ABSTRACT
Engaged performance seeks to affect its audience in particular ways, usually trying to provoke some kind of change in them. One kind of engaged performance over the last ten years has been influenced by the work of Jonathan Shay, who argues that theater in Athens arose from the political need to purify, purge and reclarify civic understanding to its returning soldiers, so they could again fulfill the roles of citizens of a democracy. During the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last ten years, some engaged performances have sought to provide therapy to military personnel and veterans of these wars. We analyze various recent examples of engaged performance in the United States based on Greek drama, discussing both the advantages and problems of this approach.
