Youth Theatre as Cultural Artifact: Social Antagonism in Urban High School Environments

Abstract

This article focuses explicitly on live theatrical performances as cultural products, using Every Single Day as a case study of the ways in which teenagers represent social antagonism in high school social systems. I will begin by establishing youth theatre performance products as cultural artifacts and vital sites for critical inquiry. Next, I will define social antagonism and use it as a theoretical lens through which to analyze Every Single Day and use it to deconstruct the ways teens construct their relationships to adult and institutional authority. I will then go on to examine adolescents' powers to regulate their immediate social norms and the ways in which Every Single Day represents bullying as a weapon of social antagonism in a larger class struggle. Finally, I will examine the play's happy ending as both an affirmation of the status quo and an animation of hopes for a more peaceful world.