Embedded Files
Global Scale Problem:
Global Scale Problem:
What factors contribute to social equality or inequality?
How can communities and theatre artists promote social equality?
What are current theatre practitioners grappling with these issues?
What are some ways that theater can be used to wake people up to social injustice and inequality?
Essential Questions:
Essential Questions:
Why is this problem so complex?
How do the roles we play in everyday life limit what we can see, feel, and think?
Outcomes:
Outcomes:
In this drama elective students explore the theater to communicate big ideas in a meaningful and impactful way. Together, we will consider What’s worth fighting for? and explore how theater can address critical local and global issues. While practicing technical skills related to playwriting and performances, students will also understand the role that thespians have played throughout history as changemakers. Final theatrical events will be performed publicly to raise awareness, challenge beliefs and shine light on new ways of seeing, thinking and making.
Course Description:
Course Description:
Students will explore through this J-term offering the power of theatre to grapple with issues of social inequality. We will explore a variety of different issues related to social inequality such as income inequality, gender inequality and racial inequality and read, watch and discuss different plays throughout theatre history which have confronted these issues, a particular focus will be on the theories of Augusto Boal and his ‘Theatre of the Oppressed’ theatrical forms.
The culmination of this J-term experience will be original theatrical experiences performed by students for the wider Avenues community. By the end of this J-term, students will have developed their analytical skills through reading, watching and discussing plays, their research skills through researching different political theatre movements and playwrights as well as their playwriting and problem solving skills, working together to reimagine or create a performance which highlights this global challenge.
Week 1
Week 1
A Raisin in the Sun
A Raisin in the Sun
Over the course of J-Term, the drama students are exploring how different theatre pieces have been used for social change. First, they are reading and watching the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. The play follows a Black family's move to an all white neighborhood and the racially charged harsh reaction they faced. The play addresses the racial and gender issues in the 1950s and that are still true today. This was the first Broadway play on stage to feature an African American family for primarily white audiences. Hansberry was also the first African American woman to have a play produced on Broadway.
Theatre of the Oppressed Games
Theatre of the Oppressed Games
On most mornings, the Drama Co.Lab students will start off the day with some games from the Theatre of the Oppressed, a theatre troupe founded by Augusto Boal to use theatre to grapple with social issues. The games they are playing invite students to use their bodies and voices in new ways. They each get to practice being a leader and being a follower. This helps to build community collaboration and trust amongst students of all ages at Avenues. As the games progress, they are designed to help amplify voices of the oppressed and people without power.
Week 2
Week 2
Workshop with Rachel Karp
Workshop with Rachel Karp
On Monday, January 17, the drama students had the opportunity to participate in a workshop led by Rachel Karp. Rachel is a Program Director at the Center for Artistic Activism, where she leads pro-voter and health equity initiatives. The Center for Artistic Activism trains and advises organizations, artists and activists to help them increase the efficacy and efficacy of their artistic activism. In this workshop, the students learned more about how people use art and activism together. In small groups, they came up with big ideas that seem almost impossible and find ways to do it anyway to make the impossible happen here.
Devised Theatre Pieces
Devised Theatre Pieces
The Upper Grades Drama students devised a formed theatre piece to show the Middle Grades students. The Middle Grades students became “spec-actors,” and participated in suggesting different solutions to the dilemmas presented in the formed theatre piece. This is part of Augusto Boal’s formed theatre technique.
Theatre Production Reviews
Theatre Production Reviews
Each individual student picked a theatre production on Digital Theatre Plus to watch and take notes on. They learned what makes a good theatre review and are each writing their own.
Week 3
Week 3
Public Theater: Zoom Panel
Public Theater: Zoom Panel
On Tuesday, January 25, the drama students hosted a panel of employees from the Public Theater. The panel included:
Chiara Klein, the Director of Producing & Artistic Planning
Pablo Hernandez Basulto, Manager of Community Impact for Public Works
Praycious Wilson-Gay, Interim Director of the Mobile Unit
The Public Theater works to make theatre more accessible to everyone. The Public Works team puts on Shakespeare in the park for the community and the Mobile Unit tours 90 minute Shakespeare shows to shelters for the unhoused, prisons, re-entry communities, and other community centers.
Final Showcase
Final Showcase
For the final J-Term showcase, the drama students put on a immersive performance in FOOD. Each student was stationed around a different part of the room and viewers could walk around to witness each performer. Students prepared a variety of different artforms including songs, monologues, raps, and more each related to a different social issue. This ties into what the students have been learning for the past three weeks about how theatre can be used for social change. Take a look at some snippets of some of the performances below!
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