In October 2017, a wave of sexual assault allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein prompted an outpouring of similar stories on Twitter and beyond, all bound by the same hashtag: #MeToo. The phrase, initially coined by activist Tarana Burke in 2006, reverberated across the internet and invigorated a movement. The essays in this volume engage with many of the performative interpretations of and responses to the #MeToo movement and invite reflection, discussion, and action.
Written by an international group of scholars and artists, the essays bring a global perspective to discussions on topics at the intersection of the #MeToo movement and the performing arts, including celebrity feminism, the practice of protest as a coping mechanism, misogynistic speech, the politics of performance, rehearsing and performing intimacy, and more. Contributors highlight works they have performed, witnessed, or studied, offering analysis and nuance while creating an archive of a powerful cultural moment.
Written by an international group of scholars and artists, the essays bring a global perspective to discussions on topics at the intersection of the #MeToo movement and the performing arts, including celebrity feminism, the practice of protest as a coping mechanism, misogynistic speech, the politics of performance, rehearsing and performing intimacy, and more. Contributors highlight works they have performed, witnessed, or studied, offering analysis and nuance while creating an archive of a powerful cultural moment.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Judith Rudakoff
- “Vital Acts of Transfer”: #MeToo and the Performance of Embodied Knowledge
Shana MacDonald
- Bite the Bullet: The Practice of Protest as a Coping Mechanism
Nondumiso Lwazi Msimanga
- Resisting Theatre: The Political in the Performative
Effie Samara
- Supporting Brave Spaces for Theatre-Makers Post-#MeToo: A Chicago-Based Study on Rehearsing and Performing Intimacy in Theatre
Susan Fenty Studham
- We Get It: Calling Out Sexism and Harassment in Australia’s Live Performance Industry
Sarah Thomasson
- Toward the Origin of Performing #MeToo: Franca Rame’s The Rape as an Example of Personal and Political Theatre/Therapy
Laura Peja and Fausto Colombo
- The Royal Court in the Wake of #MeToo
Catriona Fallow and Sarah Jane Mullan
- Dissident Solidarities: Power, Pedagogy, Care
Swati Arora
- Conversations with Noura: Iraqi American Women and a Response to A Doll’s House
Mary P. Caulfield
- #MeToo Theatre Women Share Their Stories
Yvette Heyliger
- Les Zoubliettes: Raging through Laughter—a Feminist Disturbance
Sonia Norris
- “I’m the person to speak about myself”: Self-Declaration, Reversal of Power, and Solidarity in The Red Book
Yuh J. Hwang
Appendix: A Primer on the International #MeToo Movement
Elise A. LaCroix
Biographies of Contributors