Bodacious Buggerilla

The Black street theater group Bodacious Buggerrilla was founded in Los Angeles (Calif.) by Ed Bereal (1937- ), an American painter and assemblage artist, as a reaction to the 1965 Watts riot (also called the Watts rebellion). He and former art students at the University of California at Riverside performed skits in bars, laundromats, and other street settings with a focus on social and political critique and often depicting racial stereotypes. According to Bereal, the group, having drawn the attention of the FBI, kept a farm in San Bernardino (Calif.) where they raised food for sustenance and conducted an extensive program for self-defense. Bodacious Buggerilla performed in the 1960s and 1970s; they reunited for a 2012 performance.