ABSTRACT

Chapter 1 What a riot! documents the making and performing of UPSET!, a Joker System play written by Schutzman with a group of approximately thirty-five Latino youth from East Los Angeles in 2005–06. UPSET! is a literally “riotous” Brechtian musical about Rodney King and Claudette Colvin that fulfills a pedagogical promise of the Joker System – that is, to include the process of making a play (the interactive learning, debating, and interpreting of relevant data) within the play itself. In this essay, Schutzman addresses an array of issues pertinent to collaborative projects (particularly with youth), such as decision-making processes, ownership of the creative process, use of mature language, disparities in ability and comprehension, volatile themes, staging violence, use of popular entertainment formats, and fostering a safe environment for disagreement. What a riot! evinces the Joker System as a viable form of collective pedagogy and performance building and walks readers through the generative process from early engagement with collaborators to final performance.