so, an idea i had was someone's story being told by another person or by multiple people (i was thinking an abusive relationship, but it could work for anything really). one thought was inspired by the color purple (the book not the movie or the play). in case anyone hasn't read it, it's written as a series of letters from the protagonist to god.
i was thinking that the protagonist of the skit keeps a journal/diary about his/her experiences in the relationship. a friend, family member, or a combination read the entries as if they were the protagonist. as the skit goes on the entries slowly reveal that this is an abusive relationship. in the end we find out something big. something has happened. this should probably be something bad that shows the consequences of remaining silent and in an abusive relationship. after that, the protagonist would address the audience him/herself. he/she could talk openly and give a retrospective look at the relationship. the protagonist and/or other people could offer statistics and/or information on how you can get help in this kind of situation.
the whole journal thing may not be completely necessary, depending on how the skit is written. i was thinking that, since a person is willing to write what he/she is not willing to say, that journal entries would be appropriate. maybe the relationship isn't something that the protagonist was willing/able to talk to friends/family about. also, writing in a journal is kind of like a conversation with oneself. maybe the protagonist is trying to convince him/herself that there is nothing wrong in the relationship, and this is evident in the journal entries. so yeah...
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Image theatre: Sexual assault
As of yet, I do not have a concrete idea of how we can work with image theatre dealing with sexual assault; however, I can describe some ways in which I've been involved in image theatre as a possible springboard for new ideas. This type of theatre has interested me since eleventh grade, and if used properly, I think it can be an effective way of social education.
Note: I have never performed a piece of image theatre for a group outside of my theatre class, and I'm not sure how image theatre is framed for a public viewing - to me, the power of image theatre lies in the active process of creating it, not in passively watching it "performed." Leading a workshop on image theatre and sexual assualt with a small group of students isn't really an option (or is it?), but I'll take you through the method I've used so that we have something to base our own piece on.
First, the group must decide on a topic/issue - in our case, sexual assault. Then, one person volunteers to be the initial "sculptor." He/she physically forms the rest of the group into a tableau that represents his/her idea of the topic. After this, the next volunteer jumps out of the image to be the next sculptor, and the old one takes his/her place in the tableau. This new sculptor modifies the image, and this process continues until the group has reached a consensus about their representation of the issue. This image can be realistic or abstract, but is usually most effective if it evokes an emotional/reflective response in the viewer. Once the "real world" image is created, the group then alters the tableau to show an idealized version or solution to the problem presented in the first image.
Note: I have never performed a piece of image theatre for a group outside of my theatre class, and I'm not sure how image theatre is framed for a public viewing - to me, the power of image theatre lies in the active process of creating it, not in passively watching it "performed." Leading a workshop on image theatre and sexual assualt with a small group of students isn't really an option (or is it?), but I'll take you through the method I've used so that we have something to base our own piece on.
First, the group must decide on a topic/issue - in our case, sexual assault. Then, one person volunteers to be the initial "sculptor." He/she physically forms the rest of the group into a tableau that represents his/her idea of the topic. After this, the next volunteer jumps out of the image to be the next sculptor, and the old one takes his/her place in the tableau. This new sculptor modifies the image, and this process continues until the group has reached a consensus about their representation of the issue. This image can be realistic or abstract, but is usually most effective if it evokes an emotional/reflective response in the viewer. Once the "real world" image is created, the group then alters the tableau to show an idealized version or solution to the problem presented in the first image.
If we were to use this kind of theatre during Sexual Assault Awareness Week, we could go through the devising stage as a class, come up with two images and "perform" them silently or with music in a public space or in a performance. Perhaps it might also be interesting to integrate images with film clips or projections, like Alexa suggested; however, that might distract from the impact of the image.
Sample Sexual Assault Awareness Month Proposal
Hey guys!
I thought a sample proposal of a possible theatrical program might help you design or come up with your own. Feel free to add your own suggestion to this, and to your other classmates ideas as they add them.
Type of Theatrical Engagement:
Staged and Image
Continuum of behaviors:
Physically violent relationship, rape, emotionally violent relationship, harassment
Methods of Reaching spectators/spectator population:
Personal testament/ally population
Proposal:
Setting: A quiet space that students often frequent but do not socialize in, for example wilder main or perhaps the inner atrium on the first level of the library
Scenario:
(STAGED) Testimonials of male bodied individuals who identify with the male gender are collected and digitally recorded. Testimonials range on a variety of topics, but generally come back to two main points: the knowledge of male and gendered based violence against women, the pain that this gendered violence causes to men who are allies against violence, focusing on their close bond with women in their lives. Narratives are broken abruptly, and do not follow a narrative flow. Audience members are encouraged to to hear the voices as one large testimonial.
