Theatre and Performance Studies Commons^™

The Year In Review, 2019-2020, Rachel Desoto-Jackson, Reg Flowers

Spect-actor: A Journal of Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed

The work of the Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed organization and its members remains vital. As we reflect on the 2019-2020 organization cycle, we share with you the ways in which the PTO organization has continued to grow amidst these global shifts. We continue to embrace the challenges and opportunities of this moment and continue to support people whose work challenges oppressive systems by promoting critical thinking and social justice through liberatory theatre and popular education.

Theatre Of The Beat’S Restorative Justice Theatre Program: Highlights From The Baseline Evaluation, Karen Nelson, Keely Kavcic, Courtney Primeau, Kimberlee Walker

Spect-actor: A Journal of Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed

This report highlights the findings from the evaluation of Theatre of the Beat’s (TOTB) Restorative Justice Theatre Program, which works with incarcerated persons at the Grand Valley Institution for Women (GVIW), a federal prison in Kitchener, Ontario. The project was conducted by the Research Shop, part of the Community Engaged Scholarship Institute (CESI) at the University of Guelph, in partnership with Theatre of the Beat (TOTB), a not-for-profit theatre company with a process rooted in restorative justice principles and a passion for promoting conversations around social justice.

Abbreviating Boal At The Louisiana Old State Capitol Museum: Using Image Theatre, Bonny Mcdonald, Joshua Hamzehee, Naomi P. Bennett, Montana Smith

Spect-actor: A Journal of Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed

This article describes the execution of and reflections of a Theatre of the Oppressed workshop offered in 2017 to middle and high school groups visiting the Louisiana Old State Capitol Museum on half-day field trips. The workshops accompanied The Power of Children: Making a Difference exhibit, which features the stories and struggles of Ruby Bridges, Ryan White, and Anne Frank. Despite initial plans for an hour-long session, the workshop designed to connect youth participant experiences to the stories of the children featured in the exhibit was cut to only fifteen minutes. Our group of four facilitators discusses ways we modified …

Rehearsing For Transformation: Theatre Of The Oppressed, Pedagogy And Human Rights, Amir Al-Azraki

Spect-actor: A Journal of Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed

The report showcases a series of TO training workshops and projects in several contexts and settings. The aim of the report is to show how TO techniques and forms could contribute to the transformation of the learning environment and the social justice issues relevant to diverse communities across cultures (North America, Latin America, Middle East). It highlights and facilitates critical discourse and interchange through working with various participants (students, faculty, refugees, women, artists, prison staff etc.) and tackling significant issues such as trauma, violence, oppression, discrimination, gender inequality and homophobia. The report shows how TO could be used as a …

Forum Theatre On Post-Election Violence In Kenya, Mecca Burns, Caleb Seda, Bonface N. Beti

Spect-actor: A Journal of Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed

In August 2017, a Forum Theatre workshop focusing on the Prevention of Crime and Post-Election Violence, took place at Kerith Brook Secondary School, Nairobi, Kenya.

Domino, An Experience Of Theatre Of The Oppressed, Hamze Aleepayam

Spect-actor: A Journal of Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed

In this moving report the author recounts a series of TO workshops with immigrant mothers in Tehran as the women try to cope with arranged marriages, poverty, sexism, and child-rearing issues. The problems are passed from one generation to the next, but the intervention of TO creates change.

Citizenship On Stage: A Project Of The Popular Theatre School In Rio De Janeiro, Etp Staff

Spect-actor: A Journal of Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed

Cidadania em Cena (Citizenship on Stage) was born of an initiative to create permanent Theater of the Oppressed workshops in popular pre-university school units in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Conducted by pairs of monitors formed by the School of Popular Theater, the goal of the year-long project was to create groups that use the theater as an instrument for reflection and intervention in their own reality.

