BIBFRAME Work

Title

Viewers in distress

Type

• Monograph
• Text

Contribution

• Mihaylova, Stefka G. (author )

Subject

• Experimental theater--History--21st century (LCSH)
• Race au théâtre--Histoire--21e siècle (RVM)
• Gender identity in the theater (FAST)
• Theater--Political aspects--History--21st century (LCSH)
• Gender identity in the theater--History--21st century (LCSH)
• Theater--Political aspects (FAST)
• Experimental theater (FAST)
• Race in the theater (FAST)
• Race in the theater--History--21st century (LCSH)
• Identité de genre au théâtre--Histoire--21e siècle (RVM)
• Theater--Religious aspects--History--21st century (LCSH)
• Theater--Religious aspects (FAST)
• Théâtre--Aspect religieux--Histoire--21e siècle (RVM)
• Théâtre--Aspect politique--Histoire--21e siècle (RVM)
• 2000-2099 (FAST)

Genre Form

History (FAST)

Language

• English

Illustrative Content

• illustrations

Classification

• DDC: 809.2032
• LCC: PN2193.E86 M53 2023 (Assigner: dlc) (Status: used by assigner)

Content

• text

Supplementary content

• bibliography
• index

Summary

Conventional notions of avant-garde art suggest innovative artists rebelling against artistic convention and social propriety, shocking unwilling audiences into new ways of seeing and living. Viewers in Distress tells a different story. Beginning in the tumultuous 1990s, after the fall of the Berlin Wall and in the wake of the Los Angeles riots, rebellious spectators in American and British theaters broke with theater decorum and voiced their radical interpretations of shows that were not meant to be radical. In doing so, audiences tried to understand the complex racial, gender, and religious politics of their times, while insisting that liberal societies fulfill their promise of dignity for all. Stefka Mihaylova argues that such non-conforming viewing amounts to an avant-garde of its own: a bold reimagining of how we live together and tell stories of our lives together, aimed to achieve liberalism's promise. In telling this story, she analyzes the production and reception politics of works by Susan-Lori Parks, Sarah Kane, Forced Entertainment, Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, and Young Jean Lee, as well as non-theatrical controversies such as the conflict over Halloween costumes at Yale in 2015. At the core of spectators' discontent, this book suggests, is an effort to figure out how to get along with people different from ourselves in the diverse U.S. and British societies in which we live.

Authorized Access Point

Mihaylova, Stefka G. Viewers in distress

Admin Metadata

• Date: 2026-09-11T20:14:33.947986+00:00
• Agent: cbc
• Status: c
• Derived from: 23019145

Admin Metadata

• Date: 2026-09-11
• Cataloger id: Unknown
• Description level: http://id.loc.gov/ontologies/bibframe-2-6-0/
• Description language: eng
• Description authentication: pcc