1 Drama A Way-Book
1 Drama A Way-Book
1 Drama A Way-Book
DRAMA
- a Way to Social Inclusion
Practical process descriptions for drama workers
This handbook is one of the outputs of DramaWay project (107247 - JA - 1 2002 1 FI JOINT CALL-SITG, http://www.tkk.uty.fi/dramaway). The handbook has been done with European support. Publications of the Centre for Extension Studies in Turku University A: 88 Cover Coverphotos Layout Publisher Print Printing year ISBN ISSN Keijo Viljakainen Ulla Halkola and Titi Lillqvist Rivico Oy, Jouni Vilhonen Centre for Extension Studies, University of Turku Dark Oy 2005 951-29-2882-5 0788-7906
Sales Centre for Extension Studies Tel. +358 2 3336280 Fax. +358 2 333 6220 [email protected]
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Contents
1. Introduction ................................................................................ 9
What is Drama Way? ................................................................................ 9
Theatre Project with Immigrant Children of Raval (Anna Caubet & Jordi Forcadas) ........................................................ 64 Session of Interactive Theatre (Anna Caubet) ................................. 69 Invisible Theatre with Immigrant Youth (Jordi Forcadas) ............. 71 Portugal .................................................................................................... 74 Interactive Class. Learning about Drama Literature (Marco Ferreira) .................................................................................. 75 Youth & Job Equality of Rights (Marco Ferreira) ........................ 80 Sonho de Amanda - Amandas Dream (Baal 17) ............................ 89 Finland .................................................................................................... 100 Free fall Project in Lohja (Titi Lillqvist) .................................... 101 Photo as a Step to Drama (Ulla Halkola & Tarja Koffert) ............. 115 Arts, Educators, Communities a Participatory Approach (Jouni Piekkari) ................................................................................. 119 Kullervo. Social Exclusion of Youth in Mythology (Titi Lillqvist & Jouni Piekkari) ....................................................... 130 New York, New York. Parents Making Choices Concerning Their Careers and Children (Jouni Piekkari) ................................ 142 Aleksi. How do I know someone is using drugs? (Jouni Piekkari) ................................................................................. 148
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Catalonian clowns fool people of all ages to think about the injustice of the global trade and how to live ethically in a more sound way. These projects and many others have been an unusual way of sharing. Young and old, prisoners and non-prisoners, immigrants and non-immigrants, rural and urban, artists and non-artists have encountered each other on equal level. Everyone has done something different from what they usually do; taken positive risks. On the contrary to what one might expect, Drama Way did not produce a large number of theatre performances. Instead of creating shows, the participatory drama that we explored is an art form of a moment; creating and sharing meanings, process leading one towards understanding. In our project we have explored and developed new combinations and adaptations of a wide range of applied and interactive drama, such as forum theatre, live action role play (LARP), process drama / Drama-in Education (DIE), clownery, photo drama, cite-specific theatre, and education on theatre art. The participants of Drama Way are mainly young professional, who want to broaden their scope of work, for example, from conventional theatre work to interactive prison drama. Drama Way project has produced results beyond expectations. Some of the ideas born in these projects have already received funding from local or international co-operation partners. The most delightful thing is to see how some lonely people working with youngsters have made friends with other inspired people in the field. Some of them have found completely new directions for their lives and for their work with youngsters. Drama Way is not meant to be walked alone, but together with other people, in a creative interaction.
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In this handbook our purpose is to introduce our work in a practical way, so that anyone with some experience in applied drama can try to adapt these processes in ones own work. Even better, we hope that you could improve and develop our work: experiments presented here are works-in-progress. Some of the processes that did not function in first attempt in the best possible way are also included in this handbook. We believe that we can learn a lot from our mistakes as well. The great creativity and mercifulness of drama work lies in its unpredictability: how we succeed depends on the methods, people, environment, expectations, mood, context often even the lucky position of stars Only some of the projects that were borne due to the Drama Way are presented in this handbook. Many of the project reports are to be found on the projects web site, which is updated regularly www.tkk.utu.fi/dramaway/. Project reports are published in the internet as original versions and as English translations, when possible. Many of the stories are so multidimensional and fine, that they will never be written down anywhere else but in our hearts.You have to go and experience them by yourself. We hope that you can also contribute to this sharing of experiences in our Drama Way project in the future!
Behalf of the DramaWay project team Jouni Piekkari Editor, drama trainer
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1. Introduction
What is Drama Way?
There is a need for alternative and more adaptable ways and means of learning for the young people who are under a threat of social exclusion. This need has been recognised throughout Europe. The demand for this project has become evident through the results of various previous educational programmes and projects. Special ways of working, such as participatory and experiential methods, are often required to guide the groups in threat of exclusion towards social inclusion. Drama in its various forms is one example of these tools. The need for a new approach is perhaps most clearly recognised with those working with youngsters who have various kinds of problems, such as school dropouts, young substance abusers and immigrants. For example, European Socrates Grundtvig project Social inclusion through APEL made a research, which summarised that the informal ways and methods of learning are of crucial importance in the efforts against marginalisation.The need for networks of drama groups and individual drama specialists with training institutions and various projects is clear.A continuous need to develop the practice has become evident though the previous projects and training programmes. Also drama as a tool has to be explored in new and applied ways to ensure its applicability for various target groups. General objectives of Drama Way To share practical tools and insights between the young/ beginning professional or semi-professional drama workers who are interested in working with youngsters under a threat of social exclusion to improve local and international networks of drama workers, funding instances and social workers to improve the visibility of the work to create practical, easily accessible material and project descriptions to help the development of practical and pedagogical drama work of young professionals in the field to identify themes that are locally important to initiate small-scale pilot drama projects with various youth groups in need for social inclusion e.g. drug addicts in each partner country (Estonia, Spain (Catalonia), Portugal and Finland) The main target of the project Drama A Way to Social Inclusion (Drama Way) was to promote the opportunities of the young, especially 14-18 year old people; to adapt them to the larger society and to the community they are living in, as well as, to the possibility to get education and to learn from the methods tailored for them. The learning methods used for these youngsters must be different from the formal methods of education; the methods must provide a genuine second chance of learning in an informal way. The methods often include taking the youngsters away from the conventional school context: into the nature, youth centres or theatre schools. Many of the projects also integrate different age and social groups. For example, it has been important to bring outsiders to the prison environment in order to create a new kind of interaction in the drama.
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The aim of the project was to gather, apply and mix different pedagogical drama tools in order to utilise them in different local training contexts. The project aimed also to activate the target youngster groups to participate actively in planning of the curricula and in developing the methods. These aims were reached mainly through pilot workshops, practical evaluations and feedback discussions with the youngsters. The project was realised locally in four countries: Finland, Spain (Catalonia), Estonia and Portugal.The local groups organised workshops and real life laboratories in each country.These experimental laboratories also produced material for internet based data-bank of experiences (see www.tkk.utu.fi/dramaway) and for national discussion forums debating the use of drama methods in local context. The local workshops were also important forums of networking: participants had various backgrounds; teachers, youth workers, drama workers from the whole region, not only from the co-operation area.The workshops created co-operation on local and national levels.This promotes multi-disciplinary approaches and cooperation in the future. We often noticed how people working close to each others and struggling with similar kind of problems and target groups did not know about each other.This tendency of segregation is seen everywhere: without an outsider input one rarely has time to look outside ones own work field and professional specialisation. In the end of the project, the European workshop in Turku (Finland) presented some of the results of the projects to the wider audience.The results of the local workshops were presented though practical workshops and other suitable means, such as video and slide shows. Locally adapted themes and working methods All the four partner countries have their own specific focuses. In Finland the main theme was substance abuse. Finland used to have one of the lowest rates of drug abuse and crimes related to illegal drugs. Nowadays the figures are skyrocketing in the fastest rate in whole Europe. Furthermore, alcohol consumption has increased due to suddenly sunk prices and increased availability of alcohol. Especially amongst the most vulnerable and marginalised groups it has evidently caused a growing number of social problems and health risks. We are finally becoming European - is that what we wanted? How can we suddenly change the cultural patterns of substance use that seem to be a result of decades of malplanned policy and perhaps hundreds of years of colonised mentality? These are question that many people ask in Finland.Therefore, the preventive work is the key interest area in the Finnish Drama Way project. However, we see the prevention work in a broader perspective. Through drama work we want to support the welfare and building of healthy social environment for the young people. In Catalonia (Spain), the focus is on the work with young prisoners and immigrant groups. Spain is one of the entrance countries of great numbers of legal and illegal immigrants, especially from Africa. Massive anti-globalization demonstrations, Iraq war protests, terrorist attack to Madrid and the policy of the previous conservative government that paid less attention to the social welfare seem to draw more attention to the integration of the immigrants and to the
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Third World issues. During the project period these issues have been clear for the drama workers and artists in Barcelona. This general atmosphere also contributed to the success of Drama Way seminars and networking in the area. In the rural Portugal drama workers tackle with problems of the countryside and small rural towns. Such issues as norms and sexuality, substance abuse, the possibilities of the young people to develop and stay in their own region are considered. Portuguese partners claim that these problems are a result of backwards mentality that derives from the era of dictatorship, a short history of democracy, neo-liberalisation and harmful and de-moralising effects of many aspects of EU policies. Estonia is a newcomer in the EU family, and the country is characterised by the rapid social change from Soviet system to an independent nation maintaining one of the most neo-liberal economical systems in the world. Estonian youngster in the projects deal with their issues through a national debate in TV forum theatre sessions, in schools, youth rehabilitation centres, festivals, live action role game associations etc. In Estonia the main focus is young people discussing with their peers through an interactive drama.The topics are handled in a participatory way and consist of the topics that the young people themselves are concerned of. Drama Way gathers people with various backgrounds and ways of working to work together.This has resulted in a tremendous range of working methods and creative ideas. Different approaches are utilised in Drama Way: some emphasise celebratory aspects in their work: carnival, fun, wild imagination, mass approach, some prefer more issue-oriented and intimate approaches, using also sociological and qualitative research methods along with the drama work. In the first meeting in Finland our working tool was Finnish oral poetry, since from there we could find same kind of stories of social exclusion of youngsters, which are visible in the lives of the modern refugees, victims of human trade or amongst the young people committing suicides. We chose a pre-medieval story of Kullervo as a tool, and situated it in the forest of an island close to Nokia cellular phone -town Salo. In Finland forest and water are present practically everywhere, and it is quite natural for people to use these natural settings for summer theatre, pedagogical adventures or other celebrations. We developed this process drama also to suite more simple processes that can be easily used in classrooms and social or youth work training sessions aiming at focusing a discussions in the lecture on certain social topics. The new EU member state Estonia is another good example how the local culture can be used in drama. In the workshop, the Estonian actors and drama workers gave the other Drama Way partners a chance to explore how the live action role play (LARP) and traditional Estonian wedding games and dramas could be used to help the youngsters build their identity in the new and changing Europe. On the other hand, we explored these wedding traditions as a local form of interactive and participatory drama. Participatory drama is often considered as something modern, but we tend to forget that the local folk forms have used quite similar techniques. In the past, they were also ways to empower, educate and help people participate in the creation of the society.This is valuable, locally rooted, indigenous knowledge and know-how.
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Fourthly, reasons for the use of drama can be ideological. Drama can be used as a tool for empowerment and therefore it can promote social change and inclusion of marginalised groups, and create a chance based on their own priorities, not those dictated from above or through the formal education system. Participatory drama (not just any drama) is considered as a democratic and critical device for learning, where both the teachers and pupils can learn from each other, and more precisely learn together. A teacher/educator of participatory drama can never be a fully learnt specialist of the subcultures s/he is working with. To give an example; only the gypsies can truly understand what the life of a gypsy is like. However, both non-gypsy drama educators and the gypsy participants of drama process can get new perspectives into their lives from each other. The so called constructivist paradigm in education emphasises that learners are not empty vessels to pour information and ideologies into. They are rather to be seen as radiating starting points of their own learning through their own life experiences and values that they have formed in the socio-cultural contexts they live in both within and without the formal school system (von Wright & von Wright 2001). Drama as a multidisciplinary form of art can activate and bring forth these life experiences through the use of imagination, dreaming, use of body, symbol, imagery, visual arts, music, writing etc. and help to use them in the individual learning process in a holistic manner. Drama is also a group process that always activates and develops social learning, emotional intelligence, argument on values, spiritual thinking, intuition and other meta-learning skills, that have been recognised as essential elements in learning process of a human being. These skills are still often neglected, or cannot fully be covered through the formal learning system, especially in the case of youngsters with learning difficulties, which are often based on socio-cultural background (see also Goleman 1997). Blatner, Adam (1996): Acting-in. Practical application of psycho dramatic methods. Hannula, Aino (2000): Tiedostaminen ja muutos Paulo Freiren ajattelussa. Systemaattinen analyysi sorrettujen pedagogiikasta. Helsingin yliopiston kasvatustieteenlaitos, Helsinki. Jauhiainen (1999): Ryhmilmi. Koskela,Virpi (1999): Elmntehtv Legioonateatterin opetukset Kokemuksia ja ajatuksia ohjaajan ja kouluttajan roolista. Kuikka, Suvi (toim.): Friikki. Nuorisoteatteritoiminnan opas. Vapaan Sivitystyn liitto. Owens, Allan and Barber, Keith (1997): Drama Works. Rohd, Michael (1998): Theatre, Community and Conflict Resolution. Hope is Vital Manual for educators and youth workers.
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curricula. These performances are often partly interactive. Furthermore, they may include so called pre- or post-performance workshops, where the pupils can be more actively involved in their own learning processes. Through various exercises the pupils can further explore the themes of the play. Sometimes these workshops take place before the play, in order to prepare the pupils for the themes that are discussed in the play. These kind of sessions can be organised either with the theatre group or separately with their own teacher. Therefore, many of the groups also produce complementary materials and teachers information packs to integrate the theatrical intervention into the learning process. Forum theatre Forum theatre is a form of interactive theatre developed by a Brazilian director Augusto Boal as part of his participatory theatre method system called Theatre of the Oppressed. In the forum theatre method, the theatre group presents a social problem an injustice or oppression - that is relevant to the audience. In a forum theatre performance there will be no end solution for the problem, but the conflict is left unsolved. The audience is activated to explore solutions for the problem by inviting the audience (spect-actors) on the stage to act the solutions for the problems.
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Forum theatre is also a workshop technique where there is no pre-determined time span for the play. The group, for example a group of mothers, creates these plays entirely by themselves. These theatrical exercises are used to explore the social themes, problems and oppressions of the group. Forum theatre has been used to tackle such issues as racism, substance abuse, sexual prejudice or bullying in schools. It is also utilised in media education and interactive discussion forums on TV. According to Boal, it aims at empowerment of individuals and groups; it is rehearsal for the reality. Invisible Theatre Invisible theatre method was invented by Augusto Boal. It was born during the dictatorship of Brazil, when the politically critical play-making was forbidden. Invisible theatre is a form of theatre where the audience does not know that they are witnessing a play. These performances have a pre-written storyline that portrays a social problem or oppression and the performance is taken into a real life situation, it can be performed, for example, in a tram, bar, market place or shopping centre. The aim is to provoke people to participate in the play which they believe is a real situation of oppression. Legislative Theatre Legislative theatre is a further elaboration of Theatre of the Oppressed or forum theatre, where different techniques are used as a tool to discuss local or national democracy and public decision making.The solutions that the audiences draw in the forum plays create a starting point for legislative level discussions.This method uses also internet discussions, thematic festivals, political rallies etc. to help the disadvantaged people to participate in politics. Theatre-for-Awareness / Theatre-for-Development These methods of touring theatre have been used especially in the Third World Countries as a tool for participatory development programmes and awareness raising campaigns. Instead of telling people educationally what they should know inform them - this form of theatre raises questions, for which the audiences themselves have a chance to answer through the organised post-performance discussions.The plays are based on a field research on certain topic amongst the target groups, in order to identify what the local people themselves consider as the most crucial problems of the area.The themes considered may be completely different from the issues, that the developers or the authorities regard as important. These theatre forms aim at a self-motivated social change of the communities. They can even aim at a very concrete completion of a local or regional development programme, for example anti-poaching programme, agricultural development, womens rights etc. Other names used for these forms of participatory drama are popular theatre and community theatre.
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Devised Theatre / From Fact to Fiction Devised theatre refers to all processes of theatre making where there is no prewritten play text or where a play text is used only as a starting point for a completely new piece of theatre. Devised theatre is created in a so called democratic group process where the group explores a chosen theme through movement, theatrical improvisations, visual techniques, videos etc. From Fact to Fiction is one form of devised theatre where the starting point of the performance is factual material concerning the chosen theme: research reports, newspaper articles, interviews, TV programmes, internet etc. This material is converted into a dramatic form in a creative group process. Devised theatre techniques are mainly used in creating plays concerning the themes chosen by the youngsters themselves. Play Back Theatre Play Back theatre is a form of interactive drama created in the United States.The most famous developers of this genre is Jonathan Fox.The idea of play back theatre is that the participants of the workshop (or the audiences of a play back theatre performance) tell short, real episodes of their lives where after the actors (or other workshop participants) improvise them on stage by following certain drama conventions. Only a few aspects of the stories are emphasised in the scene, aspects such as specific emotions, personified objects presented in the story or some selected sentences or meaningful interactions. These symbolic scenes are often accompanied by improvised soundscapes or music. Play back theatre is a form of sharing individual experiences in a community. It can be a purifying or healing experience, even though the creators of this genre emphasise it as a form of sharing real life experiences in an entertaining way. Sociodrama Sociodrama, based on the work of Jacob L. Moreno, is one of the earliest genres of applied drama. Sociodrama is not a simple drama technique; it is a complex theory and method of analysing, understanding and learning about the different social phenomena of peoples everyday lives.The techniques used in sociodrama are similar to many of the above mentioned techniques, emphasis being on the analytic understanding of social dynamics. Sociodrama is commonly used method of training. Sociodrama is also a non-therapeutic sibling of Morenos psychodrama and has strongly influenced the development of Play Back theatre. Celebratory Drama Celebratory approach in theatre making often aims at identifying certain concentrated settlements or groups of people that seem to be less involved in the community.Typical example of these concentrated settlements are the urban housing areas. Celebratory drama emphasises aspects of carnival, the use and creation of myth, creativity, visual theatre and street theatre style of expression. As such celebratory theatre can have a healing impact on the people that are taken into the process of collective creation.
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The philosophy of celebratory drama emphasises that arts should be democratised: anyone can be an artist, and the responsibility of a professional artist is to set this creativity free from the culturally learned inhibitions and fears of ridicule. Celebratory artists believe in that opening up the in-born creativity is an almost necessary prerequisite for the human beings capacity to solve personal and social problems.The British artist collection Welfare State International is one of the best known examples of celebratory arts and drama. Hospital Clownery Hospital clownery, originally invented by Patch Adams in the United States, is increasing its popularity also in Europe. Hospital clowns target their performances to seriously ill children in hospitals. It is believed and proved that laughter can support the healing process even in serious cases of illness. Most importantly, the philosophy of hospital clownery emphasises the basic human need for laughter and joy. Laughter and joy should be taken into such places where it is most unlikely to occur. Many of the hospital clowns have also worked e.g. in refugee camps of Yugoslavia amongst the victims of war. Site-specific theatre Site-specific theatre refers to any kind of theatre that takes place in a nontheatre environment and uses the special features of different environments theatrically and symbolically. For example, a theatrical event or performance can take place in a dumping area, old abandoned building or in nature. Performances and their audiences may also wander from one place to another. In many cases this kind of performance blurs the rigid distinction between the audience and the performers: in a similar way as in rituals or ceremonies the spectators become an integral part of the event. Drama, myths and ritual forms of performance Traditional forms of performing art can function as a inspiring starting point for a community theatre event. Myths and their modern applications can invoke allegories between the factual and fictional; past and future; concrete and imaginary; collective and private.The use of local myths and traditional forms, such as songs and dances, can be important for building the local identity by revitalising the cultural heritage. Street theatre As the name suggests, this theatre is performed on the streets or in public places. Street theatre is probably one of the oldest forms of secular theatre. Street theatre often uses strongly visual and carnivalistic means to draw attention to these often spontaneous performances.
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Live-Action Role Play (LARP) LARP could be defined as a genuine cultural movement of young people, since it is mainly organised and run by the young people themselves. LARP is a series of highly interactive and imaginary dramatic events, where each participant takes part in an improvised drama by following their own pre-determined roles. The game is totally improvised and has no script. The role games take often place in an imaginary world of myths, sci-fi, prehistory or any other world created by the participants or the game leaders. Sometimes a LARP session may continue for several days, or the same group of people may explore the same theme for several years. LARP communities are often partly virtual, as well. Internet sites and discussion lists form an important forum for creation of characters, stories and reflection. Community Theatre or Theatre/Drama in the Community is a loose umbrella term that can refer to almost any kind of theatre making which is in some relation to a community. It can be created with, for or by the community. This vague umbrella concept applies to any genre mentioned above in this list, therefore these concepts are avoided in the Drama Way project.
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Estonia Estonia
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of their behaviour. With another group he introduced how the characters can say out loud their thoughts the Joker (the leader of the show) can whenever he wants say stop and ask the character to say out loud, what s/he is thinking at that particular moment. With the third group he used forwarding and rewinding of the scene -technique. This means moving in time - the things that happened in the past, present and future were played out. What happened before the conflict, what could happen afterwards? Techniques used in the work process In order to reach co-operation with this kind of large assembly of youngsters the work processes had to have several clear steps. The following methods/techniques were used during the festival: 1) Ice-breaking, different warm-up games; 2) Trust-games; 3) Group Discussions (defining and exploring the problems); 4) Creating the forum theatre story (through pictures/still-images, conversations); 5) Playing out the scene within the group (converting the created story into theatrical language); 6) Interactive discussions between the audience and the performers; 7) Combining all the prepared forum scenes into one big performance; 8) Interactive feedback circle with the participants. Different techniques were used in different stages some of them were applied to small group work, some to all participants. Sometimes it was the small group that had to be active, sometimes the head-director of the festival or the leader of the happening/action.