Begin To Play: The Case For Play In Community Engagement In Higher Education, Naomi B. Roswell

Spect-actor: A Journal of Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed

Although little is written about the role of play in community engagement in higher education, professors and administrators intuitively grasp its value in building trust and democratizing spaces, but use games thinly. This paper acknowledges the challenges of developing effective community engagement partnerships and demonstrates how and why games based in Theater of the Oppressed deepen and enhance initiatives to dissolve town / gown divisions and enable collaborative knowledge generation. Through an analysis of literature reviews and interviews, this paper makes a case for deliberately incorporating games from Theater of the Oppressed (TO) - to advance community engagement initiatives by …

A Continued Theatre Of The Oppressed, Tania S. Cañas Dr

Spect-actor: A Journal of Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed

Abstract: A Continued Theatre of the Oppressed

There have been calls within the Theatre of the Oppressed community for a development of a poetics of the oppressor, a form of Theatre of the Oppressor; as an extension and reimagining of Theatre of the Oppressed (Chinyowa 2014, Harrison &Weinblatt 2011) Such calls centre on three main points: a less binary framing of oppressor-oppressed, developing allyship from the oppressor who is in a resourced position to make material structural changes, and finally as a call towards an increased dialogue through inclusion. Theatre of the Oppressed has a close relationship with social change, …

Global To Movement(S) And Its Discontents, Joschka Köck

Spect-actor: A Journal of Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed

In this article, I deal with the following questions: What qualifies it as a movement? What are its goals, potentials and resources as well as difficulties and contradictions? Why do we need a TO movement at all? I first give an auto-ethnographic account of how I experience moving in the global TO movement. My frustrations, expectations, ambitions become visible as well as the need to let go all the pressures connected to TO as a global movement. Then I deal with the organizational structure of the global TO movement using Resource Mobilization Theory (RMT), and I focus on failures of …

Creatives, Dasha Kelly Hamilton

Spect-actor: A Journal of Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed

A poem by Dasha Kelly Hamilton

You Can't Take It With You Dramaturgical Website, Hannah Smith, Zoella Sneed, Cheyenne Kay, Jenna Bauch, Savanna Burkle, Abigail Chagolla, Kennedy Keil, Thayne Lamb, Megan Lenstra, Collin Ridgley, Hannah Twitchell

INSPIRE Student Research and Engagement Conference

The presenters are enrolled in TheatreUNI’s Dramaturgy course where they study drama through a theoretical lens to create analytical criticism and research contextual support for TheatreUNI’s current productions. They have compiled research into a dramaturgical website focused on topics relating to the text of Kaufman and Hart’s Pulitzer Prize winning play You Can’t Take it With You. We will be presenting our final website designed for TheatreUNI patrons, and discussing each of the topics that we individually researched. Our research covers the following topics through the lens of the 1930’s: Great Depression, entertainment industry, music, fashion, immigration, the Russian Revolution, …

Poisons In Romeo And Juliet, Jenna Bauch

Research in the Capitol

Throughout this experience with dramaturgy, I plan to extensively conclude the identity of the type of poison that Romeo used to kill himself in Shakespeare’s classic play, Romeo and Juliet. I plan to do this based on four essential qualities of the poison. Due to evidence from the text, the poison must be fast acting, readily available in the 16th century, contain a high toxicity within a low amount (enough to fit inside a small vile), and water soluble. Another challenge will be determining the level of importance of each quality as it pertains to the poison. I will be …

Theatre Uni Alumni Newsletter, Fall 2020-Spring 2021, University Of Northern Iowa. Department Of Theatre.

Theatre UNI Alumni Newsletter

In This Issue:

Letter from the Department Head --- 2
Meet Our Faculty --- 3
To Touch the Moon --- 5
A Class in Stage Combat --- 9
Alumni Profiles --- 10
Sturgis Youth Theatre 20th Anniversary --- 23
Guest Artist Profile: Chris Wood --- 24
New Organization: UNI Multicultural Theatrical Society (MTS) --- 25
Meet the Monsters --- 26
A New Partnership: Denvers Center for the Performing Arts --- 27
Virtual Theatre --- 28
Faculty Publications --- 32
Original Faculty Work and Women in Science and the Arts Panel --- 33
Legacy of Light --- 34
Donor Profiles: The …

Editor's Introduction To The 4th Issue Of The Pto Journal, Mark Weinberg

Spect-actor: A Journal of Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed

This brief note from the new editor acknowledges the accomplishments of the previous editor and provides an introduction to this issue of the journal pointing to both continuity and change.

