Raging/grieving about the hate and oppression of these times? Come play it out with us!!!
I will be co-facilitating three upcoming Theatre of the Oppressed workshops at Mount Holyoke College in Hadley, Massachusetts! These workshops are open to the public. Registration is required. All proceeds benefit the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund.
Theatre of the Oppressed (TO) is a participatory form of theatre for social change, developed by Brazilian theatre artist and activist Augusto Boal. TO uses theatre techniques and games to help people dialogue about issues of oppression, while creating space for participants to rehearse taking action to address these problems. No theatre experience necessary! All workshops are queer, trans and BIPoC affirming (not exclusive). Each workshop stands alone and does not require participation in the others.
Augusto Boal facilitating a theatre of the oppressed workshop in 2008 at the Riverside Church in NYC.
Workshop 1: Intro to Image Theatre, Saturday, February 15th, 1pm-4:30pm
Workshop 2: Intro to Forum Theatre, Saturday, March 8th, 1pm-4:30pm
Workshop 3: Intro to Rainbow of Desire: Cop in the Head, Saturday, April 19th, 1pm-4:30pm
Registration is required as spaces are limited. Please email: carmenleahlicswmph@gmail.com to sign up! See below for registration deadlines for each workshop.
Suggested donation: $40 per workshop (All proceeds will benefit the Palestinian Children’s relief fund so please give as generously as you can – more or less than the suggested donation is welcome). Cash & Venmo accepted.
Facilitators: Meredith Coleman-Tobias, creative writer, chaplain, and professor and CarmenLeah Ascencio, ecotherapist, educator and community theatre artist.
Accessibility: The building is wheelchair accessible. This is a low scent event. Please do not wear chemical fragrances.
Theatre of the Oppressed Workshop Part 1: Image Theatre
Image theatre is one of the foundational methods of TO that helps explore ways to achieve liberation from oppression through images and movement in our bodies. No theatre experience necessary!
Date & Time: Saturday, February 15th, 1pm-4:30pm (register by Wednesday, February 12th)
Location: The Betty Shabazz Cultural Center Community Room, Mount Holyoke College, 2 Dunlap Place, South Hadley, 01075
Theatre of the Oppressed Workshop Part 2: Intro to Forum Theatre
FORUM-THEATRE is a dynamic improvisational theatre of the oppressed technique in which audience members participate in finding alternative strategies for dealing with a specific issue of oppression. Participants present a scene in which a person (the “protagonist”) who is being oppressed struggles to get free from the oppression and fails. The “spect-actors” [spectators who become actors] are invited to replace this Protagonist, and act out all possible solutions, ideas, strategies. The other actors improvise the reactions of their characters facing each new intervention, so as to allow an embodied analysis of the real possibilities of using those suggestions in real life. Forum theatre is a collective rehearsal for real issues of oppression facing individuals.
Date & Time: Saturday, March 8th, 1pm-4:30pm (register by Wednesday, March 8th)
Location: The Betty Shabazz Cultural Center Community Room, Mount Holyoke College, 2 Dunlap Place, South Hadley, 01075
Theatre of the Oppressed Workshop Part 3: Intro to Cop in the Head
“Cop in the head” is one of Augusto Boal’s Rainbow of Desire methods, which explores gaining liberation and healing from internalized oppression. The “cop in the head” represents the external oppression (interpersonal & institutional) that impacts people at the personal (internal) level. In cop in the head participants explore external messages that have hindered them from pursuing their wants, needs and desires. The technique helps participants externalize their internal “cops” and explore empowering and healing ways to respond to their internalized oppression (their “cops”) through theatre games and dynamic scenes.
Date & Time: Saturday, April 19th, 1pm-4:30pm (register by Wednesday, April 16th)
Location: Abbey Chapel and Interfaith Sanctuary, Mount Holyoke College, 50 College St, South Hadley, MA 01075.