Welfare State International (WSI) was founded in England in 1968, bringing politically charged theater and performance into the streets. From 1983 WSI championed local participation in lantern parades, street flag displays and carnival performance. Later, the company moved into inventing and leading ceremonies for rites of passage, creating installations, and working with children and their parents to explore imaginative play. Like Bread and Puppet Theater, WSI has had an immense and lasting influence on generations of performers and artists working in community arts, spectacle entertainment, and political and participatory forms of theater.

Documentary courtesy of Thomas Wotan Suski For more information on the continuing work of John Fox and Sue Gill see www.deadgoodguides.com