As I consider both a pending production of The Pirates of Penzance and the commedia masks I will be making later this summer, I am reminded that the performing arts have been a form of protest since people gathered around a campfire and a storyteller wove critique into his or her tale, since the first time homo erectus cracked a joke at the expense of someone with more social power. Although the performing arts certainly include music (and I would include the haunting soundscape of the Casserole Protests, with their conscious 'symphonizing' of rhythm, volume and melody, in this category), my emphasis here will be on protest actions that involve movement and theatre.