Spiderwoman Theatre

Spiderwoman Theatre

Spider-woman is an art that involves the performance of community-based activist theatre that neither conforms the gay or the radical queer camp. The Spiderwoman theatre aimed to bring social change. This was actualized in the following ways; through this art, the theatre advocated for marginalized communities, and it actively worked towards social change using circumstances and opportunities that were available within the city for lesbians and gay men. The Spiderwoman theatre broke the social barriers that were tied with gay men and lesbians being unaccepted in society. The theatre worked towards changing the attitudes and raising the morale of its constituent audience. By so doing, the theatre brought about the acceptance of the dominant culture.  This resulted in communities being restaging of tribes and were responsible for the local gay men and lesbians’ community (Savard 121).

Jan Cohen-Cruz, in her work, emphasizes the benefits brought about by the Spiderwoman Theatre. She defines this art as an art of the people, by the people and for the people (Edwards 70). The art posits that a technique that is community-based and its performance most often manifests as that of the cultural expressions of identity politics (Naidu 78). Thus, the field of lesbianism and gay community-based art has historically faced significant challenges. It has been generally devalued for the politics of identity production that Jan Cohen-Cruz describes (Nzinga 29). The following research questions guided this work’s analysis

1. How do gay and lesbians look like, and how do they communicate?
2. Do gay and lesbians interact freely with other member’s community?
3. Are gay and lesbians socially accepted in the community?

The Spiderwoman theatre tries to put these questions into perspective. The theatre points out that when lesbians or gay people are out, they refer that as being out to a social club. It featured the gay bar as a communal space for gay men and lesbians, thus breaking the social barriers against marginalized communities (Gale 145).

Works Cited

Edwards, Matthew. “Disabled Attractions in Kiss of the Spider Woman.” Queer Argentina.          Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2017. 61-91.

Gale, Cengage Learning. A Study Guide for Manuel Puig’s” The Kiss of the Spider Woman.”          Gale,             Cengage Learning, 2016.

Naidu, Pracilla. “Translating Homosexuality: Manuel Puig’s, Kiss of the Spider Woman.” WL       404W:             Literature and Translation 3 (2018).

Nzinga, Ayodele. “Spider Woman and the Twin War Godz Lynching Tree Memory, Cotton &     the Lynching         Tree Gang.” Journal of Pan African Studies 11.6 (2018): 27-34.

Savard, Shannon N. Growing Tribes: Reality Theatre and Columbus’ Gay and Lesbian      Community. Diss. The Ohio State University, 2018.