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An old fashioned teacher carrying the traditions of Soviet times maintains strict discipline in the classroom.
Demand for this kind of interactive theatre projects in school theatres: positive and negative aspects In addition to traditional school theatre festivals, there is a demand for happenings that are socially directed and for events of participative theatre schooling and training. However, there is quite much of confusion with defining the concepts of this field in Estonia. For instance, this event was called social theatre festival even though only school theatres were present in the event and the participants had no previous experience of social theatre. What is social theatre as such after all? It can be said, that making theatre is always a social phenomenon, but so called social theatre as such is actually something else than the typical school theatre represents. Social theatre aims at changing some social issue, for example at increasing peoples educational level, growing general awareness and other similar issues. Naturally, it would be nice if school theatres could take over this function even partly and would try one of the social theatre forms - forum theatre - in their schools.There is evidently enough problems and themes to deal with in schools. But on the other hand, the question is: are our schools ready to talk publicly about the themes/problems that concern the youngsters, even in theatrical language? The answer to this question would be a vivid indicator of the developmental level of the school.The idea of organizing this kind of educational gathering of school theatres is extremely. This kind of gathering works as good advertise for this interesting theatre form forum theatre and, furthermore, the willingness to participate in further training meant for smaller groups could rise inside the school-youngsters/schools.
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These training days were not aiming at offering thorough knowledge concerning forum theatre; they offered a brief introduction to the methodology of forum theatre. Some imperfections concerning this event are the following: The number of youngsters participating in the training, where a specific method was introduced, at the same time was too large (many of the youngsters did not know anything about the phenomena considered and most likely felt at the end that the provided knowledge was too shallow and created no clear picture of forum theatre methods) Too little time to introduce forum theatre method step by step, slowly and thoroughly.Youngsters did not understand very well how the forum theatre story is prepared and how to build up one forum scene. If there were to be less children, maybe there would have been more time to do this as well.This is the reason why some of the scenes that were prepared did not work as forum theatre scenes. Some of the school-youngsters could not understand what forum theatre, the purposes and expectations, is all about in such a short time period The assistants did not have enough concrete work tasks and the headdirector was not present all the time Lack of information and poor distribution of information during the festival. These problems were mostly due to the organizational aspects of the event. In the future it could be wise to take a smaller group of school youngsters when organizing forum theatre training. The training could also be shorter, more intensive and concentrated. All three working phases/days could be arranged during one day. If this kind of mass event is organized again, there should be more professional assistants and directors helping the children in the groups in order for them to understand how forum theatre works. On the first day there should be more time to get used to the spirit of the event, and to learn about the purposes of the forum theatre in smaller groups the groups could be assisted by the directors. In this particular event the whole mass was divided into groups according to the schools they attended, and all together nine groups were born. The groups could also have been differently organized, in order to enable youngsters to make new friends and share experiences with new people from all around the country, not only with ones own schoolmates. A positive aspect of this festival was that, all in all, quite many youngsters got the possibility to get acquainted with forum theatre method and got to try creating forum scene by themselves for the first time to put some problem/ conflict/thought/experience into theatrical form. Furthermore, the forumperformance/demonstration put together from the different scenes and played out on the third day ended up being quite interesting.The head-director managed to lead the event rather well.
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Analyzing and recognizing the limits was a part of the process during the whole working-period, and every time when we met the process was repeated. Judging or showing negative evaluation to them was out of question, since that would have destroyed the trust. But nevertheless, there was place for discussions and saying out loud opinions for us in a non-judgmental tone. Its is anyway complicated to start working under the name of voluntary participation in a firm institution, where the habitants are kept inside nonvoluntarily. It is natural that skepticism raises up among the children, since they are used to living in a world of bargaining and abuse, and therefore tend to ask: what do you want from us? When they finally understood that we do not require any material or effort-based activity from them we gained the contact.This contact and trust are based on the surprise they experience, when they realized that nobody expects favors from them. This feeling is in strong contrast with their reality outside the centre and also with the system inside the centre, where the youngsters receive minus-points from bad activities and plus-points from good behavior. Every child has so called point-account, which grows or decreases according to their behavior.The points are to punish or to reward the youngster are allowed, for instance, to go outside of the building with the guard if they are behaving well and when behaving badly they loose some privileges. The system that we proposed system without giving-taking points was a shock. But it was functional the surprise worked. At first the children were unmotivated and untrusting.They felt that we were just teachers, who come and try to tell them how they should live and behave. Within a short time period we gained contact, cooperation (group-work, teamwork), increasing interest and initiative, raise of the trust and working towards one purpose. Most likely, the main aim of the children was to have some variation and excitement for their everyday routines in the centre. Certainly, one important aspect for them was the fact, that somebody visits and is interested in them listens what they have to say. Realizing that we are interested in their opinions was of great motivation to take part in the workshop. Our purpose was to learn more about the lives of the children the way they feel, think and act in the world to learn about people different from us. The aim was to show with forum theatre games how it is possible to have fun and feel nice and that there are always choices and other possibilities in life Another goal was to provide the children with variation in their life and to consciously lead and direct their thoughts towards a direction where they could think at least for some time about something else that they usually do (which is about escaping from the centre, toxic substances, drugs, etc.). There was also an aim to prepare a forumplay and perform it for the strangers who come to the centre to visit. In the process of the forum theatre workshop we considered following activities and aspects: 1) Strong and purposeful icebreaking with forum theatre games was needed (ice-breaking); 2) It was necessary to build trust and that we did with different types of games invented by Augusto Boal and Markus Zohner games (so called Boal and Zohner games);
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3) Creating games with using improvisation techniques; 4) For the creation of the forum-scenes we used pictures (still-images/stopphotos); 5) Preparing and performing forum play to strangers who come from outside of the centre; Markus Zohner is a director and an actor from Switzerland, who is the owner and former of a theatre school concentrating on improvisational techniques (http:/ /www.zohnertheater.ch/Markus Zohner Theater Compagnie). Local need for Forum Theatre workshop, positive and negative aspects In this kind of closed institution there is a big need for forum theatre kind of activity, but more importantly there is big need for every kind of activity coming from outside and inside the house, which activates positive thinking and behavior among the children. It could be, for example, amusement-groups/rat packs or some other kind of activity-trainings.The forum theatre methods we used, were just a drop in the sea. More easily measurable and larger number of results could be reached in regular forum theatre workshops. The best way would be to have a regular schedule for the visits and to have the same participants each time there should be a fixed week day and time to the workshop, in order to reach a clear rhythm for the visits. In the future there could be two groups in work at the same time one for Russian and one for Estonian speaking children. Why it is possible to say that
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forum theatre is just a drop in the sea? Because we are dealing with deeply violated children, who would all actually need different kind of therapies (preferably creative ones) and thorough regular individual attendance to work with their thinking-patterns and deal with their childhood experiences etc. Forum theatre can support these issues and function as a courage-lesson, teaching better selfexpression, developing emotional intelligence and in other different ways, but it is not therapy. Forum theatre can have a therapeutic influence, but is not therapy, and the children who participate in the process are not clients or patients - they are spect-actors, they are human beings, children. One mistake that influenced the work process was that there were too long pauses between the meetings, which made the process a little dissipated and forced us, forum-group members and the children, often to start the process from the beginning after each brake. On the other hand, this was good, since in this way we had to be creative in our works and extend ourselves, which created better basis to be able to create trust between the children and us. From all the positive aspects here could be mentioned the whole experience that we got from the work with these children - creating a contact takes time and effort - but after it is reached it is therefore rather stable.The communication stage that seems impossible in the beginning can be reached with patience. If you have patience, the change is slow, but will nevertheless happen from time to time these children were more focused and attentive and were able to work as a group.
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for the TV show directing team. After that there was a discussion about the play - the purpose of which was to make it as real as possible. The structure of The Fist: 1. Introductions by the host of the TV show. 2. The VAT Theatre Forum Group actors play the problematic scenes. 3. The Characters sit in the hot seat (This means that the guests and the host of the show can ask questions from the characters in order to better understand the scene, how the characters feel about each other and what had generally happened in the story. Actors have to answer through their characters and have to stay in their roles through the whole duration of the show and to answer the questions honestly, just as if they were having a discussion in their head, with themselves). The three guests (high school and university students and specialists psychologist, gynecologists etc.) of the show sit opposite to the actors. The guests then help to deal with the theme problem by asking questions, until the guests find a way to solve the problem presented in the scene in a way that does not result in anyone getting hurt. The dialogue between the characters and guests is organized by the host of the show, who also puts the new way of seeing the situation into words and describes to the characters how they have to change their behavior in the scene. 4. The problematic scene is then played again, but now in a new way. 5. The host of the show concludes the show. The main point of the dialogue is to stimulate people into thinking about the problem, not to give them exact solutions or ways to deal with the conflicts.
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After the show, people watching the program at home had a chance to give feedback and tell what they would like to see in the next show by sending an email or a letter. Before the next show the directing team went through the letters. Some of the topics that were dealt with in the TV show The Fist: faith religion grief stealing drugs alcohol bullying street violence family problems money problems love friendship trust
Similar interactive TV shows are also done in Canada by David Diamond who handles themes like problems with street children and native people by using interactive theatre methodology (see www.headlinestheatre.com). 3. Are these kinds of interactive TV shows needed? Positive and negative aspects of the TV show. Forum Theatre creates a possibility to discuss the problems of Estonian youth. These problems are not dealt with much in Estonia.Although, it is very important to start in early, from the roots from young people, maybe even kindergarten children. This is because sometimes the reasons for unemployment, deviant behavior and asocial lifestyle have their roots in the childhood. During childhood the environment affects a person very much. The media have a big influence, through all of its channels radio, press, television and other media. It is known that computer games, different chats and dating sites on the Internet are very popular. The popularity of these kinds of activities shows that youngsters need to communicate and speak their minds on various issues. It is important for young people to talk about their problems and relationships. Nowadays childrens TV programs often underestimate the childrens abilities and way of thinking. Television should offer more shows in which youngsters could tell their opinions about things; they should be equal members of the society. Youngsters could be the best specialists in making decisions about their own lives. They might be full of interest to find solutions to the problems, which they can relate to; Forum Theatre methodology gives them that opportunity. In Estonia there is a show for women, in which they can appear to the public and speak their minds. This show is called Mamma Mia. There are also some interactive shows, mainly on the radio, which deal with themes such as men and women in relationships. People can participate in the
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discussions by calling the show, but television offers a chance to visualize and illustrate the problems that are handled. The show Mamma Mia also used the hot seat method, in which the people sit in their seats and tell their stories. The host of the show is like a Joker, who asks the questions and controls the discussion. The difference between the TV shows The Fist and Mamma Mia, is that in The Fist the participants are anonymous, no-ones real story is presented, but in Mamma Mia people talk about their own stories.Mamma Mia does not try to find solutions to the problems either, nor is there a scene performed in it. Both of the shows are produced by the same person. Performing forum theatre in television is different from doing it at youth centers or schools, as television is a very technical environment. In the usual surroundings the play is not performed more than once, but for television the play was shot many times in order to make it technically better and to have it look good on TV. On television the performance is not a traditional forum theatre performance with a big audience; neither is it a workshop in which all individuals are physically involved in the process. On television, it is forum theatre form conformed for television, where the public can not go on stage and show how they would act in this kind of a situation. If there would be a possibility to do this kind of television show and use the forum method in it in the future, the host of the show should have knowledge on forum theatre, and he or she should have gone through a Joker training.The host of The Fist show was not very competent (she had no experience or educational background connected to Forum Theatre).The host of the show should be good a show-man and have a good social sense. He or she should not be a psychologist, who goes into details of the characters problems. Forum theatre story represents common problems that are recognizable for larger groups of people. This makes the people feel that the story is about people and things that they can relate to, and if it affects and attracts them, it will activate them to start a dialogue. Forum theatre should certainly not be TV-therapy session. In the future it would be interesting to make public or open recordings of the forum theatre performances in schools (of course participation would be voluntary). Other possibility would be to take more audience into the TV studio during the show then the audience members could also be involved in the forum-process. Another option would be a live TV show, where people could call from home and tell what they think of the problem and how people or characters should act so that the story would end in a better way. The theme of the show problems of the young people - could remain the same, but the format of the show should be more innovative. In addition to the youngsters themes, there also should be other themes dealt with in the public TV forum shows in order to start dialogue and discussion. Themes could vary starting with changes and processes in the community, which involve little groups of people, going all the way to the problems that involve all the citizens of the country (for example, this could have been useful before voting for or against the European Union membership). Forum plays could be used before making big decisions or voting for laws. Forum theatre method is good for making things more visual and understandable.
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The rules: It is important that the person who came to the statue first, also says the sentence first.The second person must follow the first persons idea and say his sentence according to the first ones direction of thinking. The third person says his sentence in accordance to the first and second persons thread of thought. For instance when the second person thinks that he is in a conflict with his mother, but the first person says a sentence, where it becomes evident that she is a teacher, the statue is going to describe a conflict involving a teacher and the second and the third person will have to take notice of this. The first person who comes to the statue creates the basis and the theme of the story that the other two have to acknowledge and follow, even though they might have seen something else, some other story, when they came into the statue.This is the moment when improvisation is very important the moment when the two last people have heard, what the first one has said and have to become acclimatized into the plot. A ready statue or still-image, in which the actors have scripts, could be the base for a forum theatre play or story. This kind of improvisational work could be used with any group from children to seniors and from so-called normal people to groups of people with more problems. Improvisational techniques are also useful to use with the actors in the rehearsals of forum theatre performances and the story-finding process.
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Other possibilities for the use of improvisational techniques The VAT Theatre Forum Group director and Joker Margo Teders comments and experiences in using improvisational techniques are in the following: I have used the improvisational techniques in working with children over 6 years of age. When using different improvisation-exercises according to the needs of the group in group work, it is possible to find new stories, develop the actors fantasy and listening abilities, concentrate attention, etc. Certain improvisation-exercises are very useful to organize, for instance, Lightning Forum performance performance within and in the middle of a performance. It is possible to perform a forum play without preparations and by using the audience only. This is what I once did with the students of Viljandi Academy of Culture. The performance started with some warm-up games, where, for example, the best players won a possibility to be or become an actor as a prize.The story was based on the first conflict. The wishes and the needs of the characters were formed on the base of the dialogue with the audience (the audience gave the story). Then, according to the information given by the audience, the actors improvised and created a forum play. I have used the improvisation-technique in the work with young people very much.
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While being the director of the Tallinn 32 Secondary Schools acting group I worked very thoroughly with a group of students and we used the improvisationtechnique very often in creating plays. By now some of the drama-group members have become actors and actresses in the VAT Theatre Forum Group and have very strong improvisational techniques. Improvisation-techniques are also very useful when applied in teaching or developing group work. This is because improvisation requires people to listen, support and help each other. Ideally, one month is the minimum period to work with one group in order to reach a point, in which the actors have learned the improvisation-techniques well enough to be able to perform freely in an improvisational play. Form the point of view of forum theatre some improvisation-exercises are very good in fieldwork too. For instance when the VAT Theatre Forum Group was working with the children of Tallinns Center of Children at Risk, I used many playful and fun improvisation-exercises, and while participating and being a part of the exercises, the children gave very interesting information about themselves. Handbook material from Estonia is based on the VAT Theatre Forum Group members work experience. The VAT Theatre Forum Group actresses: Mari-Liis Velberg, Kadi Jaanisoo, Piret Soosaar. The director and Joker: Margo Teder
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Introduction What is the Theatre of the oppressed? History, basic ideas, participation and different roles. What is oppression? Warm-up exercises The Toronto handshake. People shake each others hands, always having one hand linked to someone elses hand. Who am I, why did I come here? A name game series. Atoms and molecules, groups according to hair type, type of trousers, favorite music. People always learn each others names in small groups. Check if people remember each others names in a big circle. Blind walk with a partner. Moving front and back, touching things etc, free movement. Share the experience. Complete the image. Three people complete the image. Image becomes alive. Continue. Example of a Forum Theatre Performance (a simulation of an audience forum)
1. Explanation: what is forum theatre? 2. Audience warm-ups: a) draw a circle and a cross in the air, b) touch a color etc. c) introducing oneself to the neighbor in a non-sense language 4. Watch the forum: A bus stop harassment scene 5. Analysis: What was it about? What is the problem actually about? Was it ok? Who were in trouble? 6. Hot seating: asking questions from the characters.
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7. Intervention through questioning: How and what could the girl have done differently to avoid or overcome the problem, to have a more positive result? OK come and do it! Defining the actual spot of the scene to start etc. 3-4 interventions were only tried this time. No other techniques of exploring were used, due to the actors tight time tables. Creating Forum Stories Based on the Participants Experiences
Warm-ups: Blind magnets. Pull or repel. Random still images. Jumping, contacts etc. Freeze! Three selected in the same situation. Various interpretations! Magnetic image Rehearsal: SEPARATE Images of the EU and Estonia. Interpretations. Peoples own recent stories of oppression (when was I forced to do, think, or say other than I wanted to). 5 different Magnetic images created: based on the feeling in that situation. Others go to the magnets that call to them, and then copy their statue. Internal voices. Sharing and discussion: (in small groups) what attracted me? Create an image of oppression. With the use of real characters around. Done by using the original magnet image. Create a new fictional story, characters etc. Share other peoples images. Interpretations; images become alive. Works as a basis for the next days work.
Images were: 1. A negotiation with death 2. A student wanting to go to a forum theatre course 3. Teacher publicly scolds a student about exam results in front of the whole class 4. Theft of a mobile phone 5. Drug rehabilitation center case of a theft
Feedback circle
2nd Day
Warm-up Exercises The atoms and molecules game was used throughout the workshop to split the group into groups of different sizes. Energy clap. Three claps move in the circle from person to person at the same time. Eye contact, concentration. Trust falls. Done in groups of five people. The person in the center falls on the hands, and bodies of the people around him or her.
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Limailjetys (Sticky gremlins or Infectious disease). The leader of the group is the first disease or gremlin, who makes faces and starts chasing the others. Everyone moves in slow-motion and tries to escape. When someone is caught, she or he also becomes a Sticky gremlin and starts chasing the rest of the group. Finally everyone is a gremlin. Improvisation exercises. To learn how to solve conflicts, we have to learn to dramatize them. This is the idea of conflict in drama. Winning and loosing. In pairs: one person in the pair starts a definite activity, the other one then tries to win power over the other, and again the first one tries to win, etc. Words, statuses etc. can be used. The facilitator claps his hands and the pairs begin to loose to each other in a similar way. A wants B to do something that she or he does not want to do. Relationship (motherdaughter etc.) First A starts an activity in a well defined space (for example in the kitchen, washing the dishes).Then B enters, begins to do things in the same space, talks, and little by little enters into the issue and towards the conflict. An example of a forum dramaturgy A forum designed for students, training to be teachers, to help them recognize bullying (kiusamine) in the class. The forum was designed by the students of Jouni Piekkari at Helsinki Polytechnic. Dramaturgy in brief: 1. Teacher training graduation party. Speeches on the modern theories of learning. Dance, a karate ritual that fails. 2. The teacher and the new student preparing in the front of their mirrors for their first day in a new school. 3. The teacher meets the headmaster, who gives the ball in the teachers hands. (The headmaster passes by regularly to check on the class). 4. Scenes of starting with soft, game methods of teaching. Bullying of the new students begins. 5. Scene of not noticing the bullying. 6. Scene of bullying the teacher. 7. The bullied girl leaves the class.The teacher does not do anything, although she thinks about calling the girl back, but fears the results. 8. Days pass by, the classroom routines are repeated ritually, pupils come and leave, the bullied girl does not come back, and strict order methods prevail. 9. Announcement: the bullied girl is now in the hospital, the teacher is asked to come and have a discussion with the headmaster. See on minu koht! In pairs.Two people take one chair, the other sits; the other enters in different ways trying to get the place. Sentences that were used were That is my place and No, that is my place. Nothing else was allowed. Evaluation: What type of manipulation could you find in that exercise? What actually is oppression? What forms can it take?
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Voting the theme for the days work The images created by the small groups during the previous day were listed. The selected scene was about a pupil, who wants to go to a forum theatre course during the school day, but teacher does not allow him to go.
Scripting Forum on its Feet 1. The original image seen again. 2. Give names, ages, and characteristics to the people: What good and what bad can you find about them, how do you see them, how do the characters see themselves? 3. Hot seating: the participants go to one of the characters and start asking questions. The small groups share their research results with the large group. 4. Defining the problem. What exactly is the problem? Whose problem is it? We saw that it was both the teachers and the pupils problem. We chose the pupil as the main character (protagonist). 5. Opening scene.The participants split into two opposing groups.They think of three movements and three sentences that describe the main characters attitude towards life: what she wants and what are her values in life. Create a dance. 6. The person playing the main character selects four of these. They are positioned in the scene and rehearsed to be one after another in a random order. 7. Second scene: Two friends at the yoga gym, the other one is writing a text message about the soon to start lesson. Dialogue: one of the two is suspicious about the training. 8. Reasons for why to go, and why to not go to the lesson: a conscience alley. Again we pick those voices that were good and provocative and tell about the persons dilemma.The thoughts create a physical expression.Tried with and without words. The idea is to also try and seduce the audience. A choreographed scene is created. 9. Improvisation on the basis of the original scene is created and redirected. Stage is emptied and important objects are added. We decided that the stage is a biology class, with microscope examination of water. Teacher checks the tests, and the pupil takes up the issue that she is actually leaving to go to the forum theatre course. She leaves, the teacher turns, and everybody else wants to leave as well. 10. Consequences and the future problems of a) the teacher, and b) the student. Small groups created improvised scenes of what could happen in the future. We watched all eight of them. After each one we asked the following questions: Was this a logical follow-up? Could this really happen? What parts were realistic? 11. In the play the scenes about the teachers problems and the students problems were chosen. The forum play would end up in a situation were the student slaps the teacher on the face without thinking, and then escaping.
