Paul Robeson and the Cold War Performance Complex: Race, Madness, Activism

Title Page, Copyright Page

PAUL ROBESON AND THE COLD WAR PERFORMANCE COMPLEX THEATER: THEORY/TEXT/PERFORMANCE Series Editors: David Krasner and Rebecca Schneider Founding Editor: Enoch Brater Recent'litles: The StageLife ofPropsbyAndrew Sofer Playing Underground: A OriticalHistory ofthe 1960s OffOff-Broadway Movementby StephenJ. Bottoms ArthurMiller's Ammica: Theaterand Culturein a Time ofChange edited by Enoch Brater Loo/UngInto theAbyss:Essays on Scenography byArnold Aronson Avant-GardePerjimnance and theLimits ofCriticism: Approachingthe Living Theatro, HapjJenings/Fluxus, and theBlack ArtsMovement by Mike Sell Not the OtherAvant-Garde: The TmnsnationalFoundations ofAvant-Garde Performanceedited byJames M. Harding andJobn Rouse ThePurpose ofPlaying: Modern Acting Theories in Perspective by Robert Gordon StagingPhilosophy: Intersections of Theater; Perfurmance, andPhilosophy edited byDavid Krasner and David Z. Saltz Critical Theory and Performance: II£vised andEnlargedEdition edited byJanelle G. Reinelt andJoseph R. Roach lI£flections on Beckett: A Centenary Celebration edited byAnna McMullan and S. E. W!lmer Performing Conques~ Five Centuries ofTheater; History, and Identity in Tlaxcala, Mexico by PatriciaA. Ybarra ThePresidentElectric: Rnnald&agan and thePolitics ofPerformance by Timothy Raphael CuttingPerjimnances: CollageEvents, FeministArtists, and theAmerican Avant-Gtmle byJames M. Harding IUusive Utopia: Theater; Film, andEveryday Perjimnance inNorth Korea by Suk-Young Kim EmbodyingBlackExperience: StiUness, CriticalMemory, and theBlack Body by HarveyYoung No Safe spaces:&-castingRnce, Ethnicity, andNationality in Ammican Theater byAngela C. Pao Arland andHis DoublesbyKimberlyJannarone TheProblem ofthe Celor[b/ind]: Rndal Transgression and thePolitics of BlackPerfurmancebyBrandiWilkins Catanese The Sarah Siddons AndioFiles: IInmanticism and theLost Voice byJudith Pascoe PaulRnbeson and the Celd WarPerformance Complex: Rnce, Madness, Activism by Tony Perucci Paul Robeson and the Cold War Performance Complex RACE, MADNESS, ACTIVISM Tony Perucci UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN PRESS Ann Arbor Copyright © 2012 by Tony Perucci All rights reserved This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publisher. Published in the United States of America by The University of Michigan Press Manufactured in the United States of America c Printed on acid-free paper 2015 2014 2013 2012 4 3 2 1 A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Perucci, Tony. Paul Robeson and the Cold War performance complex : race, madness, activism / Tony Perucci. p. cm. — (Theater: theory/text/performance) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-472-07168-5 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-472-051687 (pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-472-02820-7 (e-book) 1. Robeson, Paul, 1898–1976—Political activity. 2. Performance art—Political aspects—United States. 3. Freedom and art—Political aspects—United States. 4. Politics and culture—United States. 5. Cold War—Social aspects—United States. 6. United States. Congress. House. Committee on Un-American Activities. 7. Racism—United States—History—20th century. 8. United States—Race relations. 9. Anti-communist movements—United States—History—20th century. I. Title. E185.97.R63P47 2012 782.0092—dc23 2011037283 For Soyini: with love and thanks they say you’re crazy ’cause you not crazy enough to kneel when told to kneel . . . ’cause you expose their madness —Assata Shakur Acknowledgments Getting Paul Robeson and the Cold War Performance Complex into print provides me with the fortunate opportunity to thank those who have helped me and the project along the way. In my mind, I have often rehearsed my appreciation to so many, and am pleased to get a chance to share this with readers. This book began as a performance project in 1997, when D. Soyini Madison suggested that I create a performance piece on Paul Robeson for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Institute of African American Research. From the very first day of graduate school through advising on the master’s thesis and to this day, Soyini has taught me an inexpressible amount about the politics of performance, the interrelations of race and political economy, and the radical potential of the “performance of possibility.” Soyini’s brilliant writing and teaching as well as her loving support have enabled my accomplishments in myriad ways. Fred Moten, who advised me through the dissertation process and throughout my time at NYU Performance Studies, taught me...