American nuclear theatre, 1946-1984

This dissertation examines the American nuclear theatre - works that directly explore nuclear technology (weapons and energy). Background chapters describe the history of nuclear development, discourse, and strategy; the response of the arts; and the history of the American nuclear theatre, which began in 1946 and burgeoned after 1980. Five recent, representative productions - four stage dramas and one nonviolent symbolic action - are examined as theatrical strategies: Dead End Kids: a History of Nuclear Power (1980), by JoAnne Akalaitis/Mabour Mines; the Story of One Who Set Out to Study Fear (1981), by Peter Schumann/Bread and Puppet Theater; Factwino vs. Armageddonman (1982), by the San Francisco Mime Troupe ; Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down (1982), by Martha Beosing/At the Foot of the Mountain; and the Plowshares 8 events (1980-1984). All five productions were created collaboratively. All assaulted the boundaries between art and life. All were dialectical and tried to create a fundamental shift in consciousness about nuclear weapons. All suggested that the nuclear age is a new historical situation: war and business are interconnected with a new technology which makes possible the end of the world. Three productions employed historical images of mass death to provide emotional and moral comparisons. All finally called for each audience member to take responsibility for the current nuclear situation