Host Taylor interviews Jim Walsh—professor, activist, and founder of the Romero Theater Troupe—about his work and the work of the troupe in bringing history to life through theater in Denver, Colorado. Discussion includes the rewriting of public history, radical models for education and the performing arts, and the troupe’s history and adaptation to pandemic conditions. In the second half, an interview with Elka Schumann—co-founder of Bread and Puppet (with her husband Peter Schumann), curator of its museum, and operator of its press—taken during the summer of 2015 in rural Vermont, focusing on the ethic of Bread and Puppet as the longest-running political theater in the U.S.

This show is part of a series running through the end of 2020, new episodes published weekly, in which I revisit interviews taken during a radio show road trip in the summer of 2015—checking back in with those activists, organizers and artists I met to see how their lives and work have adapted to changing times. You can find more information about that project at praxisradio.com/praxis. 

Find a full transcript of the episode here. 

This episode also has a photo gallery here.

For more information on the Romero Theater Troupe and resources referenced by Jim:

*Romero Theater Troupe Facebook page—https://www.facebook.com/RomeroTheaterTroupe/ 

*”Unbound: The Story of the Romero Theater Troupe” documentary by Michael Kilman—https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PycoRs4WhAY 

*More background information on Oscar Romero—https://theconversation.com/archbishop-oscar-romero-was-gunned-down-inside-his-own-church-38-years-ago-soon-hell-become-el-salvadors-first-saint-93331 

For more information about Bread and Puppet: 

*Bread and Puppet Theater website—www.breadandpuppet.org

*1984 review of B&P Romero Christmas pageant from NY Times— https://www.nytimes.com/1984/12/20/theater/theater-archbishop-remembered.html

Indigenous People’s Day resources: 

*Native Land Map—www.native-land.ca (has crashed from too much traffic as of 10/12/20 AM, but bookmark and return!)

*HESAPA 5 minute short film on #LANDBACK campaign—https://youtu.be/HCl6TS5zBIw

*Donate to NDN Collective’s LandBack campaign—https://rb.gy/d20pft 

*Replace Columbus Day in your community! Toolkit from Zinn Education Project here—https://rb.gy/zlghxa