Discoursing Site-Specific and Participatory Values

This chapter illustrates various approaches and issues surrounding participatory theater and art that re-appear in participatory opera through the examination of several works including two productions by The Living Theatre, Mysteries and Smaller Pieces (1964) and Paradise Now (1968). In addition, this chapter illustrates how the purpose of public and participatory art can shift over time and across genres and articulates the unstable dialogue surrounding audience-centric works through the institutionalization of some participatory art practices. Finally, this chapter draws connections between Suzanne Lacy’s term “New Genre Public Art” and participatory opera projects and summarizes some of the complicating issues surrounding these works, emphasizing how differing values and goals may manifest in various participatory projects.