Internationalist Theatre is a London theatre company founded by South African Greek actress

Angelique Rockas Angelique Rockas is an actress, producer and activist. Rockas founded the theatre company Internationalist Theatre in the UK with her patron Athol Fugard. The theatre featured multi-racial casts in classical plays. Early life Rockas was born a ...

in September 1980. The company was originally named New Internationalist Theatre, with an intention to pursue an

internationalist Internationalist may refer to: * Internationalism (politics), a movement to increase cooperation across national borders * Liberal internationalism, a doctrine in international relations * Internationalist/Defencist Schism, socialists opposed to ...

approach in its choice of plays as well as "a multi-racial drama policy, with an even mix of performers drawn from different cultural groups", ''

The Stage ''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. It was founded in 1880. It contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at those wh ...

'', April 1981. The theatre has received coverage from stage papers around the world. It received charity status in 1986.

Performances

The Internationalist Theatre has put on plays by

Jean Genet Jean Genet (; – ) was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works include the novels ''The Thief's ...

(''

The Balcony ''The Balcony'' (french: Le Balcon) is a play by the French dramatist Jean Genet. It is set in an unnamed city that is experiencing a revolutionary uprising in the streets; most of the action takes place in an upmarket brothel that functions as a ...

''),

Griselda Gambaro Griselda Gambaro (born 24 July 1928) is an Argentine writer, whose novels, plays, short stories, story tales, essays and novels for teenagers often concern the political violence in her home country that would develop into the Dirty War. One recu ...

('' The Camp''),

Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

(''

Mother Courage and Her Children ''Mother Courage and Her Children'' (german: Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder, links=no) is a play written in 1939 by the German dramatist and poet Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956), with significant contributions from Margarete Steffin. Four theatrical ...

''),

Luigi Pirandello Luigi Pirandello (; 28 June 1867 – 10 December 1936) was an Italian dramatist, novelist, poet, and short story writer whose greatest contributions were his plays. He was awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature for "his almost magical power ...

(''

Liolà ''Liolà'' () is an Italian stage play written by Luigi Pirandello in 1916, which takes place in 19th century Sicily. The original text was composed in the Sicilian dialect of Agrigento. The title character is a middle-aged single father by cho ...

''),

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thre ...

(''

In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel ''In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel'' is a one-act play in two scenes, written in 1968–69 by Tennessee Williams. Williams, Tennessee. ''Plays 1957–1980''. Mel Gussow and Kenneth Holditch, eds. New York: Library of America, 2000, p. 976. ISBN 1-8830 ...

''),

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty p ...

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Miss Julie ''Miss Julie'' ( sv, Fröken Julie) is a naturalistic play written in 1888 by August Strindberg. It is set on Midsummer's Eve and the following morning, which is Midsummer and the Feast Day of St. John the Baptist. The setting is an estate of ...

'') and

Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and social ...

(''

Enemies Enemies or foes are a group that is seen as forcefully adverse or threatening. Enemies may also refer to: Literature * ''Enemies'' (play), a 1906 play by Maxim Gorky * '' Enemies, A Love Story'', a 1966 novel by Isaac Bashevis Singer * '' Enem ...

''). Their critical reception was generally favourable, although not universally. '' Time Out'' magazine disliked their production of ''Mother Courage'': "the casting only inspires a whole host of irreverent questions: what on earth, say, is an American sergeant doing in seventeenth century Europe? And how did a Pakistani chaplain get into the Swedish army?" an example of the resistance to diversity casting at this point of time to a theatre first of a multi-racial ''Mother Courage'' production. The Pakistani actor referred to by Malcolm Hay was the veteran Asian Parsi actor Renu Setna. The ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'' found Liolà`s multi-national casting problematic: "do we really need this peculiar medley of Italian accents for the English premiere? The problem is compounded by the commitment ... to a multi-national cast ... English, German, Sicilian, and Italian actors produce widely differing versions of the Latin lilt" Angelique Rockas and Okon Jones (The Balcony)

Angelique Rockas and Okon Jones (The Balcony)

References

External links

Bertolt-Brecht-Archiv Akademie der Künste

* The records o
Internationalist Theatre, London, 1983-1985; New Internationalist Theatre, London, 1981-1982
are held by the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

.
University College Dublin
Index to Pirandello Studies, Vol 3 (1983), Liola p. 100-102

Practitioner focus: Angelique Rockas , Drama And Theatre

Internationalist Theatre in Academia.edu {{authority control Women in theatre Theatre in London Feminist theatre Political theatre Theatre companies in London Theatre companies in the United Kingdom Entertainment companies established in 1981 Modernist theatre Alternative theatre 1981 establishments in the United Kingdom Theatre practitioners 1981 establishments in England Defunct companies based in London

Performances

See also

References

External links