New Perspectives and Saving Minority History

How Theater Can Offer Students New Perspectives On History 

Can Theater Save Minority History in U.S. Classrooms? 

"Theater, then, has become one avenue through which non-profit groups in California—a state with a 62 percent minority population and one of the most diverse make-ups in the country—ensure students learn about minorities in U.S. history, both past and present. The ramification of pushing a white-dominant historical narrative, argues EWP’s Tokuda, is erasure of minority voices: 'The consequences are that no one will care, and we become invisible again'" - Audrey Cleo Yap

Hamilton hit the Broadway scene in 2015, and ever since it has grown to be one of the most impactful and successful musicals in history.  For many, the most stunning aspect of the musical is the cast.  Despite being the story of the American founding fathers, primarily focused on the titular Alexander Hamilton, the show's cast features mostly non-white performers, with the white principal actor portraying King George III.  This has inspired a new wave of diversity and inclusion both in Broadway and in schools.  In the article in the above link, Audrey Cleo Yap details a "Hamilton-inspired rap battle" that the school put on that told of American immigrant Bhagat Singh Thind and his fight for citizenship.  The story told to the students helped to contextualize and connect the issues talked about in Hamilton, mostly immigration and patriotism, to a real life historical case.

Student's Attitudes and Knowledge

Teaching History Through Theater: The Effects of Arts Integration on Students’ Knowledge and Attitudes 

"We find that compared with control group students, students in classrooms randomly assigned to participate in the Digging Up Arkansas program demonstrate increased historical content knowledge, historical empathy, interest in live theater, and interest in learning history. Our results indicate that schools searching for innovative ways to offer arts experiences while reinforcing learning in the humanities can benefit from partnering with arts and cultural organizations that offer arts-integrated programs" - Brian Kisida

Digging Up Arkansas, as described by the above scholarship, is a "professionally staged performance" that "integrates Arkansas state history content standards into an interactive theater performance for elementary aged-students" (Kisida 1), wich includes the story of the Native Americans that were pushed out of Arkansas.  While my personal teaching focus is on Secondary Education, which is middle school level and above, it is important for the sake of the project to cover all levels of public education, because learning history and social justice should not be limited to just the higher levels of schooling.  The study looked at students who attended the performance of Digging Up Arkansas and students who did not, and compared the two groups in several fields a year after the production, including their interest in learning history and how much historical content they have absorbed.  The results concluded that students who saw the show were more likely to have an expanded knowledge of history, a higher sense of "historical empathy", and a more invested interest in learning more about history.  Using theatre to get students invested in history and social justice issues like Native American rights and erasure early on is greatly beneficial to their long term investment in both fields.

Modern History and Hard Hitting Topics

Teaching Social Justice Through Critical Reflection: Using Immersive Theatre to Address HIV Among Black Gay Men 

In A Strange Loop, the Pressure to Stay HIV Negative Is Always Present 

"I see some people who know the pressure intimately who feel such a sense of empowerment. For them, it seems like they are relishing the opportunity to feel empowered by this satire. I get to clap along with this violent thing because I have felt just how violent it is and I’m going to sit here and clap because now you should be uncomfortable in this space if you feel AIDS is God’s punishment. For that moment they get to be the author of how that trauma is expressed instead of being a victim" - John-Michael Lyles, an actor in the Broadway production of The Strange Loop

Modern history is just as important as what has already happened.  The last twenty years have been quite the spectacle both in terms of social justice and in terms of world events.  I would be remiss to not include a section detailing modern history, and one of the key societal movements in the 21st century has been the push for LGTBQ+ rights, and within that movement is an even harder fight for POC Queer rights.  The Strange Loop, which opened on Broadway in 2022, tells the story of Usher, a queer black man who is writing a musical about a queer black man.  Ever so coincidentally, the writer of the show, Michael R. Jackson, is a queer black man.  The show is based on his own life experiences and is one of the most successful musicals in recent times to be a new independent property (IP).  History classes tend to ignore LGBTQ+ history, a key point of which was the blaming of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, a point that the musical talks about in the context of modern homophobia.  As someone who fits under that umbrella, I will endeavor to stray from that tendency.  The Strange Loop is a perfect example of social justice in theatre, and the study in the first link shows how through a combination of theatre and critical reflection, students can take in the information presented while remaining interested in learning more.  Furthermore, queer history and HIV/AIDS can often be considered a "taboo" to discuss in schools, so connecting it to a largely popular Broadway musical can help to destigmatize it.