1st Edition
by Mady Schutzman (Author)
Radical Doubt
investigates ethical play across a spectrum of performances, on and off
the stage. In witty, recursive, personal, and propulsive prose, Mady
Schutzman elaborates on the Joker System, conceived by Augusto Boal,
best known for Theatre of the Oppressed. The Joker System is a
collaborative approach to representing social dilemmas through a rare
fusion of destabilizing ambiguity and journalistic rigor. Schutzman
models the Joker System while expanding well beyond the theatrical. In
polyphonic compositions that perform their own philosophy, she uncovers
illuminating links between calculus and conjuring, kōans and resistance,
humor and witnessing, complexity theory and sorely needed new practices
of living in our divisive times. These life practices rely upon crafty
and circuitous strategies to deliver their subversive punch. Jok(er)ing
matters, Schutzman insists. When communities fragment and identities
fixate, enter the trickster!
Sonja Kuftinec
Theatre Arts and Dance, University of Minnesota