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12. Brainstorming for solutions: What could the teacher or the student do differently in order to reach a more positive result? In what situation? Some solutions were discussed.The rest of the discussion was left for the e-mail list. The improvisations were documented on video. This material could be used to create a script based on the selected parts of the improvisations. Actors work should be made deeper during various exercises. Motives and the development of conflicts should be defined, music or soundtrack should be added and stage design and costumes should be developed. Finally, the forum should be rehearsed with different interventions several times before taking on stage it to be tested by the audience. Suitable audience warm-ups and introduction to the theme should be developed, just as well as alternative ways of audience intervention and feedback.
The Feedback Circle Brainstorm: What should be done in the future? What kind of training do we need? Where could we apply what we have learned?
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Spain (Catalonia)
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The Clean Clothes Campaign has been organized by SETEM since 1997. (see http://www.ropalimpia.org /www.setem.org) The Origins of the Drama Workshop Soon after the beginning of Drama Way in May 2003, Elena Estrada, the coordinator of the Clean Clothes Campaign in Spain, and Toni Codina, the director of SETEM in Barcelona, offered me the chance of creating a theatrical workshop based on the CCC (Clean Clothes Campaign). The interactive theatrical workshop was created to look at new ways of raising awareness and mobilizing consumers, especially young people. People are not used to attending conferences, and if they are, they usually get bored easily. We came up with the idea of introducing the information whilst making it fun. This type of interactive experience is perfect for helping people to become aware of the issues, and remember them.
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The Description of the Workshop Target Audience: Mainly young people in secondary education, between the ages of 14 and 18, although it could also be extended to university students, centers for the Third Age and the general public. 50 people or less would be the recommended number for enclosed spaces. Timeframe: The workshop has been running since July 2003 and each workshop lasts approximately 2 hours. Location: Preferably in an enclosed space, where you can hang clothes on cords. It can also take place in the street, although a few structural changes would need to be made. Materials: A sound system, six tables (four to make up the scenery, and two for controlling the entrance and for storing the CCC equipment), chairs and pens for the participants, decorative elements; colorful materials and different clothes, the campaign material and a water bottle. Activity Objectives: To demonstrate the causes of why our clothes are contaminated by injustice. To show the situation of workers in the textile sector. To show the chain of events in clothes production. To bring attention to our own usage of clothes. To motivate the participants to come up with better alternatives. To present the ideas of the Clean Clothes Campaign, and what we can do to help. To have fun in the process.
Checkpoint Clown:Are your clothes contaminated, asks the clown by David Martnez. | 46 |
Methodology The methodology of the workshop is always based on interaction. Two clowns lead the workshop (Fefe and Fafata or an assistant), which is made up of different activities and games, designed to get the participants involved in the ideas of the workshop, using the interactive techniques of Forum Theatre. Why Clowns? We decided to use Clowns for different reasons. Usually these issues are demonstrated aggressively to the audience, in terms of showing the worst side of the problem in order to really hit the idea home and to make consumers feel guilty or responsible.We believe that this is not a positive way of raising awareness and mobilizing consumers because people can easily shut their minds to the ideas as a sort of defense reaction. Using clowns is a quick way to make the participants have a more open attitude towards the issues. Humor is a nice way of bringing people together. Smiling is a good exercise and unites people. The red nose has a power, so why not use it for a good purpose? Clowns help to create an interest and their jokes are important as a contrast to the seriousness of the problem. Clowns are not at all clever and they are very innocent, so whilst they are joking they are able to ask important questions instead of just providing answers. We want to make people think as much as possible and provoke them into participating. Process: Work in Progress We are changing or creating new aspects after each workshop, because each time we learn something new from such a variety of different groups: teenagers, working
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people, parents, University students, etc., and thus we are able to improve the workshop. We create different characters specific for each group. We always try to create a good atmosphere to encourage people to say what they really think or feel.
Content (basic script) It can always be varied depending on the time available, the number and the type of the participants and the dynamics of the session. The Injustice Contamination Detector Participants enter the workshop individually so that our detector can calculate the degree of injustice with which any one persons clothes are contaminated. Normally we use a piece of wool as a sensor, although also we have used other materials. The clown who welcomes the participants inside the workshop then uses his own voice to create the sound of the detector.The other clown prepares the people to enter. Warm Up and Contact Games The games vary depending on the group. Two Examples: T-shirts and Trousers: Form 2 groups, one T-shirts, the other Trousers.The Trousers keep their arms extended up in the air and the T-shirts keep their arms in a cross formation.They all walk around and we shout out different clothes combinations like trousers-trousers, t-shirt-trousers, t-shirt-t-shirt. On hearing this they have to pair up with and embrace another participant to create the formation. Touching an article of their companions clothes: Each member of the formed pair chooses an article of clothing. Clean Clothes Questionnaire Everyone must respond to the questions that are on the piece of clothing chosen by their companion. (The reading of the random questions is voluntary) A group discussion on the results of the game and peoples opinions on the issues. Finding out what the similarities in the viewpoints are between each group member. Acting Out the Commercialization of Clothes A visual representation of the steps that have already occurred by the time we see a product advertised, using an extreme example of the chain, where we see as far back as to the moment when the worker makes the article. Participants interact in the show and forum. An Interview with Zoila and Najat In the interview with Zoila and Najat we see how two different positions concerning the same issue are reflected. Zoila is a worker who left the countryside to look for his fortunes in the city of Tangiers (Northern Morocco) and now is stuck in a textile factory working under very harsh conditions and without any hope of improvement.
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Najat is an ex-worker of a textile factory in Tangiers She was dismissed for being one of those principally involved in a 20-day strike, where all the workers participated. Now she lives in Seville (Spain), where she works for an NGO and tries to help her compatriots. She thinks that the situation can change, but only if workers denounce their employers. The interview ends with a Hot Seat where the participants can ask what they like from the special guests.
Responsible Consumerism Games There are many games of responsible consumerism. One of the most popular is called the Cruise. All the participants have won a magnificent cruise and a blank check for expenses, with which they must buy a maximum of five things that they feel, are necessary for the journey.They have to write each item down on a card. The ship begins to have severe problems after a violent storm, and the passengers are forced to abandon the ship and get on a lifeboat. In order to stabilize the lifeboat they have to get rid of two of the 5 chosen items. After two more days and with no sight of land, they are forced to get rid of two more of the chosen items. Finally, they arrive on a desert island, with only one of their chosen items. Once they get on the island, the group has to organize themselves and see what their basic needs are, and how to provide for themselves with the remaining items. The final part of the game is when a plane finds them and saves them and each individual has to reflect upon their five chosen items and whether they would choose the same items if the situation arose again. A mini-discussion, chaired by Dr Torribes, with an open question session. Dr. Torribes, a university professor, talks about the fundamentals of the Clean Clothes Campaign and answers any possible questions from participants. He himself has previously suffered a nervous breakdown, and as a result f this, he speaks very fast and when he gets excited he loses his breath, and needs to drink water in order to continue.
Results We found that people come to the workshop with a certain amount of surprise and expectation and that is great. They want to play, and to take part in the activities, and they have fun learning about the Clean Clothes Campaign. Usually people are happy with their experience and think about the situations we have acted out. After the workshop, the audience becomes more curious and concerned about labor rights issues. Some people feel a little bit hopeless because they can not see a quick solution, whilst others congratulate us because they laughed a lot and they feel that these kinds of shows are very necessary. They also complain about the non-transparency of the companies, and how very little information is available on the subject. The success of the workshop is perhaps found in pulling together an entertaining environment with a socially important content. All the objectives are usually completed, although this varies according to the group attending.The situation is changes slightly depending on whether the group came voluntarily or not, on their age etc.
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Since the workshop was started: It has raised considerably the number of visits to the CCC Website. It has introduced some very interesting proposals and visions for the future. It has opened up mini-debates on immigration and racism. The campaign has received more volunteers. Commentaries The requirements of the consumer in general are very worrying these days, particularly concerning clothes, above all amongst young people. Many young people recognize clearly that the only thing that matters to them is the brand of the clothes and that they like them selves like the clothes, without thinking about anything else. It seems evident that education plays a key role in this matter, most importantly the amount of time that children and young people go unprotected against the excesses of consumerism, largely in the form of advertising. In the workshop we always act out a scene where people are being exploited, getting the participants involved. They often feel impotent as individuals in this scenario and sometimes react in an aggressive manner because they do not want to feel responsible for the situation. Many of them are shocked to see the other side of the situation for the first time. Most people had not ever imagined that situations like this even existed and they ask for information on brands that are not contaminated by injustice. Unfortunately none exist at the moment, even though considerable improvements have been made. How to Develop the Activities in the Future The workshop is continuously developing, and now we have created a version with new characters and materials that can be carried out in the street. As far as the content is concerned, we can try new ways, but this always proves difficult because of time constraints. Two hours go by very quickly when the public is participating and the entertainers are clowns. When we tried to include more content it became a struggle against time to complete the whole script which did not help the public in understanding the issues. Now we are thinking of creating parallel workshops, or continuing workshops with a more concrete content and a less general topic concerning the consumption of clothes. This way we can get deeper into a particular issue, for example, the day-to-day reality of a worker in the textile industry, or the issue of competition to reduce costs and to be more competitive etc. These types of workshops would not necessarily require a clown, but apply process drama instead. At the moment, this is an idea still in development. Actors Working in the Workshop Txus Martnez, Jose Adserias and David Martnez.
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The Background of the Prison Workshop The Drama Way theatre initiative was dedicated to promoting the implementation of new theatre projects locally. One of the options the group investigated was to develop a theatre workshop with young prisoners, while always utilizing theatre presentations as a work tool. The first option explored was to work in the La Trinitat prison, through a contact with Ahmel Benallal, a social worker, who specializes in helping to solve problems faced by Moroccan inmates. This center is exclusively for young prisoners from the age of 18 to 25. We visited this prison and conducted a test session. Both parties were interested, but the strict schedule of activities in the center did not facilitate the incorporation of the workshop in the optimum conditions. The second option was to work in the prison La Modelo with Oriol Bosch, a civil employee in charge of theatrical activities at the prison. After a meeting with Julio Zino, a member of the Servei de Rehabilitaci del Departament de Justicia I Interior (Rehabilitation Services of the Justice and Interior Department) of the Catalonian state government, our proposal was authorized by the head of services, Jess Martnez i Martin and we were able to begin the workshop. Description of the Workshop Working with theatre in a prison opens many different paths, and while always staying within the objectives and possibilities of the center, can be developed in unique ways. The theatre activity that I presented is not designed for the public but for ourselves and the participants from the prison. Theatre, in this case, is used to undertake a different journey from what is achieved through representational theatre. In interactive theatre everyone represents different personalities and everyone can be a protagonist, each person helping to solve the conflict raised in the drama. This work model, in which the sessions are normally independent, facilitates the incorporation of new participants. Each person is obliged to participate physically in the session and can do so in the moment they choose.This is theatre to educate from the individual experience, which also includes the incorporation of playing games. Target group: The intention was to work principally with juvenile inmates from the La Modelo prison, identified as being in a preventive* state. Preventive identifies a prisoner who is waiting judgment. These prisoners are the ones that do not have sufficient money to pay for bail. A preventive inmate can be jailed for a period that varies from several months to five years, while waiting to be declared innocent or guilty and to receive their judgment. We worked with individuals who participated in the prisons theater activities; the majority of them were preventives, although there were some participants completing their sentences.They were inmates who were housed in sections (galeras) 1, 2 and 3 of the prison. In La Modelo there are 6 sections in which the prisoners are located, based upon their behavior. The volunteers who choose theatre must attend the sessions each day with their educator.The days that we did not work on interactive theatre with them, we presented Molieres work The Doctor to his Grief.
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Duration: The proposed work plan was for a total of three months, working two days each week in three hour sessions, including a final, open session where additional members of the project Drama Way were incorporated. The Location of the Activity: The ideal area to hold this type of workshop is an independent space, with as little furniture as possible and with a warm floor. The initial space made available to us was a large room with a stage, but which, unfortunately we soon discovered was also a passageway to and from other rooms. This made it difficult to concentrate well enough and resulted in the constant exiting and entering of the participants. In the final sessions, therefore, we decided to transfer the activity to a music classroom that although significantly smaller, allowed for a better concentration and facilitated the participation of the entire group. Materials: Materials provided by the center included stereo equipment, a video recorder (used during some of the sessions), and other props to enrich the games; such as, fabric, clothes etc. For each session the material used changed based on the content, which was developed during the session.This material was normally supplied by the teacher. The Objectives of the Activity: Entertainment of the participants. Improve the participants ability to analyze conflicts. Allow the participants to exchange and discuss their preoccupations. Improve relations between the prisoners. Develop the prisoners understanding and interest in drama and theatre. Harness the creative and analytical abilities of the participants.
Methodology: The base of all the activities is game playing.The first part of a session focuses on removing the participants inhibitions, while the second part consists of a theatrical work either presented as a story, or around a concrete subject, and finally the activity ends with open commentaries about the session. Dramatic games for alleviating inhibitions (Norman Taylor, Phillippe Gaulier, Antn Val and others) Activities based on the proposals of Augusto Boal Activities based on the proposals of Allan Owens and Keith Barber
EXAMPLE SESSIONS: Name Game: All of the participants walk freely around the area and one participant should touch the hand of another. At the moment when the person is touched they must quickly call out the name of one of the participants. If the name is spoken clearly and quickly, and corresponds to one of the participants the person continues, if not they are eliminated from the game. To continue the game, the
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person whose name was called out must touch another person, and in this way the game continues until only two people are left. (If you are touched you say a name, if your name is said you touch someone). The Air Serpent: The participants form a circle. The leader begins to look at someone in the eyes and sends them an air serpent (by blowing air towards them).The recipient must absorb the serpent with the same characteristics used by its creator (in rhythm, duration.). Then the recipient becomes the creator and sends another air serpent to a different participant, and in this way the game continues.The game becomes more complicated when there are various serpents being sent at the same time, and the participants perception and concentration increases in importance. When the game finishes, the same serpents that were born should be kept alive.
Theatre Image: The Hold-up In one of the sessions we asked the groups to create a still image about The Drug (the participants chose the subject). One of the images created was of a hold-up. Once presented, the other participants try to guess exactly what happened and what each one of the characters had done. A debate began quickly about whether it was a good or a bad hold-up, what was dangerous about it and what could have been improved. Afterwards we utilized different interactive techniques, such as touching another person and listening to what they are thinking of, or passing on the action by slapping palms, or asking questions from the characters about who they are and what they are doing. Finally to modify the situation, the suggestions made resulted in spectators being used to replace some of the characters. In general, they chose the policeman because he was in an unfavorable situation. Interestingly, the solution that was suggested most often was that the policeman would shoot to kill.
* The Image Theatre is a technique of the Theatre of the Oppressed created by Augusto Boal.
The Interactive Theatre Scene: The Lunch Line A representation of a scene that is common in the prison cafeteria. There is an extremely long line of people waiting to eat, and a prisoner, who rather violently enters the beginning of the queue, appears (they say it is because he is a Methadone*), and this causes an intense fight to break out.The action is repeated with different protagonists who make recommendations on how to improve the scene. We then form hypotheses about possible motives why the prisoner nicknamed Methadone acts this way. Almost all of the options presented end in a fight. Therefore, a debate is begins about the scene. Some of the commentaries discussed were that since he was drugged he could not care less about the queue and believed they would let him enter it where he wanted. Or that in reality he wanted to provoke a fight so that they would move him from his prison section on account of bad behavior, sometimes this is an effective strategy if you have serious problems with someone from the same section. At the end, there was no proposal with which all the participants agreed.The first of the two, which were most widely accepted, was that he would be allowed to enter the
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queue and not be paid attention to, although some of them argued that this was unacceptable because it is necessary to establish limits. The other one was to not let him enter the queue, but still avoid a fight breaking out, but many felt it would be difficult to avoid a fight.
* Methadone is the nickname given to some drug-addict prisoners who are given doses of methadone to calm them down.
Process Drama: The Rains (pg. 109-120, Drama Works by Allan Owens & Keith Barber.) Based on a story from Ghana, Africa. African Dilemma Story
The Structure of the Session Some possible steps: Contract: We begin by explaining the origin of the story and its content. Objective: To warm-up and introduce the group to the session. Defining space: Present and explain the set to make the people envision the space and create an atmosphere. Story-Telling: Tell the story in an appealing and interesting way.
The first part of the story involves a squirrel, whose carefully prepared, is invaded by a large porcupine in search for refuge during the heavy rain season.The squirrel allows the porcupine to stay for three days and three nights in accordance to the law of the forest despite the greatly reduced space in the nest and the fact that the squirrel has just the right amount of food for its needs. When the time has ended, the squirrel asks the porcupine to leave but he refuses to.This part of the story ends when the porcupine says to the squirrel I do not have a problem, you have the problem. Key Question: The story stops at the moment when the conflict is the most difficult to resolve, and the leader announces the next step he or she is going to play one of the roles, in our case the porcupine, and will ask what the squirrel can do. Clarification of the Scene: The leader attempts to clarify the situation for the participants and in doing so, encourage them to propose ideas, which can then be tried and then possible results may be discussed. Teacher in Role Play Class Preparing Audience to Comment: Allow the participants to feel open to proposing solutions and comment the conflict. Do not rebuke their ideas, and treat all of them seriously. Commentary on Action: Invite new people with new ideas to enact the scene. Role Play Teacher in Role Forum: The audience could stop the action if they think it is going nowhere and try another situation until one solution is found, and a follow-up of the potential consequences has been made. Narration: The story resumes from the moment when the squirrel continues to look for a solution that will make the intruder leave. The solution presented was that the porcupine falls into a violent river. (At this moment two options can be offered to the participants to continue the story: one, the porcupine dies, or
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two, he does not die, so that he can be still be used for the rest of the story. In our case, I opted for the animal dying without consulting with the participants). While this occurs, the king of the forest passes by and bears witness to the porcupine falling into the river, and the squirrel passively watching, without reacting to the porcupines cries for help. Whole Group Role Play: Everyone has to play his own animal or participate as a member of the court of animals which will pass judgment. The teacher acts as the judge (and is responsible for organizing different roles: Lawyers, witnesses, etc.). The Verdict: The judge leaves the room and the group has to decide among themselves, if the squirrel is guilty or innocent. If he is guilty they have to decide upon the punishment. Comments: There are different steps that you could use or adopt depending on your needs (time, age of the participants, the size of the group, etc.) This process drama can be developed in different sessions or be adapted for one long session.
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management staff of the center.The ability to create a space, where the prisoners can dedicate their time to thinking about resolving conflicts and their consequences, while entertaining themselves, is fundamental and necessary for people who are in a phase of social re-integration. Without this type of work the circle of hatred is intensified and the prisoners leave more delinquent than when they entered. Jail is becoming the ideal place to learn how to be a good criminal. I believe that it is extremely necessary to reflect upon the sense and the function of prison, as well as their management and the type of activities that are developed inside the centers.The La Modelo prison is evaluating the possibility of creating a Dramatic Process session that is open to the public within the Forum of the cultures, in Barcelona, in 2004. This is an important and positive recognition of the work undertaken, and an important first step in continuing the process in the future. How to Develop the Activities in the Future For a significant beneficial impact, a workshop with these characteristics requires a commitment from the center. The prison is like a micro-society, where we do not only have to interact with the prisoners, but also with the different bodies of government that work there, especially with the civil employee guards, who are usually very solitary, aggressive people, who work at an unpleasant job for the entire day, and will abuse the absurd power given to them. The activities should be valued higher by the center, and perhaps become a required activity for the prisoners.Although, regardless of the group with which one works, it is fundamental that continuity or at least a minimum follow-up to the work is provided.
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But what happens in the present? This is a more serious problem: for the prisoners the present is a conflict with their powerful enemy: the civil employees of the prisons, who also consider themselves to be oppressed.The guards do not like the prisoners to be involved in theatre which entertains them while they themselves must continue working and guarding them. Both parties have prejudice against each other; both groups view the other one as its enemy. The same thing occurred when I worked with Protestants and Catholics in Derry (Ireland); their prejudices were apparently religious and historical; but all of them had problems with their families and spouses, they had personal problems and were restless. It was not necessary to emphasize their religion, but to try and see the individual. It was important to see the people without the subtitles. This is what we have begun to do here: to not see the imprisoned man in the prisoner, nor the man in the uniform in the civil employee. The goal is to see them - before judging them according to any qualifying determinants - for what they really are: people. We tried to analyze the subjects that were of interest to both groups, in particular personal problems, which we all have in common. Now the question is If that is the case, why did we not use the Rainbow of Desire technique? A similar question was put to me by some actors from Stanford-on-Avon: Why dont we create a Forum theatre. It is the same... and it is not; it is the same being different and it is different being the same. Allan Owen s (Article Sharing Something)
Theatre reference:
Segismundo : ...What law, justice or reason, can deny a man knowledge, a privilege so sublime, an exception so basic that God has given it to a stream, a fish, a beast and a bird? Fragment from Life is dream by Caldern de la Barca (XVII century) Bibliography: Pere Rios, El PAIS, May 10th, 2004 El PAIS June 22nd, 2004 Cristina Savall, el Peridico, November 9th, 2003 Augusto Boal, The Rainbow of Desire, Routledge, 1995 Augusto Boal, Games for actors and non-actors, Alba Editorial, 1998, 2001 Allan Owens & Keith Barber, Drama Works, Carel Press, 1997 Allan Owens & Keith Barber, Mapping drama, Carel Press, 2001 The voice of the prisoners: Jail is only for the poor man, it doesnt stop the rich ones.