Review Of Valeria Appel’S “The Theatre Of The Oppressed For Beginners”, Ola Kraszpulska

Spect-actor: A Journal of Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed

A review of Valeria Appel’s self-published book “The Theatre of the Oppressed for Beginners”

Book Review Of Radical Doubt: The Joker System, After Boal, Ann Elizabeth Armstrong Phd

Spect-actor: A Journal of Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed

This is a book review of Radical Doubt: The Joker System, After Boal by Mady Schutzman, published by Routledge 2019.

Moving Forward, Living Backward, Or Just Standing Still?: Newspaper Theatre, Critical Race Theory, And Commemorating The Wade-Braden Trial In Louisville, Kentucky, Amy Steiger

Spect-actor: A Journal of Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed

This essay, with a link to the full group-devised script of "Moving Forward, Living Backward, or Just Standing Still?" describes how graduate students entering an MFA acting program devised a performance inspired by the WPA’s Living Newspapers and Boal’s Newspaper Theatre to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Wade-Braden housing case in Louisville, KY. Drawing on critical race theory, I argue that the process, together with the script itself, offers an example of several ways performance can be used to remember and re-imagine a community’s racial history and future. It commemorated the trial itself, creating a public reminder of Louisville’s …

Creating Talk & Texts: Taking The Classroom Into The Community, Yvonne J. Montoya, Vera Coleman, Robert Fitzpatrick, Kevin Cano, Alison Gervais, Kaylynn Mcabee, Devon Miller, Alec Portillos, Eliana Taylor

Spect-actor: A Journal of Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed

This project report highlights a partnership among Communication & Rhetoric university members and staff and students from El Centro del Quinto Sol which is a community recreation center. We describe the context and background of our project, workshops that employ Theatre of the Oppressed (TO) techniques, and provide some reflections and pictures documenting this joint learning experience.

The ‘I Am…’ Experience: Social Justice Art From Process To Product, Billicia Charnelle Hines, Ras Michael Courtney

Spect-actor: A Journal of Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed

Paulo Friere said, “We cannot enter the struggle as objects in order later to become subjects.” Freedom Players is one of the two ensembles within the Black Theatre and Dance Program at Wayne State University. As a group of young Detroit based artists met and interacted, challenges arose as they realized their birth was political. These artists explored how they can survive and thrive in a place where everything seems to be set up against them. As clashes built, their journey lead them on a path of discovery and renewal. The result was I Am…, a performance piece that illuminates …

Digital Role-Playing Games As Means For Dialogue And Change For Marginalized Teachers, Jonathan Mendels, Amit Schejter

Spect-actor: A Journal of Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed

This study presents a theoretical model that incorporates the theories of Paulo Freire, Augusto Boal and Amartya Sen and uses their ideas to create an innovative digital role-playing game for teachers on ‘To-Be-Education,’ a platform originally designed for teacher-student role-playing . We then demonstrate how Sen’s ‘capabilities approach’, Freire’s ‘pedagogy of hope’ and Boal’s ‘theatre of the oppressed’ are adapted to tools of empowerment for Arab-Israeli teachers, who belong to a community marginalized by State policies. The teachers design their own games and base the scenarios on their own real educational and professional dilemmas. They then re-enact these situations to …

The Teaching Of English In Lebanese Classrooms: A Critical Look At The Dominant Curricula And Practices, Nadia Bhuiyan

Spect-actor: A Journal of Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed

Despite proclaimed attempts at post-colonial curricula, I argue that the teaching of English in Lebanon is a pronounced example of the deep-seated perpetuation of colonial privilege vis-à-vis curricular choices. To counter this cycle of privilege, I call for the application of culturally relevant pedagogy in English classrooms as a step in the direction of liberatory curricular reform in Lebanon. Culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) attempts to use students’ cultural competence in an empowering manner to help them achieve academic success. This article examines the use of the imposed curriculum in one English for Academic Purposes classroom in Lebanon, followed by the …

Informed Hearing Loss Prevention At Theatre Uni [Poster], Mallory Park

Research in the Capitol

Theatre workers face many dangers which could impact their quality of life and ability to work. One such risk is hearing loss. Given the prevalence of noise-induced hearing loss, some theatre workers may already be living with hearing loss. My purpose with this study is to discover the current conditions and attitudes toward hearing loss at Theatre UNI then provide the information necessary to theatre workers about the signs and significance of hearing loss as well as methods for prevention.