(IMAGE)
At scheduled intervals, actors or dancers (as the action is silent) move with the ambient sound of the testimonials, responding to the words on a moment-by-moment basis, in metaphoric and exaggerated ways. They gradually recede and return, allowing the testimonial to become an accepted and expected sound in the space.
I thought a sample proposal of a possible theatrical program might help you design or come up with your own. Feel free to add your own suggestion to this, and to your other classmates ideas as they add them.
Type of Theatrical Engagement:
Staged and Image
Continuum of behaviors:
Physically violent relationship, rape, emotionally violent relationship, harassment
Methods of Reaching spectators/spectator population:
Personal testament/ally population
Proposal:
Setting: A quiet space that students often frequent but do not socialize in, for example wilder main or perhaps the inner atrium on the first level of the library
Scenario:
(STAGED) Testimonials of male bodied individuals who identify with the male gender are collected and digitally recorded. Testimonials range on a variety of topics, but generally come back to two main points: the knowledge of male and gendered based violence against women, the pain that this gendered violence causes to men who are allies against violence, focusing on their close bond with women in their lives. Narratives are broken abruptly, and do not follow a narrative flow. Audience members are encouraged to to hear the voices as one large testimonial.
(IMAGE)
At scheduled intervals, actors or dancers (as the action is silent) move with the ambient sound of the testimonials, responding to the words on a moment-by-moment basis, in metaphoric and exaggerated ways. They gradually recede and return, allowing the testimonial to become an accepted and expected sound in the space.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Skit Ideas
I really like the idea of working with Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and think that the immediacy of the issue in our lives makes it a good choice for a skit.
However, I've also been thinking about something Alexa mentioned on day 1 of class - that Oberlin students would be really into something that combined sexual health/gender roles with environmental stewardship. Bear with me for a minute:
-In Darfur, countless women have been raped, and sexualized violence has become a systematic tool of the Janjaweed militia and Sudanese army
-The conflict is largely fueled by environmental scarcity, specifically water scarcity
-Al Gore points out, in an Inconvenient Truth, that this is largely due to the drying up of Lake Chad. And, he continues, these kinds of conflicts will inevitably be more common if the worst affects of global warming take hold and drought increases worldwide.
Thus, individual choices, carbon footprints, and environmental stewardship clearly connect with human rights, gender roles, and sexualized violence. This is a connection that I've been very interested in for a long time, and have done a lot of work on in the past. Could we give it a try? I'd be willing to write the skit, and think it would be a very good challenge.
Monday, February 23, 2009
a third blog post
Once again, I'm sorry I'm always the last to post these things! I also apologize in advance for any incoherence in my writing, as I'm quite exhausted...
I too enjoyed Boal’s history of the changing nature of theater and its relation to society. It made sense to me except where he attacked individual playwrights. I mostly understand where he’s coming from when talks about the development of theater as a method of defining the place of the individual in society, and how it reflected and influenced the social norms of the day. It made sense that overall theater might have a dehumanizing effect—what I don’t understand is, as David said, how Ionesco can be classified as “[overshadowing] the achievements of all his fellow playwrights in the enormous task of dehumanizing man.”
It’s like Boal switched from arguing that theater works to oppress people, as in the audience, to arguing that a certain character in a certain play was somehow restricted and “oppressed” because he was constructed as an “[abstraction] of a psychological, moral, or metaphysical nature”. This is a difficult leap for me to make, especially when I feel like Ionesco’s characters are created very precisely for the purpose of social commentary. The only explanation I can think of is that perhaps Boal is suggesting that this increased denigration of the individual came about without Ionesco’s noticing it; that maybe Boal is saying that though Ionesco’s intentions were good, he unknowingly perpetuated this sequence of dehumanization Boal sees in theater.
On a different note, I found his characterization of the influence Hollywood has interesting, especially because of the nature of the influence. I’ve always found that it’s not the didactic, Aristotelian plays that influence people the most, but rather the subtly manipulative ones. In this sense, if we extend Boal’s “theater” to the media today, we see how people are no longer following prescribed outcomes, ie “you should feel this after watching this play;” instead we find audiences influenced by, as in his example, what characters are wearing and doing, how they’re talking, etc.