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The subject matters included: resolution of conflicts, relationship with surroundings limits and self-esteem in the education of our children education related to consuming co-education and intercultural questions personal habits and autonomy end of course activity living together.
Parallel to this, work is carried out with the students through a program of applied social skills in weekly tutorial sessions. Additional material: photographs, a dossier, videos. Evaluation We value the experience as positive, both in terms of the participation of the parents, and in the dynamics of the sessions themselves. We believe many of the aimed objectives have been achieved. We highlight the following points of view: Many families that had previously had little contact with the school, have now become more involved. It is important to highlight the good relations that have been established between different families, above all because of the multicultural nature of the school, where prejudices that often start with parents open the way to new conflicts between the pupils. It has been an opportunity to get to know one another better and to resolve problems together. All of this has a direct impact on pupils: On one hand, children see that their parents have an improved relationship with the school, on the other hand, parents can apply the lessons they have learned in the sessions in their relationships with their children. We believe the project has been made possible thanks to the group effort of all of the participating professionals. Feedback In preparing for the sessions, the Patothom Social Theatre Company shared different moments and scenes with the students at break times in the playground or the lunchroom. We have witnessed such scenes as the following: A group of 6 year-old gypsy girls insulting a 3 year-old black African boy until he began to cry; a large number of children running after one of our actors in what began as a game but ended with him being bruised and pummelled as a result of the aggressiveness of the kids aged from ten to twelve. We have also been surprised by how five or six year old children immediately assume that we smoke marijuana simply because they see us rolling a cigarette. After working with them for a number of years, most of these children have become very fond of us and have favourably changed their attitude towards us, as well as towards each other.
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During the sessions, we have also experienced special situations, such as that of a gypsy mother, who attended all of the sessions with the aim of enjoying herself and getting some respite from her infernal home life.At times, she managed to unsettle our director with her boldness and constant suggestions and jokes. Although she was a perturbing element, it was also important that she continued to come to the sessions. A constant back and forth managed, in most cases, to ease the situation, although it was inevitable that some parents of other cultures, such as Latin or Arab ones were not at all comfortable.
PaTothom Theatre has its premises in an old bakery in the heart of Barcelona.
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Joker Jordi Forcadas asks the audience what could a young immigrant boy Pablito do to get involved in the plays and games of the new homeland.
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Who was the project proposed to? The Casal Jove del Casal dels Infants del Raval accepted the activity immediately. This youth centre works with youths who hang-out at different public spaces in the neighbourhood: squares, street corners, etc. The street educators offered them different workshops. They have a social educator, a professional social worker/monitor, interns and a group of 10 to 15 volunteers spread out over the week. They provide the youths with language reinforcement (Catalan, Spanish), labour skills workshops, music and parties in the parks. One objective of the centre is to involve all kinds of people from the neighbourhood in different activities. Relations between the youths and the people living in the neighbourhood is conflictive (the kids are seen as thieves or drug addicts). It is necessary to mention the increase in youth gangs throughout Barcelona, in addition to the marginalisation of many who are without documentation, and who will be deported once they are legally adults. The philosophy of Patothom coincides with this centre, and so the school has begun to work with all of the kids, dividing them into two groups: the older ones and the younger ones. The centre, for its part, is committed to bringing the youths to Patothom once a week, accompanied by an educator in all of the sessions. What is the work group? These boys and girls have the following characteristics: Potential group of 15 youngsters from the Raval neighbourhood, whose ages range between 14 and 18. 75% of the group is foreign (mostly of Moroccan, Dominican, Pakistani or Indian origin) 40% of the group has lived in our country for less than five years. More than half of those who study, and are in the group, have an educational level very far below the average in Barcelona. Why our project? The primary needs that are addressed fall into three areas: Educational needs These boys and girls have a low overall educational level in comparison to students in other areas of the city. We address learning from another point of view, by putting the aspects of the youths educational shortcomings into a social context. Dealing with issues that affect them leads them to learn different perspectives and attitudes, while questioning their surroundings and fomenting their desire to interact, is important in a group of youths who, before being able to develop a critical attitude, must first of all deal with surviving.
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Participation The teenagers of the neighbourhood are not used to formally participating in specific activities or subjects.Their level of social participation is usually reduced to neighbourhood surroundings and neither the conviction nor the confidence exists to take part in anything.They often have economic and language difficulties, and the creation of a ghetto combined with the social condition of being an adolescent, conditions these kids into not believing in their potential to participate. In this sense, the project aims to convince them of their own potential. Free Time This workshop should be an entertainment resource. The time spent here is a magnificent opportunity to offer socialisation and to at least partially compensate for the lack of equal opportunities. For this reason, the project integrates many activities from an entertainment perspective, which at the same time motivates, educates and gets youths - who otherwise are not very likely to join in nonobligatory activities outside of school - to participate.
People to whom the action was directed People who attend the school. At the moment of changing classes, three groups came together.There were also participants of Drama Way, as well as administrative staff. A total of about 40 people. People who know the action was planned The teachers and the staff of Patothom. The rest of the people did not know. The Action After class, an Arab girl sits down on a bench in the reception area to speak with a boy. A lot of people are there waiting to enter class or leave. A youth arrives from the street and approaches the girl, speaking to her first in Arabic and when other actors intervene, in Spanish. He tells the girl to leave the school immediately and when she refuses, begins to raise his voice. The girl gets angry and asks him why she has to leave, that there is nothing wrong in doing theatre; her brother tells her that her father is furious and wants her to come home now. A friend of the girl tries to defend her and there is a moment of tension. A teacher or a member of the staff of the school intervenes and calms the kids down. The girls brother verbally attacks the girls friend, telling him he has nothing to do with all of this. The girl tells her brother that the boy is her boyfriend and questions why he (her brother) has more privileges than she does. In the end, the brother accompanies the girl to the street the idea being that she has agreed to stop arguing in order to prevent him from hurting her boyfriend. Subject Matter All subject matter came from the group during sessions. Not being able to study theatre is sometimes a problem. Other subjects also came up, such as family norms, structures and the inferior position of women, the power of the brother and the situation of second-generation kids, whose parents do not accept the fact that they change their traditional customs. Objectives The following basic motives for undertaking the action were found: -Show the participants of Drama Way what life is currently like in Barcelona and in particular, in Raval. -Get the youths to realise that they can perform in front of people. Deal with matters of co-existence between different cultures, and see to what extent people are capable of intervening in such situations. This intercultural exchange is a first step towards acceptance and recognition. The Length of the Action -15 minutes Preparation time for the action: The action was planned in two sessions.
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Evaluation The situation of an Arab girl being forbidden to study theatre is such a likely and contemporary subject that it was truly easy to believe the action on the part of both the actors and the public that was there. The participation of the public was minimal. As usually happens in these cases, everybody closely followed the confrontation but nobody made a stand in the matter. It was only afterwards that people asked the actors if what had happened was for real or not. It should also be pointed out that the public was not a typical public and was fairly removed from the social background of the actors. It would be interesting to see what would happen if the action took place in a social environment closer to that of the actors. In the end, the public was told that the performance was Invisible Theatre; we felt that one of the objectives of the action was to spark a discussion on the use of this technique. The youths, who performed very well, left very content and this will surely motivate them to continue doing theatre. The same level of involvement was not reached during rehearsals, during which they usually quickly ended up fighting among themselves. The subject matter is material that should be continued to be studied and searched for solutions through other actions of forum theatre.Their confrontation with other youths of similar cultural backgrounds would greatly help them become more aware of the social process they are going through. Conclusions The group has been formed and there are five permanent members to the group. Other possibilities have opened up within the cultural context of the neighbourhood. In the following phase, we will try to consolidate all the work we have done up till now through a piece of interactive theatre. If support continues for this project, the group will be able to establish itself. Patothom will ensure that those who want to study theatre will be given grants to attend classes at the school. This workshop can lead these youths to realise how important it is to take part in the social life of the city. It is an opportunity for those who are accustomed to being treated as a semi-marginalised or pre-delinquent group and the fact of being heard and taken seriously provides them the legitimacy of intervening socially.They can do this thanks to the quality of the human and artistic movement out of which their action has risen.
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game is the best. In the end Pablito gets angry and repeats the same offensive phrases that he heard from his father and the boys start fighting. Xui-li leaves with his friend Tak.
*You could introduce a scene before this one about the moment that the boy and his father arrive at school to show that its a Spanish family that arrives at a different place.You would see the father who doesnt have any patience or will to integrate.
Notes The native kids should wear clothes or some other typical Patagonian accessory that seems strange to us (the public of the forum theater). They should also speak with a strange accent. Methodology Between the scenes you have a discussion with the public (mothers, fathers, kids) about what they have seen.The joker asks questions about differences and explains that a different person is just a person with the same problems and qualities as everyone else. He explains that knowing other vultures makes you rich. People from the public can propose different possibilities to change the situation and sometimes replace an actor by acting like they should act in the situation. Anecdote In this session, the actor who was the father of the family was replaced by a twelve year old boy (from the audience) who used physical violence to punish Pablito for something he shouldnt do, by hitting him over the head.This behavior was rejected by the public and the boy noticed that he was doing wrong using violence. He made excuses by saying that he didnt understand it well and that he thought that he had to act this way.
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Action Title: The right to do what I want to do. Place of action The headquarters of Patothom. At the entrance. People to whom the action is meant for Students of the school: there are people coming in and out of class at the moment of the action. There are also five participants of Drama Way and the secretary assistants. In total about 40 people. People who knew about the planned action The teachers and secretary of Patothom knew about the action.The rest of the assistants there during that moment didnt know anything. The action After class on the way out an Arabic speaking girl takes a seat next to a boy on a bench in the entrance room. There are a lot people in the room waiting to go into class or leaving school. Another boy appears at the street in front of the school and he talks to the girl in Arabic. When more actors appear, he speaks Spanish. He asks her to leave the school and when she refuses to, he begins to talk louder and louder. The girl gets angry and asks him why she has to go and says that there is nothing wrong with doing theatre. The boy, who seems to be her brother, tells her that her father is very angry and that she has to go home. The friend of the girl (who sat next to her on the bench) tries to defend her and this results in a tense situation between the boys. At this moment I intervene as the owner of the school and pacify them. I tell them that I allow them to talk like a brother and a sister. The discussion slows down and the brother turns to his sisters friend and tells him to stay out of their business.The girl confesses that it is her boyfriend and asks why he (her brother) has privileges and she doesnt. In the end the brother takes his sister to the street. The girl doesnt want to talk any more so that he (the brother) wont hurt her boyfriend. Themes All the themes came up from the youngsters themselves during the sessions. Not being able to study theatre is a problem we face in every stratum we work with. Themes like family rules with their structures and the inferior role of the woman; the power of the brother and the problems the kids of the second generation have, whose parents doesnt accept modifications of their customs, also came up.
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Objective The following basic motives were found to realize this action: -0 Show the partners of Drama Way the current situation of Barcelona and in particular, of the neighbourhood Raval. -1 That the youngsters have the courage to perform in front of people. -2 Touch on themes about the coexistence of different cultures and to see the measure of how people can intervene in these kinds of situations.This action as intercultural exchange would be the first step towards their acceptation and consciousness. Length - 15 minutes - Preparation time: we prepared the action in two sessions of one and a half hour Evaluation The situation of an Arabic girl who is not allowed to study theatre is such a common topic that it was as easy for the actors as for the witnesses to believe the situation. The participation of the people was minimal. This is how it often happens in cases when everyone agrees on a situation, but nobody does anything about it. Afterwards people asked the actors if this happens in real life as well. Someone said that the problems of the youngsters are different from the ones the partners of Drama Way and the other witnesses have to deal with.We should have to see what would happen if it took place in a surrounding that is closer to the actors everyday surroundings. In the end it was revealed to the public that it was an invisible theatre performance, as one of the objectives was also to discuss this theatre technique. The youngsters, who did very well, came out happy and secure, which motivates them to keep on going with theatre. In the rehearsals there was a different ending, they would have been fighting. The subject matter is material that should be continued to be studied and searched for solutions through other actions of forum theatre. Their confrontation with other youths of similar cultural backgrounds would greatly help them become more aware of the social process they are going through.
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Portugal
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The main objective is to develop the interest toward the subject that is being studied, and at the same time to introduce the notion of art and theatre, and to give them other notions inside a text besides the grammatical notions given by the teacher in their school curriculum. The method of working in these classes varies according to the text in question and the age of the students. For that we will now describe of an interactive class session and its preparation: Felizmente H luar of Lus de Sttau Monteiro, For the 11th and the 12th grades of secondary school. The Historical Context of the Text Lus de Sttau Monteiro was born in Lisbon on the year of 1926, he wrote this play in 1961 but it was only put on stage in 1978. This play relates a time in time, it is a political play strong enough to be censured for a long time, and just and only after the revolution of 1974, it was allowed to be performed. The Story The play uses an old story that took place in 1871 in Lisbon, in which the main characters are Gomes Freire de Andrade, a brave general, Matilde, his wife, and the governors men. After the troops of Napoleon retreated from Lisbon, Portugal began to be reigned by absolute rulers, who are represented by the King, D. JooVI, who is at the moment a refugee in Brazil. Consumed by the war, exploited and miserable, the people relied, with their hopes of liberation, on General Gomes Freire de Andrade. The governors of the Kingdom Miguel Forjaz, the Jesuit Principal Sousa and the English Beresford, who is a cold and calculating man that despises Portugal and the Portuguese people, and who does not disguise his habit of selling his services to whom desires them began to fear for their power, when the outside gossip talks of the discontentment of the people and the possibility of a revolution. And for that something has to be done. General Gomes Freire de Andrade is the man to be shot down; he will be accused of leading the conspiracy, he will be judged fast and in secrecy, and executed straight away to serve as an example, and to miss the Kings pardon. No one has the strength to go against the governors, and so it happens, on a night, lit by a full moon that Gomes Freire is hanged and then burned. Executions during the night were not allowed, but the others excuse themselves by saying that the moon is so bright that they could say it is daytime. In the end of the play, during Gomes Freires execution, and when everyone is watching, the immense flames of the fire make everything even brighter that becomes a symbol for everyone.
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Preparation for the Interactive Class The actors: reading the play and making a historical analysis biography of the author selection of scenes to be used during class choosing the artistic direction of the presentation of the scenes
After we all are aware of the contents of the play the structure has to be organized. The next step is to choose a couple of scenes that can reveal the basis of the play, the juice of its contents. This can be quite personal, but never should the objective. We chose two scenes, one from the first act and another from the second act. The first scene shows the discussion between the governors.They are discussing who is to blame, and finally get to the name of Gomes Freire. The second scene show a scene, in which Matilde, Gomes Freires wife, goes to see Beresford and begs him to release her husband. Preparation The next step is to prepare the scenes. In this play, Lus de Sttau Monteiro finds the revelation of the truth trough theatre important. By this time Lus had been in contact with the Brecht method in theatre and found it to be the best way to tell a story without hiding anything, and having the audience receive every line of the play without loosing themselves in pity towards the characters. And that was from where we began. The first scene was played as if we were watching a rehearsal. Four actors had the scripts in their hands, as the words were the most important thing to be passed on to the audience. The other four actors assumed their characters as outside characters, using the power of words as intervention. Just as Lus wrote, I want the audience to feel uncomfortable; I want them to have the urge to change things. The second scene is represented with a different method. Using the Stanislavski method we showed the students the opposite of what Lus wanted. Two strong characters with their lines learnt. This is a scene full of emotions and tension, in which words are easily forgotten in a tear or movement. Is a scene where everyone feels pity for Matilde and wants to cry with her. Next step is to go to the class. We begin the class by introducing our work and ourselves. We have a discussion with the class on the amount of knowledge they have on the play, and from there on, we resume together. After remembering the play, we begin to develop the social, historical and cultural context of the play and author.
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Then we begin to prepare the scenes; for the first scene we use three chairs.The scene is presented and the second scene is prepared right after it; for the second scene we use a chair and some wardrobe: a ladies dress and a military jacket. In the end the discussion is free. From here all kinds of questions are made and the objective is achieved. For this to happen these two scenes need to have, at a certain moment, some kind of peculiar symbols that will make the students think for themselves. After some time the play has been understood and new ideas are released into their minds. Awareness for theatre methods has been rooted and the play of Lus de Sttau Monteiro suddenly gains more meaning. It is important to give the students the notion that a theatre play is full of ideas and that any word said differently, or any movement made, might change everything. The role of the teacher during these lessons is one of a mere spectator, which makes the student more comfortable to intervene. To take into consideration Notions of wardrobe Notions of set Theatrical methods Actors opinions Symbolism To get the students to disagree
Every interactive lesson that we have is different from the others. It depends on the text that is being studied and on the ages of the students. I am sure you will not work with this text with your students, but at least you will get an idea of how we have developed this kind of work in schools. Good-luck!
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Young unemployed discuss the themes of their lives through forum theatre in Serpa, Portugal.
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Objectives The aim of the project was to give the group a context of basic information to help and improve their future: Build a webpage with personal information on each participant Learn to search the Internet Job interviews Psychological tests Orientation and continuous auto-self-improvement Contacts and interviews with big local companies Personal psychological help to lead a normal life, and to face normal life problems. The aim for this group project was to create a theatre play that develops parts of these themes. Themes / Group Theme The theme was decided on the basis of a questionnaire given to the group, made by the coordinator psychologist of the project, on what kind of collective project the group wanted to do and what on. They chose Equality of rights. Have the same rights as rich people have when looking for a job, and they all wanted to do it as a theatre performance. So I tried to mix and adapt actors games, forum theatre exercises and other materials to work with the group to reach the objective to create a small theatre play on this theme. Individual Themes Some individual objectives, issues and themes were previously prepared by the psychologist coordinator of the project, Guida Asceno, and the theatre project coordinator, Marco Ferreira. Here are some of those objectives: Seeking for employment Manage conflicts (with family, friends, etc) Manage emotions (hanger, jealous, joy, fear, shame) Talk about ourselves and give self-esteem Talking in public Leading a group.
The Participants in a Context (target group) Rota do Guadiana is a local rural development association that is working with senior citizens centers, isolated communities and youngsters who have quit school and want to learn how to look for a job in this region or in the big cities close by. The group was formed by seven women between the ages of 16 and 28, and two boys of 17 and 24 years of age. Some of them were already married and had children. Part of the group had quit school without finishing the 9th grade. Some had problems with their families and had tendencies to isolate themselves. Others simply wanted help in finding their first job. The workshop was prepared based on drama pretext and theatre forum techniques applied and developed in the Drama Way project.
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Requirements Time: each session lasted 2 hours. A CD player Paper and pens Photos and post cards A Large wall of paper
1st Session
Introductions The workshop began with an introduction of the participants (Name, age, where from, things I like) Short explanation on Forum Theatre and interactive drama. Discussion on what is theatre and what is art as a form of expression? What kind of plays have you seen? Did you like it? What is the meaning of LIFE IS A THEATRE? Postcards and Pictures The group was given some postcards and pictures (Landscapes, urban photos, and old people doing artesian work, children playing, funny cards ). Ask the group to pick one picture or post card that mean something special to each person, not any particular meaning but only the first sensation of the picture. Talk about the feeling in the picture. What is it about? Why did you pick this picture? What does it mean to you? What does it mean to the others? Does it refer to the past, present or future? Is it some kind of a wish or a desire? Give the image a title.
After the discussion, ask the group to put the pictures on the wall for everyone to see (put some music on when they are doing it)
Warm-up Exercises Circle of energy in a circle one person starts to pass a sound with a movement to one other person. (Clap the hands, click the fingers, or throw a ball) Consider the example of a factory process. Collective work. Start to stretch your arms and legs and make some noise, like when you wake up in the morning. Increase the volume of the noise and repeat. Body Language Discussion on our body language. The way we move, talk, walk, act, etc Give some simple examples: Sitting on a chair (in a job interview for example). Discussion on the way we place our legs and hands. What does it mean to cross your legs (protection, posture, education??)?
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Imitate the movements of the hands. Pick one member and ask that person to stand in front of the group and perform simple movements with his or her hands. The rest of the group imitates the movements. Discussion. Pick two people and ask them to shake hands and freeze. Discussion on the image. Who is who? Is there a superior? What kind of dialogue or discussion they are having? Change one person and give the image a new chance. Discussion.
Brainstorm of Possible Themes for the Forum With out giving any kind of previous themes, decide on a title for the group work with the group. (In previous work with the psychologist, the group decided to focus on the equality of rights for poor people when looking for a job.) After a deep discussion on the theme, we placed everything under one title: Youth - Equality of rights. Have the same rights as rich people have when looking for a job.
2nd Session
After the evaluation of the first session, I decided to begin with something simple and less physical.
