalist world, a recognised political subject.
This piece received a poor reception however over time became a great
success.