I too enjoyed Boal’s history of the changing nature of theater and its relation to society. It made sense to me except where he attacked individual playwrights. I mostly understand where he’s coming from when talks about the development of theater as a method of defining the place of the individual in society, and how it reflected and influenced the social norms of the day. It made sense that overall theater might have a dehumanizing effect—what I don’t understand is, as David said, how Ionesco can be classified as “[overshadowing] the achievements of all his fellow playwrights in the enormous task of dehumanizing man.”
It’s like Boal switched from arguing that theater works to oppress people, as in the audience, to arguing that a certain character in a certain play was somehow restricted and “oppressed” because he was constructed as an “[abstraction] of a psychological, moral, or metaphysical nature”. This is a difficult leap for me to make, especially when I feel like Ionesco’s characters are created very precisely for the purpose of social commentary. The only explanation I can think of is that perhaps Boal is suggesting that this increased denigration of the individual came about without Ionesco’s noticing it; that maybe Boal is saying that though Ionesco’s intentions were good, he unknowingly perpetuated this sequence of dehumanization Boal sees in theater.
On a different note, I found his characterization of the influence Hollywood has interesting, especially because of the nature of the influence. I’ve always found that it’s not the didactic, Aristotelian plays that influence people the most, but rather the subtly manipulative ones. In this sense, if we extend Boal’s “theater” to the media today, we see how people are no longer following prescribed outcomes, ie “you should feel this after watching this play;” instead we find audiences influenced by, as in his example, what characters are wearing and doing, how they’re talking, etc.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
blog!!!
i think i finally understand what boal means when he says that the masses/audience is oppressed by the aristocracy (i still find the use of the word "oppression" questionable, however). anyhoo, certain parts of the reading really clarified the idea for me. before, i was thinking of theatre as mostly plays and musicals and how that kind of theatre is more associated with the upper classes. so, i couldn't understand how any and everyone else was being oppressed. but thinking of theatre in a more general sense of the word and including more than just such-and-such-kind-of-play in such-and-such-kind-of-venue, i see how it has the potential to reach a much wider audience. boal also mentions television (even though he doesn't consider it art) and how dominant forms found in theatre can also be found in television shows. and of course theatre reaches a very wide audience. also, when boal talks about the "aristocracy" i no longer think of the aristocracy (i.e. fancy-pants, old-money, etc. kind of people). i think he just means the ruling class, those with the power and money. and since these people are the "dominant class," their art will be the "dominant art." i get it now.
I like how Boal has traced the development of Theatre through history, crafting a clear vision of how it has adapted with various periods and remained powerful. However, I am skeptical and slightly confused by his concluding examples that refer almost exclusively to Ionesco. He talks about Ionesco creating a new kind of theatre, and that he "overshadows the achievements of all his fellow playwrights in the enormous task of dehumanizing man." Sounds negative to me!
Indeed, Ionesco did work on the cutting edge of absurd theatre, depicting humans rediculously. However, it is no coincidence that he was also writing socially relevant plays. Further, it is no coincidence that these two characteristics of the man's work go hand-in-hand. Indeed, if one wants to make a political statement, it may be best to do so in an artistically radical fashion in order to engender deep emotions and make a strong impression.
Is there a reason that Boal does not mention the social revelance of Rhinoceros, which is far from an attempt at dehumanization? Indeed, the play is largely interpreted as a response to Fascism, Nazism and Communism before WW2, shedding light on individual identity, culture, philosophy and ethics. Maybe I am misinterpreting Boal, but I wonder why he ignores the social importance of his concluding example...
Indeed, Ionesco did work on the cutting edge of absurd theatre, depicting humans rediculously. However, it is no coincidence that he was also writing socially relevant plays. Further, it is no coincidence that these two characteristics of the man's work go hand-in-hand. Indeed, if one wants to make a political statement, it may be best to do so in an artistically radical fashion in order to engender deep emotions and make a strong impression.
Is there a reason that Boal does not mention the social revelance of Rhinoceros, which is far from an attempt at dehumanization? Indeed, the play is largely interpreted as a response to Fascism, Nazism and Communism before WW2, shedding light on individual identity, culture, philosophy and ethics. Maybe I am misinterpreting Boal, but I wonder why he ignores the social importance of his concluding example...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)