Dreams on the Wall Each person picks a post-it note (small yellow paper with glue) and writes one dream that they have in their lives (try to get the first impulse to write) on it. Then everybody sticks the post-it on the same wall with the pictures and postcards. Take one moment for everybody to see the dreams of the group. Then compare them and see if there are some similar dreams, some of which are stranger to the group. Listen to opinions. Try to have each person talk about their dream with the group. Try to put the entire group at their ease and open about talking. Warm-up Exercises Touch and say the name. The whole group walks in a free way in the room. One person says one name (of one person in the group) and the person that was called has to touch another person (the person that was calling the name can not be touched).Then the person that was touched has to call out another name and so on anyone that misses a name or makes a mistake goes out until only two persons are left in the game.
Gibberish (porks Dutch). Talk in an invented language in pairs (imitate Russian, Chinese, German) and tell what you have done since you woke-up until you arrived at the workshop.
Still Images Choose one theme to create an image about it in groups: a) School, b) television, c) vacations, d) family. Play with some forum theatre techniques and work with the reaction of the characters in the picture.
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Role-On-The-Wall Drawing and imagining the character for the story. Where does it take place? The other characters. First I ask the group for concrete adjectives and ideas on the place where it all happened. The group starts to describe a town just like Serpa. Then the group chooses an 18 year old boy called Bento to be the main character. Here are some of the adjectives and ideas used to describe character and his town. Main Character
Name: Bento. Age: 18 years old. He lives with his parents in a small village in the countryside. The village is called Pasmaceira (a place where nothing happens and where everybody is amorphous) Hobbies: fishing, painting, computers, cooking, nature and animals. He has just finished secondary school and wants to go to a big city to study in a university. He has a 22 year old brother, who quit school. Their parents want him to stay and work with them at the farm. His mother likes the idea of his son going to study in a big city, but she doesnt have the courage to face her husbands contrary opinion. (Family conflicts) Bento has a girlfriend named Ana Maria, who is 17 years old, and who still is in secondary school. She is the daughter of Bentos fathers boss. Her parents want a good future for their daughter and support her relationship with Bento.
Pasmaceira the Village Pasmaceira is a small village in the countryside, 250 km from a big city of A Grandiosa (a poetic word for a big thing). Nice fields with animals, a small castle, a lake, all people known each other and most of the inhabitants are elderly people, there are no big buildings, and not much is going on. After a very nice and imaginative discussion we started to talk about what the big city that Bento wants to go to is like. A Grandiosa the City A big city with tall buildings, pollution, stress, shopping centers, bars, discotheques, a beach, factories, a river separating A Grandiosa from another big city, multicultural, gardens and parks, lots of young people are living there.
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3rd Session
Four people didnt come. Some had family problems.
Warm-up Exercises Grab the thumb Statement circle. The group answers some questions in a circle by stepping forward if their answer is yes and staying put if their answer is no.When more than one persons answer is yes they have to make eye-contact and change places in the circle.
Some of the questions were: Do you like to live here in Serpa? Do you think that is easier to find jobs in big cities? Is Alentejo a poor region? Would you like to get a degree? Is Alentejo an isolated region? Do you want to get more independence from your parents?
Continuing the Discussion (Roll-on-the-wall) on the Story of Bento. Try to get some connections to the pictures, postcards and the dreams on the wall. Is there any picture or dream that could be Bentos? Why? Talk about Bentos girlfriend, what are her main characteristics? Improvising the Scenes Create a small improvisation with the characters of Bento, his father, his mother and older brother. Bento is coming from school with the news that he is getting very good grades and that he wants to go and study in the big city. See the reaction of the parents. They havent got money to support Bento during his studies.The father asks Bento to stay and work with them in agriculture. The mother cries. The improvisation was very confusing because the participants talk and act at the same time, but had the imagination and the confidence to have fun. The improvisation stopped when the fathers said if you want to go, we are not going to give you any money, and you are on your own. Still Images in Small Groups Create an image of Bentos possibilities in two groups. What is he going to do now? The group chose the one in which Bento decided to go and call his girlfriend, to ask her for help. He has enough money to go and stay in the city for two months. One of the people in the group said that Bentos girlfriends parents have a house in the city, and he could go and stay there. The group enjoyed the making of the story. The improvisations were difficult to do, but some of them have the motivation and pass it on to everyone in the group.
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4th Session
Warm-up Exercises
Grab the thumb (increasing the speed and concentration) Touch and say the name (faster and more focus on the group movement)
A Still Image of Oppression A short explanation on the work with images in Forum Theatre. I asked the group to talk about one real-life situation that was not so comfortable to deal with. One woman talked about her visit to the hospital (she was pregnant) the previous day. The nurse had not let her husband enter the room. They had had a discussion with the nurse and the doctor. I asked her to use the entire group as a sculpture in silence and built one image that could reflect her feelings about that day.Then I tried to give the group a clear idea about the problem in the image. What could be done to prevent that problem? Discussion? I tried to ask some questions about the characters feelings in the image. What do you feel in this image? What is your character doing? Who is he? Do you belong to this image? If not, step out of the image. Ask to change the characters position in the image according to the solutions to the problem.
1, 2, 3 action. The image becomes lives and the group begins a small improvisation.
The Story of Bento - Continuing the Dramaturgical Process After going to the city of A Grandiosa, Bento has to find a job very quickly because his money is running out. How and where does he have to go to find a job? The group said that he must go and check the employment lists in big shopping centers, supermarkets and McDonalds restaurants. Improvisation of the Scenes Bento went to a McDonalds restaurant and asked for a job. I gave the group some roles and started the improvisation. Note: I stopped the improvisation after the interview at McDonalds and asked: Did you think this could happen in real-life? We continued the improvisation and one of the younger girls of the group suggested that a student girl could appear in the restaurant, and she could start to talk with Bento. We decided that her name his Joana. She works in a bar at night and studies in the day in the same university as Bento. They had a small conversation and she invites Bento to go to the bar at night to talk to people there, and to ask if anybody knows about any jobs.
I ask: what is Bento going to do now? His starting to run out of money and there are the food, bus and university bills to pay.
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5th Session
Warm-up Exercises Grab the thumb Touch and say the name The Story of Bento - Continuing the Dramaturgical Process The group decided that Bento is going to go to the bar and meet Joanas friends. In the bar Joana talks with her friends and tells them stories about Bento. She says that he is from the countryside and very strange. Improvisation of the Scenes In the beginning of the improvisation the young girl that plays Joanas character, suggested that when Bento arrives to the bar, the others will ask him to go with the group to smoke a (marijuana)joint. Bento turns his back and leaves the bar. What happens now?
This is the end of the drama.
Conclusion Afterwards I ask the group to try and write on a paper on their own what appended to Bento. Did he leave the town and go back to his parents house? How is he going to get the money to pay his bills? Did he try to talk with Joana the next day? Then they choose two of the possibilities and make a still image according to it.
Bento went home and began to work in agriculture. He married Ana Maria and became a small-farmer. Bento stayed in the city, and tried to talk to Joana and got to know her better. He decided to help her stop her drug and alcohol abuse. Because of his computer expertise he started to do some computer related work for the university. Forum:
Give the Images a Title. Make the image become real. 1, 2, 3 action.
6th Session
Final dramaturgical aspects of the play. Final rehearsal and final feedback.
7th Session
Performance to the invited audience.
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My final comments and analysis on the workshop This is a description of the original workshop that was prepared and presented to the group. There were some exercises and proposals that I was forced to change, because I did not get any kind of reaction or motivation from the group. This was my first experience in working with forum theatre and drama techniques with a group of youngsters who have no theatre experience. It was a very positive experience, with the exception of the final presentation, because these people have never worked in a group like this before. They all worked individually with the psychologist, or in small groups of two three people. At the beginning, my objective was to create a small forum theatre play, but at the end, the most important thing was the experience in itself, both, the good, and the bad things. It was a good and a rare opportunity for these people to experience some new sensations and fight against all the oppression in their lives. After the workshop some of the people found a job while others are still working on it. The young ones have now less difficulty in dealing with social problems in life. Some people from the group became friends, and are still in a continuous process and contact with the local development association. After the workshop performance, the feedback from the project coordinators was really good and enthusiastic, they realized that with a forum play or a forum structure workshop, you can easily work with youngsters and their problems, and reach good results.
Image theatre helps the rural women to empower themselves in the labour market.
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The Applications of Forum Theatre Nowadays forum theatre is applied in multiple ways all around the world. Apart from exploring oppressive situations based on the original political idea, it is also used as a didactic tool to learn about different behaviours, for example, how to say no to drugs. Different techniques have also been developed and integrated into the forum theatre method. Especially the British traditions of pedagogical drama (Drama in Education) has had a strong impact on the development of interactive drama in Europe. These traditions have allowed a more flexible use of time, swap of characters, non-linear story line, participant involvement and integration of other forms of art in the process. Furthermore, Jacob Moreno has used similar techniques in his psychodrama and sociodrama, but forum theatre, however, emphasises the theatrical aspects of the work. Forum theatre can also be seen as an independent art form; one special genre of theatre art. Aims of the BAAL 17 Forum Workshop to explore how forum theatre works to define the local themes to be dealt with the young people, and to define the social injustice they experience in their everyday lives to create a model of making forum theatre with and for the young people (youth to youth) to introduce different joker (facilitator) techniques of audience interaction The BAAL 17s Interest in Forum Theatre The BAAL 17 is a theatre group from Serpa in Baixo Alentejo, working with the Theatre-in-Education method. Besides working with touring theatre productions, they also work as theatre educators. Their aim is to take the theatre arts into schools and integrate it with the literature lessons in the formal curriculum. The group wanted to find new approaches to their work in order to use drama in dealing with the important issues of the young people in their area. Forum theatre techniques might be useful for this purpose; as an audience workshop technique in context of conventional theatre plays to help the audiences to analyse the plays: for example, finding similarities in their own lives as separate forum theatre performances for the young people concerning locally relevant themes as a workshop technique to explore the important themes of the school youngsters and other children as a tool to help the more theatrically oriented youngsters to create interactive forum plays and to perform them to other youngsters (peer group education) as a technique inside the process drama method where the children work with local fairy tales and stories
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Young Amanda is standing for her ideas in the BAAL 17 forum theatre demo.
Short introduction to forum theatre Origins in Brazil Freirean approach: how to find the themes concerning the participants; forum as a community dialogue and problem solving process Aims and purposes of forum theatre Some criticism on Boals approach: the aim should be at understanding, not at judging Applied forum theatre - examples from the Finnish context Sci-fi drama in army barracks dealing with family relations Forum theatre dealing with the dialogue between transvestites/transsexuals and mainstream people Forum theatre about bullying of teacher students Dramaturgical variations: realistic, allegoric, different styles, puppet theatre Brainstorming local themes Some examples of the typical themes of young people in Baixo Alentejo; the BAAL 17 members discussed shortly the following issues: isolated villages and isolation of young people complicates the socialisation of young people due to lack of activities alcohol and bars form the central free time leisure activity suicides
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moving from a small school to a bigger one can cause bullying and other difficulties even though there were various activity opportunities, young people are not able to use them in many cases: they are often too apathetic social limitations of young women being different and active is difficult sexuality: a taboo, not discussed; teen age pregnancies attitudes of the teachers, teachers often have a low motivation in their work: they have to move from one school to another, they are often like nomads
Warm-up exercises Grab the thumb. Participants sit in a circle and try to grab the thumb of the person sitting next to them. The aim is to avoid being catched. Purpose: to start the interaction, create laughter, energise, grow attention Animal mothers and children (a blind game) Performed in pairs.The other one is the animal mother creating a call sound and a stop sign (danger) for the other one who is the animal baby. The baby follows the mother blindfolded. Purpose: trust building, listening, concentration, different senses, awareness of space That is my seat (isto o meu ctio no, meu!) Performed in pairs (through out the game). Each pair takes a chair.The other one sits on the chair and the other one takes different roles and comes to demand the chair to him/herself, the person sitting on the chair tries to refuse. No direct violence allowed. Only the sentences That is my seat and no, this is my seat are allowed. Purpose: to study various forms of manipulation; non-verbal communication and acting Circle of images of oppression In order to make ourselves sensitive for the problems of young people, we had to go back to our own experiences. The participants were asked a) to think about one moment in their youth; an unfair situation where they were forced to do, think, say or feel differently than they actually wanted to. They were asked to memorise this feeling, body positions, the environment and the other people physically or mentally present in the situation b) silently sculpt a still image of the situation in a small group, with the help of other people in the group and finally to place oneself in the image as the main character c) Share the similarities and differences; share the stories of others d) Create a fusion image that combines the essence of all the small images into one big image (may be symbolic)
This procedure could have been a beginning for a forum theatre play, but we used this exercise merely to sensitise ourselves to the theme: we decided to create an imaginary and a parallel story reflecting the actors own life experiences. This technique can be called distancing. When this process is done with target groups that are not familiar with the highly emotional process of theatre making, distancing creates safe distance to the participants actual experiences, in a manner where the relevance of the issues is not lost.
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Collective story telling The participants were asked to invent an imaginary name for a small village of 300 hundred people in Baixo Alentejo: Cangalhos. What kind of a village it is? What are the people in the village proud of? A village festival is annually organised in the surrounding of old pre-historical stones (antas). Roles. Creating/imagining the character Thereafter we invented the main character: a young person Amanda, a girl of 17. How is Amanda different? She is a little bit imitating Gothic style, and is interested in prehistory, rituals etc. She has got a few friends; many of them call her Bruxa (a wizard) on the streets.
Hot seating. Sonya was selected into the role of Amanda. Other participants asked her different questions concerning the role. Purpose: building the character, clarifying the motives, hopes and fears.
Storyline/scenes We defined the order of different scenes on a piece of paper (could be separate A4s). 1. Amandas dreams of a better world. Dramaturgy: Situated at the pre-historical stones. Stones and trees speak about Sonyas dreams. Soundscape 2. A priest and a teacher talk about a council meeting.Amanda hears this and asks the teacher, who she is interest in, to come to a meeting of Junta da Fregesa (local council). Dramaturgy: scene in a shop 3. Junta Meeting After a moment of hesitation, Amanda tells she wants to present her idea concerning a festival in the next meeting. The teacher supports her, telling that he thinks that the ideas of young people are welcome. (Characters: priest, teacher, chairperson of council, Amanda) 4. Amanda collects visual material from the Stones. Dramaturgy: actors as objects (stones etc.), Sonya takes photos. Soundscape: pre-historical music 5. Amanda presents her ideas to the junta. In the end she hears the junta members gossiping in the corridor. The priest did not especially like the idea. She says nothing 6. Meeting the chairman of the junta at the town hall who tells that there is no money for Amandas ideas. Freeze. (characters: Amanda and the chairperson of the council) Feedback on the working process
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Improvising the scenes Unfortunately the rehearsal time was rather short, thus we did not have time to try many of the different techniques of animating the scenes and deepening the characters. The final scene, however, was rehearsed with a silent technique; using only mimics to analyse the important gestures of hiding and revealing the thoughts and intentions of the characters. After that the dialogue was added to the scene. It some scenes we also tried techniques of freezing the impro and exploring the hidden thoughts to clarify the tensions.The actors were asked to find the costumes and props for the scene.
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The changes between the scenes were made in such a manner that the actors played the wind that blows away the old scenes and carries the new set on the stage. Dramaturgically the wind is a repetition of the wind of the beginning scene at the pre-historical stone circle. The whole play was rehearsed again without stops.
Discussion We discussed the purpose of the demo and the nature of forum theatre dramaturgy. We decided to have no extra rehearsal due to the tight workshop schedule, but instead to enjoy the advantage of developing the play with a live audience in a workshop situation.
Forum theatre performance demo The demo of the forum was performed for the Drama Way workshop participants: drama workers, teachers, youth and socio-cultural workers.There were no young people of Amandas age in the audience, thus the aim was to emphasise that the workshop is an opportunity to learn to understand young people and their problems.The focus was, right from the beginning, on the issue: how the 17 year old Amanda could win her obstacles. On the other hand, it would be possible to explore, for example, what the teacher could do to help Amanda. This point of view would have been interesting, while many of the audience members were teachers. However, this point of view was studied in other interventions and later in still images as well.
Introduction/drama contract with the audience In the beginning, the joker told the audience what forum theatre is and how it works. The process and theme of the play were also shortly introduced, and the audience was asked to take actively part in scripting and developing the play further: without an audience there is no forum. Joker also explained that the focus of the workshop on this occasion is to experience and explore the viewpoint of a young Alentejo woman. What kind of choices can she make in difficult situations? Warm-ups (see above):
Grab the thumb Random still images. Statement circle: I sometimes feel that I am an alien here Creativity is essential for human beings For a young woman it is often difficult to express ones own ideas Alentejo should be conserved as it is Alentejo needs changes cultural development 1 1-2-3-YESS!
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Watching the performance Facilitation/Joker questions How did you experience this play tell in your own words? What else would you like to say about it? What was the problem? Whose problem it was? Are the events truthful? Does this kind of things happen often in real life?
Most of the participants admitted that the problems they saw on the stage were quite common in the real life in Alentejo, but could also happen anywhere. And therefore, we were able to continue; the audience recognised the problem.
Hot seating the character Defining the names and ages of the characters, creating characteristics features: how do you see them, how do they see themselves? Audience makes questions to the characters Brainstorm of solutions in small groups What could Amanda do to achieve what she wants? Are the things that she wants all good? Interventions Some volunteers from the small groups were asked to present their ideas. Joker made the propositions more specific and concrete through questions like: How should she do that? In what situation should she do that? What should she exactly say and to whom? OK come and do it the volunteer (never called as volunteers) was taken to the stage and helped to start to act from a specific moment onwards. Each intervention was shortly analysed through with the help the jokers questions to clarify the issues to the spectator-actor and to the audience: Was the intervention successful? What would be the consequences? Did the intervention present the same character with same mentality? In order to get more interventions the joker asked: What else could she do to achieve what she wants? Due to the lack of time, only three interventions were tried through acting based on the propositions. Still images in small groups What could Amanda do in some other situations in the future? How could she, for example, create a golden bridge, a win-win situation? Images were observed one after another. The others tried to guess, whether the images could be e.g. made alive (words and action) hidden thoughts of the characters were explored in frozen moments
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Feedback from the participants We discussed shortly how the audience and performers experienced the technique.
How could it be used in their own work? Was the theme relevant? In which situations and communities this forum could and could not be used? Should the teachers be present when the students create forum theatre? Is it possible to achieve clear results through forum theatre? Importance of networking and collaborating with communities, stake-holders, school psychologists etc.
Some analysis and further thoughts As a joker, I decided to give an example of an easier way to joke a scene. I tend to proceed directly to the audience intervention phase (re-acting the scenes), but it is more demanding to proceed straight to the joker questioning technique. Easier way would be to divide the group into small units right after watching the play. Storyline itself did not offer big hooks or surprises. Furthermore, the theme was not directly targeted to the demo audience; it did not heat up the audience as much as it could, if prepared with proper production time.Therefore, I decided to continue straight into writing the play with the audience by using still images. With the help of the same technique of making still images in small groups we could have continued trying to find how Amandas situation is getting worse: the
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dramatic conflicts developed. This could have been a good alternative for the long process of making a forum theatre play, as well, but we did not have time for that. Perhaps it is even more a participatory solution to come with a half-finished performance infront of the audience and continue the play making with their open minds and bodies? Forum theatre becomes alive with the audience. Without an audience that has got an interest in the theme due to their own real life experiences there can not be forum theatre, but only a simple play without interaction. Most apparently, the play even in its present form would work quite well with the 17-year-old high school youngsters of the area. However, in order to hook the interest more effectively the dramaturgy should be more compact and clearer.The development of a dramatic conflict should also be such that creates a more conflicting contrast between the dreams and realities of Amandas harsh life. Music, costumes and stage design could be developed to adapt to react to and with the play. Such visual materials as real Power Points and other projections could also be used. Stage lighting could be used to facilitate the transfer between the scenes. In the gossip scene it would be essential to draw the audiences attention to the fact that Amanda really heard the gossips, but did not say anything.
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Finland Finland
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The preventive drug education drama under consideration was orderly dealt with among the different education instances before the performance season by organising a teacher performance in the area, where all the teacher handling the issue in lessons were invited. During couple of these five years this performance was organised as a part of teachers VESOeducation programme (education that is a part of the collective bargaining contract). In addition to familiarising with the performance, introducing the theme, pre-performance preparations, arriving on the performance, participation of the teachers, realising the aftermath in classes etc. were agreed on. Teachers were provided with aftermath and feedback material considering the drama. The drama performance and the related workshops were also discussed in the drama nights of the parents. Parents gave their own contribution on how the issues are to be handled. The media in the area was invited to co-operate already in the planning stage, and their duty was to support the spirit of the project and to report truthfully about the issues (for example, it is important to emphasise that the participants of the project are NOT drug abusers, etc.).
