L. M. Bogad is an author, performance artist/activist,
Professor at UC Davis, Director of the Center for Tactical Performance, and co-founder of the Clown Army. He has performed across the USA, Europe and South America, from SF MOMA, the Whitney Museum, Yerba Buena Arts Center and the Mattress Factory to occupied zones and a squatted military base in Barcelona. He has led Tactical Performance workshops around the world, including in Cairo during the first month of the Egyptian Revolution, and was both “Art and Controversy Fellow” and “Distinguished Lecturer on Performance and Politics” at Carnegie Mellon University, and a “Humanities and Political Conflict” Fellow at ASU.

Bogad’s performances have covered topics such as the Egyptian revolution, the Haymarket Square Riot, the FBI’s COINTELPRO activities, and the Pinochet coup in Chile, and have received grant support from the Puffin Fund, Network of Ensemble Theatres, Bay Area Theatre Artists Fund, U.C. Institute for Research in the Arts, the British Academy and the British Arts and Humanities Research Council. His newest piece, ECONOMUSIC: Keeping Score, has been performed in NYC at the Austrian Cultural Forum and the Hemispheric Institute for Performance and Politics, and at festivals in Helsinki, São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Santiago, at SF MOMA, and Barcelona. His play, COINTELSHOW: A Patriot Act was published by PM Press and recently performed at the San Francisco Mime Troupe’s Studio and in New Orleans for ArtSpot Productions.

Bogad’s first book, Electoral Guerrilla Theatre: Radical Ridicule and
Social Movements, analyzes the international campaigns of performance artists who run for public office as a radical prank. That book, and his many articles on political performance, are used in college classes internationally. His new book, Tactical Performance: On the Theory and Practice of Serious Play, analyzes and critiques the use of guerrilla theatre/art for human/civil rights, social justice, labor and environmental campaigns. He also wrote and produced a documentary, Radical Ridicule: Serious Play and the Republican National Convention.

Bogad has led Tactical Performance workshops, helping activists create
performative, nonviolent images to contest and critique power, in revolutionary Cairo, Barcelona, Riga, Helsinki, Reykyavik, Buenos Aires,
Trondheim, across the USA and Europe, and for the Center for Victims of
Torture. He has been a commentator on political performance on Michael
Krasny’s “Forum,” Air America, NPR, Pacifica, Peace Radio, and many other radio stations and programs.

New Books:
TACTICAL PERFORMANCE: The Theory and Practice of Serious Play which you can purchase here.

ELECTORAL GUERRILLA THEATRE: Radical Ridicule and Social Movements (updated and expanded Second Edition) which you can purchase here.

COINTELSHOW: A Patriot Act (a darkly satirical, $5 play about COINTELPRO) which you can purchase here.

See Larry Bogad’s website for complete information on his publications, performances, workshops, and more.

LARRY BOGAD’S “TACTICAL PERFORMANCE” PUBLISHED

May 25, 2016 Larry Bogad

Larry Bogad, associate professor of theatre and dance, draws on his own experiences in the use of humor and theatrics in protests in Tactical Performance: The Theory and Practice of Serious Play.

In his new book Bogad explores the use of theatrical techniques in protest, with a special emphasis on humor.