A Matrix Articulating the Principles of Grassroots Theater

By Dudley Cocke

Excerpted from: From the Ground Up: Grassroots Theater in Historical and Contemporary Perspective.
Dudley Cocke, Harry Newman, and Janet Salmons-Rue, Editors.
Ithaca, New York: Cornell University, 1993.

Grassroots theater is given its voice by the community from which it arises. The makers of grassroots theater are part of the culture from which the work is drawn. The people who are the subjects of the work are part of its development from inception through presentation. Their stories and histories inform the work, their feedback during the creation process shapes it. The audience is not consumer of, but participant in the performance.

Grassroots theater grows out of a commitment to place. It is grounded in the local and specific, which when rendered faithfully and creatively can affect people anywhere.

The traditional and indigenous are integral to grassroots theater and valued for their ability to help us maintain continuity with the past, respond to the present, and prepare for the future. Thus, the relationship to the traditional and indigenous is dynamic, not fixed.

Grassroots theater strives to be inclusive in its producing practices. Presentation of the work is made in partnership with community organizations. Performances are held in meeting places where the entire community feels welcome. Ticket prices are kept affordable.

Grassroots theaters recognize that management structures and business practices are value-laden; they affect the mission, goals, and creative processes of organizations. Through their structures and practices, grassroots theaters endeavor to support broad participation, self-reliance, and collective responsibility.

Grassroots theater is linked to the struggles for cultural, social, economic, and political equity for all people. It is fundamentally a theater of hope and often of joy. It recognizes that to advocate for equity is to meet resistance and to meet with no resistance indicates a failure to enter the fight.