General introduction

THE FOLLOWING THIRTY-FOUR ESSAYS describing projects in over twenty countries evidence a formidable range of radical street performance in the twentieth century. By radical I refer to acts that question or re-envision ingrained social arrangements of power. Street signals theatrics that take place in public by-ways with minimal constraints on access. Performance here indicates expressive behavior intended for public viewing. It includes but is not limited to theatre, which typically keeps actors and spectators in their respective places through presentational conventions supporting a pre-set script. Radical street performance draws people who comprise a contested reality into what its creators hope will be a changing script.