She's Not Allowed To Do That: Two Actors Embody Female Same-Sex Sexuality [Poster], Orion Lee Risk

Research in the Capitol

The art of acting requires the authentic embodiment of another being; what happens in this process when a performance requires taking on a stigmatized sexuality? In summer 2018, an emerging theatre company in Cedar Falls, Iowa, produced Stop Kiss by Diana Son: a show that required its two female leads to embody same-sex sexuality. Guided by scholarship from Judith Butler, Jill Dolan, and Jerzy Grotowski — and following principles of practice-as-research — interviews and observation were used to explore and interpret how the actors in Stop Kiss experienced similarities and differences between their characters’ experiences and their own. Findings led …

Hegelian Political Theater, Cade M. Olmstead

Research in the Capitol

What could politics, theater, and the project of German idealism all hold in common?This research seeks to explore the usage of comedy in modern political discourse through the perspectives of theater and German idealist philosophy.

It begins with an analysis of ancient Greek theater by the philosopher G.W.F. Hegel, applies this reading to the 2013 Turkish Gezi Park protests, and ultimately makes a normative claim about comedy’s use in public discourse and proper democratic politics.

Informed Hearing Loss Prevention For Theatre Uni, Mallory Park

Honors Program Theses

This study explores the opinions and behaviors related to hearing loss and hearing loss prevention in the demographic of theatre workers at Theatre UNI. Data was collected through a survey dispersed in a department-wide email and by measuring sound level in the scene shop and the costume studio. Survey responses from 11 participants indicated that theatre workers at Theatre UNI may be at risk for noise-induced hearing loss and that further education may aid in prevention of hearing damage.

She's Not Allowed To Do That: Performing Stigmatized Same-Sex Sexuality, Orion Lee Risk

Honors Program Theses

In the summer of 2018, an emerging theatre company produced Stop Kiss by Diana Son in Waterloo, Iowa, a mid-size industrial town adjacent to the city of Cedar Falls, which hosts a small public university. In Stop Kiss, the two lead characters are women fall romantically for each other, so that in performing their characters the actors embody same-sex sexuality. This paper will explore how the actors playing these two characters engaged with this embodiment, and how doing so affected them.

Integrating Affect And Advocacy: Suicide Prevention Education And Community-Based Performance, Sharon L. Green

Spect-actor: A Journal of Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed

In this analysis of a performance-based collaboration, I argue that affect and relationship-building are vital tools in shifting cultures that stigmatize mental illness and social difference. I explain the context, logistics, and impact of a project which served as a community-based learning experience for college students. Embracing an ethics of care complemented the foundational principles of community-based performance to deepen the project's educational and affective impact on participants.

Skooz Be Hat’In: My Story Navigating And Negotiating Standard American English, Lisa M. Westbrooks

Spect-actor: A Journal of Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed

In most education systems, African American Vernacular English is not considered a language or variety of English and students who speak it are coerced into using Standard American English only. Using autoethnographic methodology I examine my personal language navigation and negotiation of Standard American English and the oppression of language and identity that accompanied it. I use storytelling to draw the reader into my childhood memories and the drifting away of my first language. As a young student and English as a Second Language teacher I have learned from these experiences and share strategies so that others may successfully reduce …

Strategic Uses Of Essentialism In Boal’S Forum Theatre, Cameron N. Coulter

Spect-actor: A Journal of Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed

Although Forum Theatre (FT) welcomes diverse perspectives to the stage, practitioners have often remarked that FT performances work best in communities that are in some way “homogeneous.” In this essay, I suggest that homogeneity is a recurrent theme in FT discussions because the structure of FT relies on consensus, and I propose that Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak’s paradigm of strategic uses of essentialism is a productive tool for understanding and evaluating moments of consensus in FT. Although Spivak eventually critiqued the term, I propose that strategic essentialism can nonetheless provide a useful model for understanding how consensus ideally operates within FT …