Ideally, political theater should be both polemical and entertaining.
             It should instruct the viewer in a message that the viewer, after
             learning' in the classroom of the theater, can apply to his or her own
             life and society after leaving the darkened room of the auditorium.
             However, political theater should not be so fixed upon its political
             project that viewers do not wish to enter the theater in the first place,
             for fear of being lectured to at the expense of receiving any entertainment
             at all. To do so would drive people away from the communal benefits of the
             theatrical experience; drive them back into the confines of their homes and
             Moreover, political theater should use at least some of the
             compelling aspects of drama to draw the viewer into the project' of the
             piece. Even Brecht's famous alienation' effect, where characters are self-
             consciously represented rather than seamlessly embodied by the actors,
             makes use of the techniques of song, humor, and witty banter to create a
             palatable as well as a political theatrical product. In fact, one of the
             most effective things about political theater as entertainment as well as
             good, ideological politics is its frequently flexible use of narrative,
             setting, and characterization in theatrical spaces. By using this
             flexibility to create connections between past and present, and theater and
             life, the theatrical product itself is technically enriched.
             For instance, Suzan Lori Parks "Venus" technically takes place in
             London in the early 19th century. The focus of the production is the
             "Venus Hottentot" who was exhibited in a circus. A court, however, was
             called to determine if this exhibition of a living African artifact was in
             fact slavery. Parks' play is not a detailed replication of the period, as
             a film might be of the incident. Rather, it is a truly epic play in the
             fullest Brechtian sense of the term, whe...