Twenty-First-Century Transnational Theatre Development in the Cases
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City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 6-2017 Twenty-First-Century Transnational Theatre Development in the Cases of Théâtre du Soleil/Aftaab and Sundance Institute East Africa: Cultural Politics, Performance Aesthetics, and Global Circulation Julia Goldstein The Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/2116 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] TWENTY-FIRST-CENTURY TRANSNATIONAL THEATRE DEVELOPMENT IN THE CASES OF THÉÂTRE DU SOLEIL/AFTAAB AND SUNDANCE INSTITUTE EAST AFRICA: CULTURAL POLITICS, PERFORMANCE AESTHETICS, AND GLOBAL CIRCULATION by JULIA GOLDSTEIN A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Theatre and Performance in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York, 2017 © JULIA GOLDSTEIN All Rights Reserved ii Twenty-First-Century Transnational Theatre Development in the Cases of Théâtre du Soleil/Aftaab and Sundance Institute East Africa: Cultural Politics, Performance Aesthetics, and Global Circulation by Julia Goldstein This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Theatre in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. April 21, 2017 ___________________________________ Date Chair of Examining Committee Jean Graham-Jones Professor April 21, 2017 ___________________________________ Date Executive Officer Peter Eckersall Professor ___________________________________ Marvin Carlson Distinguished Professor ___________________________________ Peter Eckersall Professor ___________________________________ Laura Edmondson Professor THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iii Abstract Twenty-First-Century Transnational Theatre Development in the Cases of Théâtre du Soleil/Aftaab and Sundance Institute East Africa: Cultural Politics, Performance Aesthetics, and Global Circulation by Julia Goldstein Advisor: Jean Graham-Jones This dissertation examines two case studies of twenty-first-century transnational theatre development programs in which arts organizations from wealthy countries in the Global North extend resources and support for the professional development of theatre artists in regions in the Global South. The first case study takes up the French theatre company Théâtre du Soleil’s work in Afghanistan, starting in 2005, leading to the formation of the Afghan theatre company Aftaab and the next ten years of Soleil’s support of and collaboration with Aftaab, transpiring both in Kabul and Paris. The second case study examines the Sundance Institute East Africa Theatre Lab program, a branch of the Sundance Institute Theatre Program, which since the early 2000s has explored opportunities for supporting the development of new theatre work in East Africa, eventually facilitating a series of development labs for East African artists held between 2010 and 2014. Methodologically, this dissertation draws on political, historiographic, sociological, and ethnographic theatre scholarship as well as performance analysis of key theatrical works. For both case studies, I probe the ethics and cultural politics of the programs carried out in regards to their negotiations of unequal positions of geopolitical and economic privilege in the postcolonial and neoliberal context. Additionally, I study the aesthetics and concerns of the performance work that they yield, examining how the work is influenced by transnational support, what the artistic choices reveal about the programs’ values, what audiences the iv performances target, and within what local, regional, and/or global circuits they circulate. Finally, I consider the implications of participating in these programs for the supported artists in terms of their ongoing career development and the sustainability of new movements in local or diasporic performance activity to which the programs contribute. In addition to examining these processes, I analyze closely a core product of each respective initiative. In the case of Théâtre du Soleil/Aftaab, I reflect on two collectively created plays that were the most widely performed and documented of the company’s theatrical output, arguing that these productions constitute artifacts of the asymmetrical transnational working relationships that produced them. In the case of SIEA, I reflect on the Kampala International Theatre Festival as the most direct institutional offspring of Sundance’s program. I argue that through this festival, East African artists intervene in dominant trends in local performance and assert a globally-connected, twenty-first-century East African theatre culture. This research suggests that the transnational programs examined here have been both productive and restrictive, contributing to the production of transnational artist subjectivities and performance work while also, in some ways, reifying preexisting systems of inequality and perpetuating dynamics of neocolonialism. Such initiatives, taking myriad forms, are likely to continue as we move deeper into the twenty-first century, and will continue to transpire through uneven power relationships. I argue therefore that a nuanced understanding of the potential outcomes, pitfalls, and implications of structural choices on the part of all artists and administrators involved is critical to approaching transnational development work ethically. v Acknowledgments This project spanned several years of life and was supported by more people than I can name. Thank you to the committees at the Graduate Center who allotted me a five-year Enhanced Chancellor Fellowship, a Dissertation Fellowship, and several smaller research awards including a Doctoral Student Research Grant, an ARC Award, and a June Bennett Larsen Fellowship. This support made graduate school substantially closer to a reasonable endeavor and made possible several research trips to France and Uganda. Thank you to my advisor Jean Graham-Jones for never discouraging me from what I feared at first was an impossibly ambitious project, and for her close, careful reading of many drafts which prompted me to continuously improve my work. I thank the members of my dissertation committee, Peter Eckersall, Marvin Carlson, and Laura Edmondson, for valuable conversation and feedback, and especially to Laura for bringing her deep expertise on East African theatre and performance to my project. Thank you to all of the Graduate Center theatre department faculty from whom I’ve learned so much and who model in their own work a devotion to scholarship that moves me. This project would have been impossible if artists and administrators involved in the programs I have researched had not welcomed me and generously shared with me their knowledge and perspectives, sometimes on rather personal topics. I am deeply grateful to all of my interlocutors as well as to everyone who helped me plan and navigate my research trips, especially to Uganda, and everyone who extended friendship to me during these endeavors. Mahmood Sharifi, Taher Baig, and Omid Rawendah of Aftaab Theatre were particularly generous with their time and open with their thinking. Deborah Asiimwe and Faisal Kiwewa welcomed me twice to the Kampala International Theatre Festival and truly facilitated my vi research through critical introductions and behind-the-scenes access to rehearsals, meetings, and social gatherings. Charles Mulekwa in particular spoke with me extensively and openly about theatre-making in Uganda today. The Sundance Theatre Program staff warmly welcomed me to their offices and spoke with me frankly about the goals and tensions of their work. All of these people and many others have reminded me again and again of why I chose to study theatre to begin with. Jude Lwanga Richards drove me all over Kampala and beyond, providing good humored company and much useful information throughout. Heather Samples and Meechal Hoffman at the Schwartz Communication Institute have supported my career development in more ways than one and provided friendship and flexibility during the final, critical months of my work on the dissertation. Friends and colleagues from the Graduate Center, especially Kayla Yuh, Rayya El Zein, Brad Krumholtz, and Sissi Liu, have been wonderful co-learners and co-thinkers over the years and have provided much-needed moral support. Thank you especially to Nicole Berkin for her sustaining friendship in graduate school and beyond. Thank you to my parents, Joan and David Goldstein, for always being my most enthusiastic cheerleaders and for teaching me that learning matters. To my sister Sarah Goldstein for coaxing me out of my tower now and again and for generally being inspirational and making life better. And to Eric Davis, who doesn’t seem to believe me when I say that I don’t know how I would have finished this project without his support. vii Table of Contents Title Page i i Copyrights Page ii Approval Page iii Abstract iv Acknowledgements vi Table of Contents viii Introduction 1 Chapter 1 Performing Modern Afghanistan Through Transnational Development: Théâtre du Soleil and Aftaab Theatre 45 Chapter 2 Aftaab’s Collectively Created Works as Artifacts of Transnational Development 112 Chapter 3 Friction in Transnational Development Through Sundance