Identity and Agonism: Tim Miller, Cornerstone, and the Politics of Community-Based Theatre

Abstract

Drawing on the theories of Antonio Gramsci, Jill Dolan, and Chantal Mouffe, the author argues that certain community-based theatre practices--specifically those exemplified by Tim Miller and Cornerstone Theater Company--are modifying traditional models of political theatre. Miller's work identifies and mobilizes politically active communities based on affective rather than essential commonalities. At the same time, Cornerstone's rehearsal process models a means of staging and valuing disagreements and tensions that inevitably arise between such political/communal identifications.