Shane Boyle: Theatre and Marxist Feminism
Thursday 19/02/2026 6.30pm, Birkbeck Central
This talk traces the history of Marxism through an unexpected lens: the theatre. Both Marxism and theatre have long served as crucibles of social critique and resistance to capitalism, often working in tandem toward these shared ends. Nowhere is this convergence more evident than in the tradition of Marxist feminism.
Drawing on the intertwined histories of Marxism and theatre, this talk focuses on the role of performance in the emergence of Marxist feminism. From Eleanor Marx’s theatre criticism and socialist organizing in the 1880s, through Berta Lask’s agit-prop work within the Communist Women's International, to the contemporary significance of performance in social reproduction theory, theatre has persistently functioned as a key site of Marxist debate and struggle—particularly around gendered oppression, abortion, and domestic labor.