Kevin Brown

Spectacle as Resistance: Performing Tree Ordination in Thailand

[pages 91 - 103]

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Abstract

Tree ordination (buad paa) blurs the lines between ritual, theatre, and political protest. As an example of a newly invented ritual, it provides the opportunity to study the origins of ritual. First used by Buddhist 'Ecology Monks' in Thailand as an attempt to prevent the destruction of the forest, other groups have co-opted the form for various purposes: it has been used by the Thai Government, NGOs and the King of Thailand. A class-based analysis reveals that tree ordination plays an important role as a tool for mediation between the royal family, the nation-state, and the people of Thailand.

Charles Joseph Del Dotto

T. S. Eliot as Medieval Modernist:  Period
and Ideology in "Religious Drama:  Mediaeval and Modern"

[pages 104 - 114]

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Abstract

Although T. S. Eliot’s influence in the development of early modern studies is profound, this article examines Eliot’s status as a “medieval modernist.” Reading his most revealing essay on the Middle Ages, “Religious Drama:  Mediæval and Modern” (1937), this article argues that Eliot’s periodization of the medieval is problematic in its religious conservatism and disregard for the complexity of historical reality.  The ideological periodicity of Eliot’s Middle Ages represents the convergence of his animus against modernity and liberalism with his desire for a religiosity that imposes an order hostile to the non-Christian Other on subjectivity and society.

Patrick J. Ebewo

Religion as an Ideological Weapon in Africa:  A View From the Stage

[pages 115 - 123]

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Abstract

When the Missionaries introduced Christianity in Africa, many embraced the new religion because of its promise of a fruitful and promising life for all. But instead of religion serving as armor of hope against oppression, some African critics and writers are of the opinion that it has become an ally of the exploitation foisted on the oppressed and hungry African peasants by the forces of colonialism and capitalism. This paper analyzes the negative role of religion in contemporary Africa presented by two African playwrights - Ngugi Wa Thiong’o (Kenya), and Zakes Mda (South Africa). As presented in their plays, which are discussed in this paper, religion is viewed as a weapon used by the privileged in society to subdue the poor and perpetuate evil and oppression in African society. The playwrights view religion as an agent of foreign capitalism, and present in their plays the unprogressive role that it has played in the economic and socio-political lives of the masses. To the playwrights, in the midst of poverty and hunger in Africa, blind followership of Christian religion, is regarded as “chasing an illusion.”

Diana  Manole

"What Language Shall We Pray In?"
Post-Colonial Approaches to Sacred Texts and Rituals in Canadian Contemporary Drama

[pages 124 - 135]

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Abstract

This paper investigates the ironic aspects of the appropriation of Christian sacred texts and rituals from the perspective of the post-colonial splitting of the cultural sign system. To this purpose, I compare the British Evangelization of native Indians as analyzed by Homi Bhabha in his essay “Signs Taken For Wonders,” and the French Evangelization of Aboriginal Canadians as re-enacted by Michael Hollingsworth in his historical parody New France. Furthermore, I explore the ways in which a Christian ritual becomes a strategic device in the redefinition of a contemporary immigrant community in Marie-Beath Badian’s radio-drama Novena.

New Perspectives on Religion and Theatre: Featured Debut Papers from ATHE’s 2006 Conference in Chicago

The Religion and Theatre Focus Group's Emerging Scholars debut panel featured at ATHE’s annual conference consistently offers innovative and important work by graduate students. Although the call for papers typically yields a large number of excellent abstracts, the responses to the 2006 call were strong enough, and represented a wide enough range of scholarship, that the focus group organized two panels of graduate student work on religion and theatre. The speakers on both panels, all of whom presented high quality work, were rewarded with large audiences and lively question and answer periods at their sessions. In order to further support emerging scholars, one paper from each of the two debut panels is published here as featured graduate student scholarship in religion and theatre. This marks the beginning of a tradition in The Journal of Religion and Theatre.

The two authors, Charles Andrews and Christopher Swift, employ very different methodologies and their pairing here suggests the range of work on religious performance that emerging scholars are undertaking. These articles constitute revised conference papers, and their authors certainly have much more to say on these subjects. We look forward to hearing and reading this work in the near future.

Jill Stevenson
Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts
Marymount Manhattan College