ABSTRACT
Since the 1970s, globalization has tended to push theatrical production in two opposite directions. On the one hand, large theatrical institutions caught up in the globalization process – many national theatres, international festivals, and corporations producing megamusicals – have expanded, and their costs have escalated. On the other hand, many artists around the world have dedicated themselves to local and regional theatrical institutions that have fought the incursions of Western capitalism and cultural homogenization in their local cultures and economies. Many grassroots theatres in developing regions – often operating on very small budgets – opposed the imperialism, political dictatorships, loss of economic control, and deteriorating social conditions that accompanied cold war divisions and globalization in their countries.