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in the future, what are the aspects of good life and, furthermore, what kind of life the youngsters do NOT want to live. Such activating situational exercises of participatory drama techniques were used, which facilitated for the youngster as spectators/participators/creators identifying the conflicts related to different decision making situations and conflicts born when the youngster tries to escape from the influence of the friends: thus learning to express ones own opinions. Different endings for the main characters life were created in the drama happy and unhappy, observing the affects of drug abuse on the characters life (professional exclusion, loneliness, indebtedness and crimes etc.). In the end of the drama the focus was transferred form the character to everybodys own life;What do I think of these issues, which kind of support and safety networks are there in my life, do I dare to say no to drugs, how do I want my life to go and what is good for me in life. Creating a drama that suits for the local needs and situations, and for the situation in life of the youngsters, thus a drama that is real and believable for the youngsters. The core of the issue guaranteeing the believability of the project was to produce the drama material from the local aspects and by listening to the local youth.This technique meant that the plot was created in such a manner that the actors young students collected the material of the drug story from the local youngsters, for example in schools, youth centres, on the streets, and then producing in co-operation with the drama educator the drug story of Lohja. This procedure created a story that has a special meaning for the target group. It is essential to know the target group well in order to create drama and to be able to enter into the role of the youngsters.The drug usage culture was also introduce through the visits of ex-drug abusers, exploring pro-drug web sites and organisations. The intoxicant instance of Lohja introduced the state of drug abuse and the usage profile of different drugs. Educational visits and the material provided by YAD (Young Against Drugs) and Irti Huumeista ry.(organisation against drugs) offered an insight of preventive drug education and treatment of drug addicts.The educational influence on attitudes of this process continued therefore among the actor-student group even after the project ended. Protecting the intimacy and safety of the audience It was told beforehand in the beginning of the drama that the point is not to explore and bring forth anybodys own or friends experiences of drugs, thus not to deal with intimate issues, but the aim is to make the participants consider drug usage and intoxicant-free lifestyle in general. In the beginning of the drama the actors were introduced as real persons and in the end of the drama the masks were again removed. This procedure ensured that, for example, the actor acting the role of a drug dealer is normalised in the eyes of the audience by removing the mask and telling what was the aim of his/her performance instead of remaining as a scary character in the fragile mind of the youngster.
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The most impressive scenes and situations all aspects related to home parties received a lot of interest the audience wanted to have longer home party scenes parent and family characters were important. Although the parents were always seen as too strict, the meaning and need of home as safe haven was crucial especially in problem solving situations such hot-seat interviews that dealt with drug related problems (mother of the drug user, heavy-users of drugs, the boy under influence of drug + Mr. Drug) decision making situation concerning starting to use drugs, in which the voices from inside the head were used creating better alternative for the decisions in the end discussion; a possibility to see ones own proposal as a improvised performance; it was nice to have a chance to direct by oneself different alternative solutions listening to the sounscape really cool visits to rehabilitation centre and meeting a drug dealer face-to-face part of the audience found it great to be able to participate and that everybody got the change to be involved, it was exciting part of the audience would have wanted to participate more, to act more some people found it hard to answer the questions Exercise methods The drama performance with the class lasted two lessons, thus 90 minutes. This time period was too short in most of the cases.The pupils would have wanted to stay longer and to discuss the issues further.The schedule was limited due to the lesson frame of the schools, lunch hours and the buss schedules for the groups arriving from a longer distance. Ice-breaking techniques were used with new groups. Due to the tight schedule there was no time for real open forum theatre type drama, since it was likely that the process could have been interrupted. Therefore, we decided to create rather structured and partly theatrical TIEdrama (Theatre in Education) with its extensive exercises, since it was the bet possible method to use in these time limits. The performance was divided in the following parts: Beginning app. 15 min beginning information warm-up games (question game: Yes.No-Maybe concerning attitudes towards drugs, ice-breaking games). Aiming at concentration, relaxing the group, departure from the school mode, increasing group spirit, preparing the coming drama situation. app. 5 7 short scenes part of the scenes in the present time, part in the future of the youth and part abstract; for example happening in the main characters mind and feelings
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in between the scenes the used exercises hot-seat (the main character a youngster/drug abuser/ mother of a long-time drug abuser/friend of the drug user). Aiming at building the character and to clarifying the perspective and context. voices from inside the head (mainly used in decision making situations the first drug usage situation). Aiming at bring forth and deal with contradictory and conflicting thoughts and behaviour models. value path (why to go to the party/why not). Aiming at create personal experiences and thinking models. voting (how does the character decide). Aiming at activating to participate and influencing in the drama. Provides also information of the thoughts of the audience for the joker. picture of sounds soundscape (of the main characters life while the drug abuse is continuing). Aiming at creating images, combining the different parts of the story into one entity. still-pictures (the girls worse nightmare of drug usage, dreams and nightmares of the end result). Aiming a crystallising and clarifying the attitudes and thoughts and the end results. Facilitates the possibility to continue the process by creating a sketch based on the situation presented in the still-pictures.
Conclusion discussions app. 30 min group discussions creating alternative solutions (actors improvise better solution models) making slogans and banners of good values in life for the main character value game, where 25 own good values are defined and set in an intuitive order the still-pictures created in the groups concerning the crucial situations/end situations a sociogram of the close people of the main character + their sentences Aftermath Each year there is drama aftermath package produced for the teachers, including one or several alternative exercises, to be used for one lesson after the drama. Exercises: Writing a letter, imagining to be some of the characters in the drama as an old person describing his/her situation after the happening in the drama Writing an essay concerning youth drug usage Drawing a comic strip of different values in life/choices of the main character Making a poster of own good values
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Creating alternative solution models for the situation of the beginning of drug abuse Reading the letter from the main character girl and writing a response to that/answering the questions in it o What good is in everybodys life as a alternative for intoxicants? o How to live in such a manner that one would not end up as Netta? o How/who could help Netta?
Feedback
A class is such a big group of people as audience that it is hard to estimate what happens in one persons mind during the performance. Therefore, one of our aims was that in each school the pupils participating in the drama would discuss their thoughts of the theme of the drama, for example, in the Finnish lesson. We sent the co-operation teachers a aftermath package including means to unravel the drama.We received feedback from these means mainly from the ones writing an essay. This method created discussions on drug abuse, the effects of drug abuse and on the intoxicant-free way of life. Pupils feedback on Netta in a Spin from different schools In school A there were 42 essays and in school B 51 essays written concerning the themes in Nettas letter. The themes in the essays were concerning the following issues: telling about the dangers of drug abuse in general direct answers to Nettas letter the story of the drama as a new version how to live in such a manner that one would not end up as Netta All the essays were clearly against drugs. Recommendations for Netta: most of the pupils offered Netta clear suggestion of how to live and survive the most common alternatives for intoxicants were friends ( 39 % ), hobbies ( 34 %) and family ( 25 % ). Other alternatives were, among other things, sports, healthy life, school, animals, future plans and good life in general. Pupils proposed that Netta could get a pet, spend time with the family and good friends
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19 % hoped that Netta would find a peer group from other youngster fighting against drugs. We think that you should just continue with your lifeForget the past and the guyConcentrate now just on yourself and your family, they love you, no matter if you do not always notice that...Find new and better friends. If you would have never even tried drugs, you would not have ended up in a rehabilitation.. You get through it and feel as a winnerIt was really brave to admit that you have a problem and to get treatmentand you will be some day happy againNow that you have been to the bottom there is only one way to goAnd that is upwards! Who could be the best helper for Netta: friends ( 49 % ) parents ( 27 % ) professionals ( 20 % ) rehabilitation ( 20 % ) family ( 16 % ) Altogether 92 % emphasised the meaning of the closest people and 40 % professional help. how to live without ending up like Netta answers: saying no to intoxicants (53 %) friend network (30 %) thinking what one is doing (18 %) other proposals: for example, to get a hobby, maintaining good relationships with the parents and friends, to have a strong self confidence and to be optimistic. Nothing special is needed, with the basic things one can survive. Rehabilitation: pupils found the rehabilitation centre as a cruel place (17 %), but thought that it was a good place for Netta, since she was in need of treatment rehabilitation process was easy (7 %) the decision to go to treatment and stop using drugs have to be made by Netta (17 %) Nettas destiny: worried about Nettas financial situation (23 %) worried that Netta is lonely in the rehabilitation centre (31 %) a couple were interested in Nettas relationship with her mother in a way or another, drug usage leads to death (some of the substances) (12 %) It is not good to use drug, because you die for them. With drugs you can die in many different ways.You may die for overdose, diseases from drugs, doing something stupid, because you are so wasted and you can die shot by the dealer or beaten. Saying no to drugs when they are being offered was considered to be hard ( 12 % ). This was mainly due to the peer pressure.
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The biggest issues was the future of Netta and what she will do when she is released from the rehabilitation centre ( 31 % ) Have you thought about the life after the treatment? Do you continue your school or are you going to work? You have time to think about your future in the rehabilitation centre.You are the one to decide on your life. Pupils feedback on the technical realisation of the drama Feedback material included 5 schools, 8 classes, 180 pupils the story was believable, this could happen to a 7th grader in Lohja almost agree 61 % totally agree 24 % together 85 % using drama in this kind of education creates a relaxed atmosphere when considering the hard/boring issues almost agree 44 % totally agree 49 % together 93 % I think that it was nice to participate in the story almost agree 38 % totally agree 46 % together 84 % I thought about the drama afterwards / I talked about it with my friends/ parents/siblings yes 84 % it is not always easy to behave in such a manner as one likes when there is a danger of being discriminated by the others totally disagree 6% somewhat disagree 26 % together 32 % almost agree 44 % totally agree 23 % together 67 % a grade for the whole performance 4 1% 5 0% 6 2% 7 2% 8 23 % 9 53 % 10(the best grade) 19 % + + + + + + + + + actors skill to live the role + humour drama believable, humorist, impressive, provoked thoughts movement in space possibility to participate in the drama joker questions were a good method to digest the seen events drama is a good method to deal with drug problems open discussions of the issues desire for the project to continue wanted that others besides the 7th graders could see the drama as well, children of all ages
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changing the roles was difficult more actors in the performance needed transfer from one scene to another and the change in time difficult scattered joker questions annoying interruptions the shortness and incompleteness of the story bothering ( 35 % ) boring / always the same preaching could be less stupid exercises there should be less uncomfortable talks Thoughts and feedback from the parents Parents feedback was gathered through the after-discussions of the parent performance. The drama gave rise to a lively debate. The parents were mainly pleased with what they saw and how the project was organised. Some of the parents were frightened by the harshness of the description of the world of the youth however, the drama was not created for the needs of the parents. Discussions were born of the change of the drug culture, the fact that the person offering drugs is nowadays a familiar person instead of a stranger, the availability of drugs. One of the discussion issue was the responsibility of the close ones of the drug user; who should interfere and how, and is it appropriate to tell the parents of a friend of ones child that the child is using drugs. The participation percent of the parents was rather low, for example only about 30 parents participated from a school of 650 pupils (4,6 %). Thoughts and feedback from the teachers In the beginning phase of the project there was a teacher from each upper level of comprehensive school present in the information gatherings of the teachers. Mostly these representatives were Finnish teachers, since drama lessons are part of the Finnish education lesson frame. During the years some other interested teachers were involved as well, student guides, persons who have studied participatory drama, school nurses , ET-teachers (education of life, replacing the teaching of religion for some pupils) and others. Unfortunately, the teachers interest in the information gatherings dramatically declined during the later years of the project, reaching a point where as few as 1 3 teachers were present.This happened in spite of the fact that the information gathering was at that time a paid VESO-education. This low participation percent affected the functioning of the project, since the working methods required the participation of the connection teachers. In many cases the situation was such that only one teacher was informed about the project; s/he arranged the arrival of the class to the drama and got the aftermath material, but then another teacher, who had no idea what was going to happen, was sent with the class to the drama situation. Therefore, it was at times hard to motivate and offer information to the classes. In some cases the aftermath was taken care by a teacher who was not familiar with the project and did not participate in it.
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The following issues, among other things, were discussed in the teacher meetings: is this drama too much for some of the 7th graders. It was agreed that the school decides if someone has psychical or other similar problems, thus the drama is not suitable for him/her (only 1-2 pupils during the project years) the aim of the performance is to prepare the pupils for the decision making situation, thus the majority of the pupils should be those who have not yet faced this decision making situation would it be possible that the aftermath session would be arranged during the control of life lessons what is the role of the teacher in intoxicant education (teachers are not doctors nor polices, they are not all familiar with the drug world, but can educate as laymen and honestly say that they do not know everything on this issue)
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Feedback from the project team the project was considered as a meaningful way to work drama was considered as extremely successful and suitable method of drug educating the interest was visible during the performances cutting the resources in the education has strained the core team of the project the contact teaching of the students have diminished from 170 lesson to 112 120 lessons in five years and part of the studies are home studies! (intoxicant education).This has clearly decreased the skills, targetorientation and professional pedagogical considerations of the performing team. There are too few work guidance lessons the youth workers have worked in the project besides their own work duties, they took care of the management of the project and led the performances, which led to tiredness and their own work suffered occasionally participation activity of the schools and parents has been low. The project has been considered as a youth works own project. On the other hand, this passivity can be interpreted as a sign of trust; people know what this project is all about and trust us. This theme is often considered as hard and heavy. Feedback from the audience has been surprisingly positive The lack of continuing follow-up research is evident this project could offer a meaningful way to create a continuing intoxicant behaviour and attitude follow-up research, but a skilful instance would be needed to realise it. Schools and the town did not offer a person for such research and the project team did not have time to launch such a project. The follow-ups are realised annually with students, without research guidance. the main source of motivation was the youngsters; they appreciated this work: It is so great that somebody is goes through all these troubles to protect young people! There is not many of you kind! Peace!
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The Participants of the Workshop There were held two Photo as a Step to Drama workshops during Drama Way project. One in Barcelona in Spain and one in Turku in Finland. About 30 participants took part in these workshops.The groups consisted of drama workers, art- an phototherapists, social worksers, teachers, counselors and students. The Steps of the Workshop The program of the workshop based on the performative photo series, viewing the photos and creating a story based on the photos was following: Phototherapy and the related methods were introduced. 40 photos of Elena and Annie were hanged in a clothes line in the workshop. The participants were divided into two groups. The participants in the first group chose photos of Annie and in the second group photos of Elena. Each participant chose their own photo. 5. The photos were viewed together in the group.There was a group discussion on the images and stories that the photos evoked. 6. Both of the groups chose one photo and created a story based on the photo. 7. Both groups presented their story as a drama performance. 8. After the drama performances the participants discussed how the choosing of the picture and creating the story went. Discussion handled issue such as how the participants took part in the co-operation, what kind of roles each participant has taken and which themes each participant brought to the story. 9. Then the group analyzed the contents of the stories and considered the issues that were handled in the stories. 10. The procedures in the workshop were evaluated with the help of associative cards. Feedback from the Workshop The participants of the workshop described the Photo as a Step to Drama method as an interesting and effective way of approaching different issues. The participants became interested in the characters and lives of the persons portrayed in the photos; the photos became alive and stories were born. There was a competitive situation inside the group concerning the choosing of the photo to be used in the drama performance, but after the group had chosen the photo, it was easy to dramatize the story and to create the roles. The entirety of the group work, the choosing of the photo, the story telling and the drama performance were later analyzed in a group discussion. Assessing the group process and observing the own role in the process in a group discussion was a new experience for most of the participants, and this reflective observation was considered as a significant part of the process. The reflective observation was seen as a useful approach for different group productions. 1. 2. 3. 4.
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The following procedure was to discuss the contents of the stories. The following questions were used in analyzing the drama stories: Which personal matters were involved in the stories? Which universal themes were related to the stories? Did the stories include some common national characteristics and features? How did the personal experiences show in the stories? Which of the stories was the most touching one for the participants? In what way the persons in the photos were involved in the stories? What did the created story tell for the persons taking the photos?
The final assessment with the photo cards was a natural way of expressing own personal experiences of the workshop, and by circulating the cards the instructors got insight on the effectiveness of the workshop. The workshops in Barcelona and Turku are the first one to use the photos of Annie and Elena. In the future the aim is to carry out the workshop with other groups. During the workshop different scenes of the stories can be photographed and analyzed separately, and alternative stories could be created according to the methods of the forum theater. Drama can be enriched in multiple ways by using photos.The co-operation of the drama workers and psychotherapists using photos in therapy in Drama Way project was productive, and new methods were born. This project was encouraging; the co-operation will continue.
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Theoretical Ideas and Inspirations If I should mention only one source that inspires for my work, it would definitely be Brazilian educationalist Paulo Freire and his Pedagogy of Liberation. Freire developed his pedagogical ideas in the 60s - 70s amongst the illiterate farm workers who owned no land, and they are still relevant today, even after his recent death. He recognised that the effort to teach literacy in the traditional tanking method of teaching where the teacher speaks and the students listen, was not successful. It did not activate people, quite the contrary; it made them feel valueless and to feel that they are not capable of learning complex issues. The main idea of Freire was that in order for the education to be liberating it should always begin with those issues that the learners themselves find most important and troublesome in their lives and immediate environment. These issues are, for example, lack of money and land, working conditions, household problems, social problems etc. These are the hot issues, of which these people talk about in their everyday discussions. The first step of the process is to give names to these phenomena, to conceptualise and to share these experiences in the group.After that the group of learners progresses towards the analysis of the reasons of these problems. The group finally tries to progress into such kind of understanding of these issues that they can actually start solving their own problems. In this perspective, education turns into a politicising process.The role of the teacher changes as well: the teacher transforms into a co-learner; coresearcher of the realities of the learners. From the teachers point of view, liberating education is more about making questions than giving answers. What does Freires pedagogy of liberation have to do with the arts? In his ideology, various forms of art are seen as indigenous means of communication. People express themselves through popular songs, dances, and other forms of culture that indigenous to them. Let us take a modern example: in Finland so called Live action role games have become very popular amongst the young people. Usually the LARPs are fantasy games taking place in the history or fairy tale world.The participants of these games often openly admit that their purpose in playing is to escape from the harsh reality. However, nowadays many of the larpers do have more society-oriented intentions in their role games. LARP is said to be one of the few genuine young peoples movements born in the 90s. Paulo Freires pedagogical ideas have provedly had an enormous impact on the Third World countries on the grass root level work of peoples activism, popular education, arts, theatre, trainings, community planning, development work, womens liberation movements, decolonising the universities to mention just a few areas. I have worked with and been inspired by the Zambian grass root theatre movement. I have been impressed how the young school drop-outs have changed and turned into being the developers of their own societies.They are wandering theatre makers, having a high awareness of the social issues with a clear intention to help people to solve their problems on their own. Another inspiring example for me has been an Indian theatre group Natya Chetana, which travels ecologically by bicycles from village to village to provoke discussion concerning the important issues with their theatre performances.The
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group also makes research on the local popular art forms, organises festivals, trainings, maintains folk art museum and produces publications. The group has been especially active in the post-work and prevention of natural catastrophes by using their art as therapy, for information purposes and for political advocacy. For them being an artist is a lifestyle of active citizenship. Freires revolutionary ideas are often regarded as too romantic and nostalgic to be directly applied to the contemporary western context. We do not have mass poverty or super cyclones. Our country is listed as the least corrupt country in the world, whereby in India and Zambia this problem is very acute. However, I can see parallel ideas to those of Freire in the modern constructivist paradigm of learning, which is based on cognitive psychology. The contemporary Finnish National school curriculum has been based on these principles since 1994. The change of paradigm aimed at replacing the frontal teaching methods by creating active learning environments where the students construct their understanding of the world rather than tank knowledge according to a strict curricula. The schools also open up to the wider society, and the value of informal learning in non-school contexts is recognised.The contemporary school system, at least on the level of principles, encourages such art forms as interactive drama and issue based art projects where the students observe and comment their environment through arts. What is the Participatory Approach? By the participatory approach we mean a working method, where the target communities are actively involved in identifying, planning, implementing and evaluating the project the participation should be a democratic process and provide all groups and individuals a chance to participate in the process regardless of age, gender, cultural background or social status the aim of the process is socio-cultural change development - of the communities what is positive change or development is however not defined by the educators, but rather by people and communities themselves the people in the communities know which issues or what kind of work is important for them In art education participatory approach has got several consequences: as an educator coming from the outside one cannot push ones own strict plans. It is necessary to negotiate the aims, content, timetables and ways of working with the group. For example, usually you do not direct a play with a pre-selected text and detailed dramaturgical plan.The more participatory way would be to create the play together with the group. aesthetic is always a relative concept local aesthetics are as good and valid as those held by the trained or elitist artists. artistic end product is often less important than the process of making it. in fact there is no end, but a continuous circle of planning, experiencing and evaluating what we create and learn.
