Life of Riley: Carnival of the oppressed

Carnival of the oppressed

Some of us have got together to party. Taking our cue from the S11 protests in Melbourne, we now do theatre in the streets. Of course, you need to recognise that there are many types of theatre.

While we're keen on the carnivalesque thingy, we're not into spectacle. An empty vessel decorated with glitz and sparkle is not our cup of tea. We go for content. We appreciate the meat amongst the savouries. We like our theatre rough but passionate, thoughtful but comic, both bitter and sweet.

That doesn't mean we're not serious, but then you can be awfully pointed in your remarks if you make them laugh. And we do make them laugh. The Carnival of the Oppressed tries to be funny in a satirical sort of way. I say "tries" as it isn't easy to make jokes about global imperialism.

I say, I say: What did one multinational say to the other multinational? ... How many multinationals does it take to change a light globe? ... Why did the multinational cross the road? ... Boom! Boom!

When you're among pedestrians you have got to make your repartee snappy, and catch the ear of your average passer-by. So you go for punchy dialogue, the drum roll, the funny face. You have to step out of the ordinary if you want to make your point.

So we few COOPers (Carnival of the Oppressed Persons) are registered fools — dinky-di Marxists in the sense of Harpo, Chico, Groucho — and Karl.

With masks, drums, dance steps, puppets and sundry shenanigans you can do a lot in 10 minutes. The worldwide system of global capital is chock-a-block full of dramatic inspiration. It's a saga of epic proportions! Bigger than Ben Hur! Bigger than the Olympics even! It's the only show on earth, for crissake! Think of the finale! Wow! What a carnival of the oppressed that will be!

So do you get the point? This is an announcement that this column often goes walkabout off the page and into the streets. Snippets are often spoken trippily on the tongue from a street corner somewhere.

Who knows? Maybe the carnival of the oppressed may be coming to a bio-region near you soon. If not, what the hell! Slap a bit of this and that together, and make your own.

BY DAVE RILEY
<dhell@ozemail.com.au>

From GLW issue 424