A young experimental playwright named Andy Boyd pitches George Lucas her screenplay for a new Star Wars film. The concept: a prequel to the prequels that fleshes out the economic and social implications of the mysterious intergalactic organization known as The Trade Federation. Replacing the veiled references to colonialism in the original films, Andy’s script is a full-on allegory where The Trade Federation is The International Monetary Fund, the Gungans are the Zapatistas, and the Jedi are an international community reluctant to push for any real structural change – the UN, basically. Lucas thinks the movie sounds really boring and unceremoniously kicks Andy out of his office. Then things really get weird.

The Trade Federation is a play that uses the grand narratives of late capitalism against capitalism itself. It weaponizes one the most successful film franchises of all time against the dead-end ideology of “capitalist realism,” which insists that history is over and that there is “no alternative” to the unfettered rule of the market. No, this play argues, we can always fight back. Star Wars told us so.