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in participatory approach art is a collective learning process of sharing meanings through art the artist is a midwife for the ideas not a dictator using people as raw material for her own expression. In other words the purpose is to tickle up the creativity in people with whatever means appropriate to them we need to know who are the people we work with: their history, social circumstances, way of seeing and constructing their world view through symbols characteristic to them education is a dialogue: both the educators and the learners have a chance to learn from each other art can not be a separate island from the realities of life When dealing with the training of artists we can see that many of the traditional conceptions of artist become less functional in the community context. It is not enough that the artist only knows his own field, but it is necessary to create a mentality of perpetual questioning about the world and ones own mission. The artist is, therefore, a field researcher, who creates new ways to adapt in different community contexts in suitable ways. In the participatory approach, however, an artist is a cultural anthropologist, who uses his skills to give tools for the communities to explore their own lives in creative ways. The artist will help the community to re-write its history, recreate its identity and revitalise artistic lives of the members. Usually the focus is on the less privileged communities. Training of the Art Educators in Finland In Finland, the mainstream of artists has not been widely interested in the needs of the communities. For example, the municipal theatres have just recently started to get interested in theatre education, such as organising audience workshops dealing with the plays for the schools. However, new kind of theatre trainings especially in the polytechnics have created promising visions for the community oriented work. The interest for finding creative methods to work with the communities has been much greater amongst the professionals and students of youth, social, sociocultural/pedagogical and health work. Their perspective towards the arts has been more instrumental from the very beginning.The teachers also seem to have an interest for using arts for different educational purposes. For example in the FIDEA (The Finnish branch of International Drama Education Association) teachers have expressed their desire to move towards more participatory and community oriented approach. Interestingly, people in the so called Development NGOs, who work in the fields of activism and development co-operation in the Third World countries, have also played an important role in starting the promotion of arts in development education and socio-cultural animation and mobilisation of people, both in the North and in the South. Art has been used both to tell about the different realities of the Third world countries as well as for popular education in various development projects. One example of this emphasis is Mozambique, which is one of the most prominent bilateral partners of the Finnish development cooperation. Promoting civil society and local democracy have been defined as the
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most important fields of development instead of former emphasis on sanitation, health, roads, schools or developing agriculture. In this effort arts have a surprisingly important role. For example, popular theatre groups are widely used to achieve these aims. Here the North has been interestingly following the example of the South, where the ideas of Paulo Freire have been already applied for decades very strongly in the field of progressive arts. In the participatory approach of art education Finland seems to be far behind from such countries as England. However, in the 1990s we experienced a rapid development in this field. For applied drama the new Polytechnic system offered an ideal setting for this new approach. Drama educator trainings in the Polytechnics of Turku and Helsinki have emphasised the community orientation, which has been neglected by the traditional theatre training in the Theatre Academy of Finland. The continuing education courses within the universities and polytechnics, as well as in the Theatre Academy, have also played a rather instrumental role in the distribution of these methods in real life contexts.The participants of these courses are professionals who want to adapt the new methods into their own work. The polytechnics organise also professional education trainings for educators of participatory drama, thus for youth, social and cultural workers. Pedagogical drama in teacher training has gained a stronger status, and research in the field takes mostly place in the teacher training drama courses, especially in the University of Jyvskyl. Community art work is best learned in real contexts.The following examples of the community art projects have been trainings for the practitioners in the field, as well as with working with the real people. Communities in the Projects By communities we mean any group of people whose members live in a close proximity to each other, either physically or mentally. In participatory approach we also work with what we could call potential communities. For example, in modern and new housing areas people usually have little social interaction with each other. We presume that at least some of them, in a safe situation, would like to come out and join different kinds of social activities (whereby many do not want to often for a good reason!). Our task as educators is to facilitate this process, make it easier for people to communicate through organising events, trainings and other activities. These events have to serve the needs of these people and be carefully planned together with these people. The most typical community art projects concentrate on working with communities in closed settings, such as the centres for senior citizens or youth houses. My special interest, however, is to create arenas for different people to meet each other, exchange ideas and perhaps understand each other a little bit better. Popular arts can facilitate this process by offering a celebratory aspect to this process it can be a lot of fun! Creating community feeling in places where it does not normally exist can be a demanding goal. It could push the communities further towards changing their everyday lives. In several projects we have used arts to animate people to take part in concrete area planning. In creative future workshops people have analysed
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their problems, and found concrete and often very imaginary and creative solutions to these problems. These suggestions have then been elaborated with the local administration. Often the process has inspired people to take direct action: they have done collective work by renovating buildings, planting gardens, organising festivals etc. Some Examples of the Projects Forum theatre in Finland Forum theatre is an interactive theatre form created by a Brazilian theatre director Augusto Boal, who used to be a workmate of Freire in the early literacy campaigns. Boals forum theatre is based on similar ideas: audiences define their problems, which are then dramatized in a theatrical form. Forum theatre does not offer solutions for the problems, but invites the audiences on the stage to act out the solutions for the problems. Forum theatre becomes thus a forum for debate and discussion. It is a creative game to find solutions for everyday life problems. Boal emphasised the revolutionary action against oppression, but in our Western context we have also seen forum theatre as a useful form of exploring more complex and vague social problems. Forum theatre has also been a method for layman to learn to make theatre by using ones own experiences as a starting point to more theatrical explorations. Forum theatre has been used mostly for young people, and in these cases it mostly deals with Sex, and drugs and rock-n-roll. Forum theatre has been considered as an effective tool for drug prevention and school violence, as well as for sexual education. Furthermore, it has been interestingly applied to discussions concerning family problems, bullying of young people in the work places and for critical media awareness. For example, in army barracks we discussed the problematic relation of the young men to their mothers and girlfriends with the help of this drama. In another case, with a group of transsexuals we used forum theatre to build a bridge towards the mainstream culture. Some groups have found it easy to get the young people in the classroom performances to act on the stage, whereby other practitioners find that it is too threatening a situation for the youngsters. They choose to use other techniques such as small-group problem solving, games and other ways to involve the pupils into the drama. We seldomly use forum theatre in its strictly Boalian-revolutionary way. We use it rather intertwined with the other forms and techniques of interactive and educational drama. Forum theatre has also changed its political-participatory focus towards a more didactical intention: for example, it has been used to teach young people how to learn to say no to drugs, instead of tackling the root causes of the drug problem itself. Some of these projects can be criticised for offering posed-upon answers instead of leaving the questions open in order to activate the thinking process of the audiences. Promising results have been achieved through the work with the larger network around the young people. Many projects have organised separate discussions or workshops with the parents and teachers to involve them in collective efforts in prevention of the problem.
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Becoming Visible art and activities with asylum seekers Finland has a relatively strict immigration policy. Finland is ranked one of the lowest in the EU in terms of allowing refugees a permanent asylum status in the country. Only recently the asylum seekers were allowed through legislation to get a work permission after three months of stay in the country. However, for most of them it has been very difficult to find even temporary employment due to the lack of Finnish language skills or understanding how to apply for a job. The EU/ESF Equal programme includes a special programme for the development of the work with asylum seekers. This was seen crucial, since most of the asylum seekers are waiting for their insecure future in refugee centres for as long as for four years. The main aims of the Becoming Visible project are facilitating the entrance into the employment, maintaining the mental health and integrating them in the society during the indefinite processing time of their asylum application. The goal is also to create a more participatory culture inside the asylum seekers centres: the goal is that the dwellers themselves could take responsibility for the daily activities of the centre as much as possible. For example, asylum seekers teach each others new skills, languages, take care of cleaning, cultural activities etc. Methodologically we have used different kinds of artistic and experiential education techniques to achieve our goals.The feedback from the asylum seekers is also essential: we try to use methods that they like and feel useful. We are not restricted to work only in Finnish, but all the languages that we know are used, also the body language. One of the most successful sub-projects has been the Kuuluvaks! (To be heard!) music research project. It has got a simple, but functional idea. By a suggestion of a Bosnian man, a multicultural band was created. A specific theme was chosen, for example humanity or light in different cultures. Everyone then memorises songs or dances from ones own country and teaches them to the others, and explains its meaning. Some even have written new rap texts.The group consisting of the dwellers and university students or teachers has made performances in various events, recordings, and organised dance courses and made dramatisations of the songs.We have also helped people to make research on their own music cultures, to find written materials and recordings, and to brush up the teaching skills. Some of the members have presented the project even in international research seminars. For us it has been an important participatory effort: we try to give the right for knowledge and research to the target groups themselves. On the other hand, the task of educators has been to identify the problems that people might find worth teaching to each others, say, certain African concepts of dance or music for the Finnish people. Ethnomusicological understanding of our own and the foreign culture is required to learn these concepts. The main challenge in this work is its unpredictable nature. You never know who will be there. The decision, negative or positive, can come at any time. The other challenge is the language: for some of us Finnish is the only familiar language. (see: www.becomingvisible.net)
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Sampocak global folk tradition in a local setting As a community artist I feel it is important to explore areas that are unfamiliar. If you want to lead the communities to unbeaten tracks, you as an educator should be ready for adventures, too! Sampocak was an offspring of this personal need. Sampocak is a village project in my contemporary home village in Suomusjrvi. In this project we combined Balinese percussive body music, dance and masks with the Finnish traditions of rune singing, chant and dance. I collaborated with a group of my fellow artists, one of whom is a Balinese youth worker and a traditional temple dancer living in Finland. In similar way as in the Indonesian island of Bali, the roots of Finnish culture are quite literally in the shamanistic tradition, in the spells and rune songs, wedding and hunting cult descriptions and heroic and mystical stories of Kalevala, the Finnish National epic.The Kalevala is actually an artistic compilation of thousands of songs in thousands of local variations. TheBook of Kalevala, has however made us neglect the fact that Kalevala was sung in local variations and it was indeed sung. Not read, neither acted, but sung. The idea of Sampocak project was to revitalise these roots, and do it in a universal spirit. We also wanted to explore the Big Question: is it possible that different cultures in different parts of our planet could somehow have same origins? Even if it apparently is not so, is it possible that there are some universal archetypes that transcend the aeons and continental distance; just as Carl C. Jung has proposed?
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The aim of Sampocak was to offer in the countryside such experiences that you cannot find in cities. In the background of this aim are the ecological and anti-globalisation ideas.Through these good experiences we want to create local networks of artists, amateurs, a whole life-style where the sheep, children, old people, farming, and people from the whole world can come together. Perhaps in minimal scale it could be an experience where different religions, myths, artistic expressions and food can create new and further develop local identity. The aim is to re-write our mythology to suit better in our modern realities. In many rural settings in Finland artists with good intentions have ended up in conflicts with the local status quo of the church, farmers, school or the established associations.The reason for this is often simply that they have forgotten to involve themselves in the planning process in the early stages of the projects. Even more importantly, local people have felt that they have been left out from the process of re-defining their local identity. Many times the conflict has been difficult to avoid due to the cultural and ideological differences. In the northern parts of Finland, for example, some religious movements are strong and sometimes set restrictions on the activities of art. Understanding the local power structures, maintaining good community relations, respecting the local values and creating dialogue between the life styles is therefore very important. In the Southern Finland we are lucky to live in the area that is relatively tolerant and has got a long history of alternative life-styles and urban-rural movement.
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Sampocak workshop facilitators Markku Kykknen (right) and Sutisna I Wayan (middle).
Participatory Art Trainings and Mega Trends trying to see the future Finland is a country with a small population of only five million people. In many ways our society has aspects that can be admired. According to the latest news Finland has again been ranked the most corruption-free country in the world. Our school system was evaluated in many aspects as one of the best amongst the OPEC countries. Most notably, there is very little interrelation between the learning results and social status of the parents. Does it suggest that we are a democratic society? Small countries like Finland can be vulnerable to the changes in the local economy like the recession of the early 90s has shown. However, nowadays Finland is one of the fastest growing and stabile economies in the Europe. But for how long? What about ecological price of this success? When is the payback time? What about the climate change? What about the international insecurity? What happens in Russia the Big Question Mark that is so close to us? Do we have a say in the European Union? Is it possible to maintain our identity? Is it worthwhile trying to maintain something called the Finnish identity? Should we talk like the British about our multicultural identity, even if Finland does not have any colonial history and thus is quite a homogenous culture? In my opinion arts should also be used in trying to answer these questions. What are the reasons that suggest that participatory approach in arts would be more important in Finland in the future?
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Perhaps the simplest way to answer this question is to say that it already is more important: the interest in the community art trainings has grown rapidly. Its popularity can be explained by simple fashion: more and more people know that arts can be applied in various fields. Cross-disciplinary approach has become more accepted, and professional border lines are defended less. Trainings have been considerably subsidised economically by the state and municipal bodies. Different EU programmes, especially within ESF programmes, have supported the use of arts as a means for cultural inclusion or - in the old fashioned words - combat against social marginalisation. Within a short period of time there has emerged a large group of people who have more training for participatory art methods. Self-evidently that has lead to the wider application of the participatory and pedagogically oriented approach. The future will also be more demanding, and then the participatory approach in arts can offer one part of the answer. In Finland these are for example: the growing number of immigrants, originating especially form Russia and Estonia the mass retirement of the large post-war generations: Finns are getting old and there will be less people to feed the non-working population. Opening of the EU borders to Estonia will also lead to the easier access of illegal drugs and legal alcohol that has never been so cheap in the seriously state regulated alcohol culture of our country. The farmers and villages have to change their lifestyle completely: either survive or die, fast. The EU does not understand that in our climate it is impossible to compete with the cultivation capacity of the Southern Europe. climate changes: no-one knows how it will affect our fragile local and global systems These are some of the more obvious changes that we can see in the near future, but what about the values, identity, the meaning of life all that arts is about? There is no easy answer. One area of future development affecting peoples lives is the effects of new forms of media. Firstly, in the participatory drama work the development of information technology should provoke critical approach towards the media. Drama can be used in media education to develop critical literacy of the modern media. Secondly, new media can be used as a tool for a new kind of participation, new forms of art, creating new kinds of communities. This can already be seen amongst the young LARP sub culture members. They take their dramas into the internet, and use the new technologies in the most imaginative ways.We educators, as usual, seem to follow these new generations a few steps behind. Participatory approach, in my opinion, should help us professionals to understand the realities of the young people: their ways of thinking. We should not try to make the young people accept without questioning our out of date realities that we are still living, in our thoughts, deeds and methods. We should neither accept the new technological future as given. Participatory art could be a bridge between what was good in the past and what could be good in the future; it should help us to see what choises we had and will have.
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Mythical blacksmith Ilmarinen is expecting an orphan boy to help his childless family in the hard daily work.
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role play (LARP). Kullervo is an extremely heavy story.Therefore, it could also be used in drama therapy in a professional therapeutic setting. However, in our case it is targeted to the professionals and students, who deal with questions of social exclusion of young people. The version presented here is a long process drama, and it covers several themes. We have later splinted this process into shorter drama processes that can be easier applied, for example, in a class room context. Objectives: to explore the social and psychological dynamics of social exclusion to understand the phenomenon of social exclusion through a mythological / national point of view in a historical perspective to experiment application of a process drama in a natural environment to encourage the use of local cultural heritage of each country to find allegories and connections to the modern times Target groups: People working with the youngsters and social marginalisation, e.g. in youth shelters, prisons; youngster peer groups in colleges, polytechnic students etc. Due to its psycho-dramatic nature this drama pretext is not as such suitable for the groups of marginalised youth. These methods can be too similar to the actual traumatic experiences of the socially excluded youngsters, in cases where there is no chance for follow-up and counselling after the drama. However, it can give ideas for using other stories of Kalevala with young people in different natural settings. The drama offers possibilities to use elements of adventure pedagogy (group building games, cliff climbing, cooking, camping etc.). Time required: 2-3 hours + pre- and post-drama workshops (0.5 and 1-2 h each) Learning opportunities: Drama skills Social skills Other possible learning areas: Improvisation Empathy, helping Understanding self-destructive behaviour in psycho-historical perspective Understanding prejudice Making real life strategies for change Change of concept of childhood and youth in historical times
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Facilities and equipment: Suitable clothes and shoes for nature tracking (weather: warm, rain?) Kullervos objects: piece of burned wood, 2 authentic knives (the other broken), a loaf of bread suitable natural environment (when realised in e.g. class room, the environment can be improvised through story telling, stage design etc.) costumes and props according to availability Literature and other materials: Lnnrot, Elias: The Kalevala. Oxford Worlds Classics. (1999) Oxford University Press. Akseli Gallen-Kallelas paintings Kullervos Curse (Kullervon kirous) and Kullervo departs for the War (Kullervon sotaan lht) can be seen at: http://www.niksula.cs.hut.fi/~xyu/kale-gb/gapic.html The drama wanders from spot to spot as follows. Inside the text the suggestion for the facilitators (teacher) narration is written in cursive letters. Before the actual drama (pre-session):
Story telling + Continuum Jokainen is a Finnish proverb, which forms the core question of the Kullervo drama: Jokainen on oman onnensa sepp (Everyone is the smith of ones own life). Is everyone really the smith of ones own life? Are we really in all situations able to create our own happiness? Are there such impacts in our growth process that force us to live unconstructively, without being able to live a good and self-sustained life? Is the distributing of wealth and possibilities uneven, even in our so-called democratic society?
Choose your position on the line. Step to the line according to what you believe that is closest to your opinion of the truth, closer to either end.You can choose any point on the continuum. Jokainen on oman onnensa sepp <> jokainen ei ole oman onnensa sepp. Discuss the choices.
Puppet theatre + group building games Bird comes and catches the two brothers and throws them in different geographical locations. Firstly, games for group spirit for the large group, then splitting into smaller camps and creating tension and competition between the camps.
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Drama contract
We shall explore some aspects of the theme (see above). We shall go to Vuohensaari in two groups. One takes the ancient rowing boat (Untamos clan), and the other group goes directly to the island (Kalervos clan). You are not going to be in these two different camps for the whole drama, but you are actually taking different roles. Sometimes we step out of the drama to observe things from a distance or do some other exercises.You may ask questions between the exercises, but we wish that during the exercises we shall stay in the given role.We hope that you have proper clothes on, and go to toilet before the drama. We are going to eat a very small snack on the way. You can stop participating the drama at any time if you feel you absolutely have to do so. Please, come and tell us. However, we consider it important to be involved throughout the whole process. Out of game signal can be used: crossed hands above the head, OK? Departure to the island by boat: explanations about Finnish history, learning to row, seeing landscapes and historical spots. historical background
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explanation of the environment: the old Viking routes of the prosperous Halikko bay; clan graves (crowns) The historical development of the concept childhood; history of violence between the clans. b) The other group goes directly to the island (see below) Actual drama (on the Island):
Installation + improvisation + story telling The group present on the island (Kalervos clan) constructs a miniature model of Kullervos home village with different natural objects. The arriving group (Untamos clan) destroys the village and Kullervos home: You have taken fish from our nets, you bastards! And your goats have eaten our oats! And this was how the anger and hatred between the two brothers, the clans of Kalervo and Untamo started. There were only some faint memories afterwards of what actually happened in that horrible and cruel fight between the two brothers, the ancestors of the Western and Eastern Finns. Some people said that Kalervo and his family were killed, some could have escaped in the forests, far from the reach of Untamos clan. Only the pregnant wife of Kalervo was catched and taken as a slave to Untamos house. Creating a character Showing the Gallen-Kallelas painting (what do you see?) or drawing an image of Kullervo on the sand (if sand available) give adjectives some storytelling about Kullervo Objects + story telling Kullervos mother had given Kullervo some memories of his past: a piece of hair curl of his lost sister, who had long before went to the forest to pick berries and never find her way back home again.And she gave Kullervo also a piece of burned wood. It was a piece of a roof log of his burned home, and a knife of his father, a precious tool for work, hunting, eating, fight. Soon after that her mother disappeared, where and how, that did Kullervo not remember. He remembered faintly her mother saying: Keep these things with you as memories of where you came from. Still images/ silent film improvisations in small groups + narration + soundtrack/music Main points of the settings of Kullervos Story (beginning) are written in small pieces of paper, and each group of 3-5 people is given one of the papers.The still images are shown in chronological order to the rest of the group. Facilitator or a group member will add narration to the image. (alternatively: if the group finds it difficult to find one single image, short speechless improvisations may be used)
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1. As a baby Kullervo was making a trouble-maker and threatened Untamo by his superhuman and revengeful powers. On the third day after his birth he broke himself out of his cradle and ripped his clothes off. ----------------------------------------------------
2. On the third month he started planning revenge against Untamo. People started to be afraid of Kullervo; a child with superhuman powers.
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3. Villagers decided to put Kullervo in a barrel and throw it into the water falls. After several days they discovered the boy alive: sitting on the waves of the sea, fishing and measuring how deep the water is.
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4. They decided to make a big fire, thousands of logs, and burn him. Kullervo was burning one day, two days. On the third day they went to see him. The boy was covered in ashes and sparks having a poker in his hand, to boost the fire, but he did not burn!
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5. Kullervos mother disappeared.There was no idea what happened to her, but the villagers speculated about it.
Storytelling / object And since they could not kill him by these ways and means, finally they tried to hang him. (The group moves to the tree) (we also show the tree where Kullervo has drawn weird paintings: people in the village being killed the revenge). Rumours / gossips (At the gallows): The villagers of Untamos clan gossip about the boy and the weird paintings on the tree. Fear and tension is growing. What should the villagers do with the boy? What should Untamo decide to do? Storytelling Finally, Untamo was forced to accept Kullervo, whose revenge he was afraid of, saying: I have given up trying to kill you. I will raise you up - a slave as my own son. If you live decently, you may stay in my house, do the work a son has to do. Salaries you will get afterwards according to what you deserve: a beautiful belt on you waist; or a hit on your face. So for the first time being a son of a man, Kullervo said: Tell me what I have to do, I will do it. So he was ordered to take care of a child, look after a baby, wash the napkins. But Kullervo lost the napkins in the stream, broke the arm of the child, dug the eye and the child was killed by a disease. Untamo thought, the boy is not good for looking after the kids. So he said:
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Go and do the forest work!. So he took an axe and went. He chopped the trees, small and big, spoiled all the good logs for the houses. Untamo thought; the boy is not good for forest work. So he said: Go and make the fences for the cattle!. So he took his axe and went. He chopped all the trees, big and small, made a fence that was rising up to the clouds, and there was no gate to enter in this fence. Untamo thought: the boy is not good for making fences. So he said: Go for the harvest, go for trashing the ray! So he took his thresher and went. He treshed all the crops of ray, smashed and spoiled it all. Untamo thought, the boy is not good for treshing. I dont need a son of his kind. I will sell him as a slave for the smith Ilmarinen.
Thought bubbles + comic strips (still images) + costumes Improvise a series of still images (by 5-10 hand clappings), where Kullervo accompanied by Untamo enters the house of Ilmarinen. Ilmarinen and his wife are waiting for him in the house. At a chosen point ask the participants to go to the shadow of either Ilmarinen or his wife. Ask what they are thinking at that moment (but not said aloud). Finally, make a queue of people that passes behind Kullervo: each one whispers the thoughts of Kullervo to his ears. (All the characters are in costumes). Scene (teacher/partner in role) (or story telling) Kullervo sees a dream. He takes the bread that the wife of smith Ilmarinen had baked and given to him. He rests down, takes the bread, his fathers knife and cuts the bread.The knife hits something hard, there is a stone in the bread! My fathers knife is broken, the only thing that reminded me of love! Story telling + voices That was Kullervos dream, but when he woke up he wanted to have a bite of bread. However he was hesitating. He started sweating heavily.What if the dream really was an omen? What if my ancestors are warning me through the dream? What if there really is a stone in the bread? Does the smiths wife hate me, or love me? Kullervo asks help from the ancestors, who whisper around him.
Questions for the group: Could there really be a stone in the bread? What would the motives of the step mother be to do so? If it is a symbolic dream, what does it mean? The facilitator and the actors try to create tension and opposing opinions concerning the issue.
Story telling (narration) + group improvisation We have to cut the bread now. Cutting the bread collectively. There either is a stone or not. (A SNACK BREAK)
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Puppet theatre scene A little bird flies to Kullervo and tells that his parents are actually alive.They have escaped to the north. The father had stolen her wife from the slavery at his brothers, Untamos house. Kullervo decides to travel there and find them. Chain dance and song / Story telling
So Kullervo meets the surprised family, mother, father and the brother. He tells about the slavery at the house of smith Ilmarinen. He tells her family that he is going to revenge Untamo. They dont like the idea,They warn him. You cant win in that war, and who is going to take care of us when we are old, if you die. Please, stay with us! So for the first time being a son of his real father, Kullervo said: Tell me what I have to do, I will do it. Kalervo, his father, thought, the boy is not good for looking after the kids. So he said: Go and do the forest work!, his father said. So he took an axe and went. He chopped the trees, small and big, spoiled all the good logs for the houses. Kalervo thought; the boy is not good for forest work. So he said: Go and make the fences for the cattle!. So he took his axe and went. He chopped all the trees, big and small, made a fence that was rising up to the clouds, and there was no gate to enter in this fence. Kalervo thought: the boy is not good for making fences. So he said: Go for the harvest, go for treshing the ray! So he took his tresher and went. He treshed all the crops of ray, smashed and spoiled it all. Kalervo thought, the boy is not good for treshing. So he said: Go and take the silvers and linens, the taxes for our protection, for the chief of the area. So Kullervo took the horse and the carriage, and the silvers and the linens to take them to the chief of the area.
Scene Kullervo is riding a horse on a carriage. He passes on the road, watching the landscapes. Suddenly, he sees a young girl walking on the roadside. He stops and asks the young girl to come on the carriage. She refuses several times, blaming the ugliness and poverty of Kullervo, telling not to come with a stranger. Kullervo lies that he is from a rich family. He shows the silvers and linens he has. The young girl is seduced by these riches and comes on the carriage. Kullervo starts to seduce the girl, and they have a sexual intercourse under the blankets, riding a carriage. After the act, the girl asks about the family of Kullervo.The girl is shocked when he realises that Kullervo is actually his brother. The girl, Kullervos long lost sister, jumps from the carriage, runs to the water falls and drowns herself. Kullervo is broken, for spoiling her long lost sister. Meeting + improvisation / teacher/facilitator-in-the-role The animals in the forest have always been the best friends of Kullervo, they actually honour and obey him. Kullervo gathers a meeting with the animals of the forest and asks them to help with his anger. Create animals in pairs.
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Improvise a negotiation with the animals One of the animals: but your family says to you, you should not go to revenge. You cannot win alone. They ask who is going to take care of them if you die. Other arguments. However, Kullervo orders the animals to help him with the attack. Improvisation / tag game: Two teams are created: the animals and the Untamos villagers. Create a setting in two different groups: what are the villagers doing, what kind of a strategy the animals have? In slow motion (one movement at a clap): The forest animals attack. The cows and other cattle try to protect themselves. Killed if they touch your neck. Hungry animals and cows and other cattle. Chain dance + song (narration) Dance: Walking in a line hand in hand in spirals with the choir-chorus alternate singing.
Ajoi maita ajoi soita, ajoi aavoja ahoja. Ajoi pivn ajoi toisen ajoi kohta kolmannenkin. Sitten tuonne tultuansa, Isn pitkille pihoille, noin ne vaakkuvat varikset harakat hakahtelevi. Jo on kuollunna isosi, kaonnunna kantajasi, muamo maassa jo makavi, mullassa muhaelevi. emo hauasta havasi, alta mullan muistuttavi: jihn multa Musti koira kyksesi metsmaille Ota koirasi keralle, havulinnan liepehille evhi etsimhn, antia anelemahan. He drove over lands, over marshlands. Drove another day, even a third one Then on arrival there, On his fathers large yards So the crows are croaking, Magpies are nagging: Your father has died already, your dad has disappeared Your mother is lying underground, In the soil she is humming In the grave she wakes, answers from the underground: I left my Blackberry, dog, for you to go hunting Take your dog and go To the outskirts of the needle tree castle To search for you snack, Asking for your meal
+ rhythm: SIRR dit pong dit dit ( _ ^_^ ^) As the song suggests; when Kullervo returns to his home, he finds all of his family dead. Only the dog is waiting and welcoming him.
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Dialogue in 4-5 languages Do you guess or know what, according to Kalevala, happened to Kullervo? Read the dialogue with the knife in three - four languages:
Kullervo, Kalervon poika, tempasi tervn miekan katselevi kntelevi, kyselevi, tietelevi Kysyi mielt miekaltansa, tokko tuon tekisi mieli sy syyllist lihoa, viallista verta juoa? Miekka mietti miehen mielen, arvasi uron pakinan Vastasi sanalla tuolla: Miksen sisi mielellni, sisi syyllist lihoa, viallista verta joisi? Syn lihoa syyttmnki, juon verta viattomanki Kullervo, Kalervon poika, sinisukka ijn lapsi pn on peltohon syssi, pern painoi kankahasen kren knti rintahansa, itse iskihe krelle Siihen surmansa sukesi, kuolemansa kohtaeli. se oli surma nuoren miehen, kuolo Kullervo urohon loppu ainakin urosta, kuolema kovaosaista. Kullervo, Kalervos son Snatched up the sharp sword Looks at it, turns it over Asks it, questions it; He asked his sword what it liked: Did it have a mind To eat guilty flesh To drink blood that was to blame? The sword followed the mans drift It guessed the fellows chatter And answered with this word: Why Should I not eat what I like? Not eat guilty flesh Not drink blood that is to blame? Ill eat even guiltless flesh Ill drink even blameless blood. Kullervo, Kalervos son The blue-stockinged gaffers child Pushed the hilt into the field Pressed the butt into the heath Turned the point towards his breast Rammed himself upon the point And on it he brought about His doom, met his death. And that was the young mans doom The Kullervo fellows death The end for the fellow, death for the ill-fated.
Was this suicide inevitable? Was this a good thing, as Kullervo wished this so many times while cursing himself?
Marking the moment / moment of change / constellation of different characters Even though the suicide is irreversible, in drama we can do things differently; change the course of the events. Ask the group to choose a moment of time in drama when someone could have changed Kullervos life, when Kullervo could have been helped. In groups of three: create a character, real or imaginary (ancestor, forest spirit, animal) that could have helped Kullervo by saying or doing something. If possible, create some simple costume. One of the group will perform the characters, others are the whispers who help with the dialogue. What could you SAY and DO?
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Partner-in-role / forum theatre Improvised dialogues / acts with Kullervo. Kullervo tries to make it difficult for the others to help him. Evaluation of drama In your opinion, how did the drama function? Which elements were working and which not? Feelings about the characters and roles you took? Leaving the roles behind, and greeting everyone by their real names. Telling the participants that we continue further evaluating the themes of the drama on the following day. The focus will be on the analogies to real life and on our own experiences as professionals.
Post drama session (next day): Here are different alternatives for working, according to the available of time. The story of Kullervo has actually been an educational story in Finnish oral tradition showing, through reversion, a good model for education. This comes apparent through the final words of Kullervo story sung by the hero Vinminen: Silloin vanha Vinminen Kunpa kuuli kuolleheksi Kullervon kaonneheksi, sanan virkkoi, noin nimesi: elktte, etinen kansa, lasta kaltoin kasvatelko luona tuhman tuuittajan, vierahan vsyttelijn! Lapsi kaltoin kasvattama, poika tuhmin tuuittama ei tule lymhn miehen mielt ottamahan vaikka vanhaksi elisi, varreltansa vahvistuisi Then the old Vinminen, when he heard that e was dead Kullervo was lost, uttered a word and spoke thus: Do not, folk of the future bring up a child crookedly with someone stupid lulling a stranger sending to sleep! A child brought up crookedly Or a son lulled stupidly Wont come to grasp things Have a mans understanding Though he should live to be old Or should grow strong in body
As we see, in the original story Kullervo headed step by step towards a predestined end: he decided to end his own life.We all meet, in our professional or voluntary work, people who have had troubles in their lives, and who seem to destroy their lives in one way or another. Often it is hard to say what is the Kullervo story of their lives. What could and should we do? Can we actually help? Should we do something to the society instead? What are the reasons and what are the causes?
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Sharing analogical situations and experiences in real life What are the cultural connections? What are the similarities with the modern times? Is it possible to help anyone? Has anyone been able to help you? Can a professional help? Can a friend help? Can these two be combined? Often it is said that only a drug addict himself can help himself. Is that true? Where do we need other people then? Brainstorm themes The participants brainstorm different themes that they found in Kullervo with post-it stickers. The post-its are grouped into bigger theme groups. Each one chooses one theme that interests him or her most. (approximately 5 groups). Sharing personal experiences, making fusion images, presentation scene or performance.The participants share their own experiences (mostly professional) about the themes in real life. Based on these stories, the group makes a presentation for the rest of the group in a chosen form. Sharing the demos with the rest of the group, discussion. Exhibition of newspaper articles There are modern stories of Kullervo collected in the exhibition (news paper clips etc.). Those can be used in the performances, as well. Future planning / brainstorm of the real life, steps & guidelines Taking the gallows into pieces. The drama can be a starting point for many kinds of workshops of community planning and decision making. Three personal guidelines What were the main points of learning for me personally? Could I crystallise some guidelines for my own life on the basis of these points? Three community commitments In small groups: make community commitments of actions that will be done for preventing these kinds of events. If we recognise beginnings of similar stories in our own community, what should we do? Even small steps are acceptable, but try to create concrete strategies. Consider also what you decide not to do: where are the limits of our intervention; as a community member/ social worker / youth worker / artist/ relative / friend?
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New York, New York. Parents Making Choices Between Their Careers and Children.
Jouni Piekkari New York, New York
Origins: This pretext was created for the starting seminar for the Drama Way project in Finland in 2003. It has not been tested in any real context, so it is still under development. Theme: Drama pretext on the theme of psychological distance in families, created through the modern dilemmas of self-realisation; possible problems and conflicts created by this. The Concept: The modern strategies of health education targeted towards the youth, emphasise that education on substance abuse (drugs, alcohol, smoking), emphasises the early prevention of the problems: the problems should be tackled positively before they even come up. This means that instead of threatening the parents with the dangers of the drugs, the preventive programmes should support the parents and the families as whole in their educational task and personal growth. But what is good and what is bad, and for who? This is what this drama should be about. This drama pretext takes a point of view of a carrier-making mother of a 14year-old boy. The idea of this pretext is to create a drama story that can be explored further, and used by a whole network in a chosen community, to share different points of view, and create collective understanding on the dynamics of family life. This drama pretext is under development. If you choose to use it in your own context, we are happy to get feedback on how it works with different groups! Objectives: To explore the theme of commitment of the family or the carrier. To understand possible conflicts and their possible solutions To give a starting-point for a drama tackling of the theme of substance abuse. Target Groups: Parents, educators, social and youth workers. Parents with children in college. Time Needed: 2.5 hours.The drama can be done in many parts during separate sessions (see the suggestions below) Some Possible Learning Areas: Analogies to famous TV-series and films depicting everyday life Improvisation Making family agreements Understanding the dilemmas of the modern times Making real life strategies for change
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Drama Pretext
Facilities and Equipment: A flip chart and pens Simple costumes Tables, chairs, etc. A3 sized paper, blue tag In the following text the suggestions for the narration of the facilitator (teacher) are in written in cursive.
Drama Contract Explain the purpose of the drama. This drama is a starting point to tackle issues that the target groups or we are most interested in, and that are considered to be the most important. Warm-up Game + / - magnets Lists of Dreams List the dreams of your life on post-it notes. They can be any kind of dreams spare time, family, love, travelling, studying or work. Put all the dreams on the wall.
Advertisement of the town made by the participants of the New York, New York drama workshop in Salo, Finland.
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Story Telling and Drawing a Map or Scenery This story takes place in a town called Meadow. The town is an ordinary, small and actually quite an ugly town. In history it was famous for (What? Ask for suggestions).This town would be nothing out of the ordinary, if not by coincidence, one of the biggest high tech companies had not settled-down there.The company is famous for its internet satellite modem technology products that are market leaders. Advertisements or Slogans (in small groups) Each town tries to polish their image with advertisement campaigns. Create advertisement slogans in small groups of three for the town. Draw and write them on the big pieces of paper. Put them on the wall. Role on the Wall Kaija is the main character in this drama. She is an economist working for the company. Martti is his husband. Martti has got his own company that makes this and that. Martti is a kind of a man, who is interested in a thousand and one things. He has always got a new idea, and immediately wants to make it a business project with very little economical success. Kaija and Martti have known each other since they were teenagers, these days they obviously have less spark in their relationship than then, but they still share the same bed. Ask participants to pick different characteristics for Kaija and Martti, the couple in this story.Ask them to pick-up post-it notes (of the participants dreams), to be possible dreams for the both of them. Ask them to choose as many as possible. Place them around their role images. The only problem about realising all these dreams is that they also had a son, who is in his puberty (he is 14-yearsold) He is a serious chap called X (ask for suggestions for a name). What does he look like? How does he do in school? Does he have hobbies? Invent characteristics or adjectives that describe him. Stage Design Create Kaijas office (using imaginary objects, if real ones are not available). What is on the table? What does she look like, how does she sit and move? A Satellite Telephone Conversation (Teacher-in-role, Improvisation) The boss calls Kaija from Kuala Lumpur from a company meeting. She has great news to tell. She has an interview with their companys New York office. She would work 50% in New York and 50% in Meadows.And that would mean travelling between the two countries. There is very little time to make the decision. This kind of decisions have to be done quickly due to the competition between the companies, you cannot leak. You have time until tomorrow, is that enough?
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Storytelling and Partner in Role Everyday when mother returned back home in her car, she passed by the advertisements. (Drive the car pass by the advertisements). Small Group Improvisations (others observe) In groups of three take the roles of the mother, the father and the son. Prepare an improvisation of the family at home. Prepare improvisation and present it to the others. Create a clearly defined space, add objects. First find a typical action that Martti and the son are involved in before Kaija arrives. Let the improvisation be mostly silent before Kaija takes up the hot issue. OR: If the group is big (15-30 people) you can do this improvisation simultaneously in the small groups, or share the group into two groups (other observes, the other plays). Pick some of the experiences for the whole group to discuss. Was it difficult for the characters? What arguments did they use? Did they stay calm or did it become a big conflict? Story Telling Finally, after a lot of arguing, Martti said to her: We are not going to object to your career. You would be unhappy for the rest of your life, and you would just blame us for spoiling your life. Make your own decisions. Conscience Alley The following night Kaija did not sleep, neither did the rest of the family. Kaija was walking up and down the corridor, trying to make-up her mind. Should I leave or should I not? The participants create a tunnel, whisper arguments to her trying to seduce her to their side: side a) those who dont want her to leave b) those who want her to leave. Story telling Kaija decided to leave or not to leave. In both cases there would be different kinds of problems in the family. Improvisations / Still images / Conflicts In small groups of three or four create situations of conflict, or problems in the family. (You may also create a series of still images.) Constellation of people watching the situation Take a point of view on the problem, or the conflict situation. Each participant takes a role and a position of an outsider. They go to a chosen still image or a problem situation, either far, or close, to the characters. The facilitator touches each one of them, and asks them who they are, and what they think about the situation.
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Gossips After each one of the improvisations, the rest of the group takes a collective role of gossiping neighbours or relatives. Move and let the gossips grow. (Gossips can be alternatively used for the constellation). Forum Theatre What should we do in these conflict situations? Choose one of the themes or improvisations with the group to explore further. It should be the one that interests the group the most, or crystallises the different themes. What could or should be done differently? Who would, could or should change the situation? What should he or she do and how? Try different alternatives. After the intervention ask: What would the consequences have been? Did it work? Was it realistic? The forum theatre can also be the starting point for the following days session of planning alternative tracks for the story, picking different themes. How to continue from here to the drug issue? For continued work: TV Discussion Programme Psychologist Ben Fuhrman discusses with the son of the family at the age of 30 (or with the parents), how he overcame these problems he had when he was young. Still Images Alternative childhoods. What suggestions do you, as parents, give to this family? Create images of an ideal childhood for the boy in small groups. Group discussion: would these images have worked for this family? Would they have been possible or realistic? Diary Each participant writes the diary of the now 30-year-old son of the family. In the diary he reflects on how he feels about his childhood and how he thinks it could have been. Where is the boy now at the age of 30?
REFLECTION OF THE DRAMA: For a group of drama workers:
Creating the Moment Go to a physical posture and a specific spot in the space, where you where during the drama, that was especially powerful for you. The facilitator asks each person where they are, and why did they choose that spot.
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Questions and Discussion Are there some popular films or programmes that have dealt with these issues? Take examples from the guidelines of different prevention programmes or research.
Further development (discussion) What did work and what not work in the drama? Suggestions for the continuation of this session, or the next session of this drama. How would the story go on? What should we concentrate on? How should the drug theme be tackled? For a real life group, e.g. group of parents:
Sharing and Evaluation Each person in turn tells in a circle what they have learned from this drama. What did I start to think? Can this kind of life style create drug or substance problems in the family? Can it create other kinds of problems? Personal Commitments What should I commit to do in the future? Make a few decisions for yourself.You can share them with the others if you like. Community Efforts (future planning) What should we do as a community? Discuss first in small groups, then present to the large group. What would be an ideal community of parents (etc.) like? Brainstorm principles. Decide for action next achievable steps. What should we do next in reality? Information and Research For discussion, take examples from the guidelines of different prevention programmes or research. Could we apply them or create our own? Alternatively, you can take this information before the group making their own future planning, but you would then create less joy of discovery and possibly less personal and group commitment or feeling of ownership for the programme.
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Origins: This pretext was created by Turku Polytechnic continuing education/ Drama in the community course students and the teacher, Jouni Piekkari, in 2001. Later it has been used in the Drama Way training of Finnish Red Cross Turku youth shelter work team in the spring of 2003. Theme: Drama pretext on the theme of possible substance (drugs, alcohol) abuse and how friends, family and other involved people around a young person relate to it.
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The Concept: The modern strategies of health education targeted towards young people emphasise that education about substance abuse (drugs, alcohol, smoking) should not be limited to the target group youth only. Rather, to gain sustainable results, any campaign should work with the whole network around the young person (school, youth workers, parents, shop keepers etc). Also the emphasis is in the preventive work, concentrating on the social support during early age (Primary school and pre-primary) (Huoponen et al. 2001). This drama pretext concentrates around a 15-year-old boy, a son of a single mother. The idea of this pretext is to create a drama story that can be further explored and used by a whole network in a chosen community to share different points of view and to create collective understanding and involvement around the issue of substance abuse. It can also be used to help different groups meet each other and share the problem. It would be ideal that the people participating in creating this process drama could discuss it, just like they discuss TV soapoperas at work places, school, e-mail etc. This drama pretext is under development. If you choose to use it in your own context, we are happy to get feedback on how it works with different groups! Objective: To explore the social dynamics around the issue of substance abuse. To think who should we ask help from? How do we create understanding in a situation collectively? To share different points of view. Target Groups: Also combined groups (teachers/parents; youth shelter workers/teachers; young people of different ages; youngsters and youth work students) to facilitate different viewpoints inside the work group. Time needed: 2.5 hours Some Possible Learning Areas Improvisation Creative writing Recognising analogies to famous TV-series depicting everyday life Problem solving, getting information on a problem Making family agreements Understanding different age groups needs Making real life strategies for change Identifying the bottle necks of communication between different interest groups (parents, youngsters, school personnel, etc.) Learning about youth and school cultures (adults)
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Facilities and Equipment This process drama pretext can be realised by one facilitator and a group of 6-30 people. Alternatively there can be an assistant that plays different roles (partnerin-role) of mother, school house keeper, headmaster, Aleksi, etc. flap board and markers, 50-70 small pieces of paper (10 x 10 cm) blue tag pens a cd-player and appropriate dance music Aleksis cap removable walls or tables (for the toilet) a classroom with different light possibilities (an overhead projector can be used)
In the text the suggestions for the narration of the facilitator (the teacher) are written in cursive.
Drama Contract The purpose of this drama is to explore the social relations around a young 15year-old boy. In this drama, everyone will have an opportunity to take different roles. No one has to be in one and the same role for a long time. There will also be other kinds of exercises apart from acting. All we have to do is live with the story of Aleksi and participate in these exercises. No one is forced to do anything, but it will be very helpful and comfortable for us if you will participate actively in making of the story. Do not be afraid to talk or do things, unless I ask you to be silent in the exercise. First we will do something to warm us up. Is everything clear to you, can we start OK? Circle of statements The group stands in a circle. The facilitator reads the following statements for the group. If anyone thinks that the statement is somehow or completely true, they must take a step forward. Then each one of those who moved will find another one who took a step, and make eye contact. Then they will move back to the large circle. This happens silently, no commenting:
I should always help my friend to not get into trouble. It is easy to see if someone is under the influence of drugs (or alcohol). I know someone who is using or has used drugs. Adults do not understand what kind of a world the young people are living in. There are a lot of communication problems between the??? It is important that the schools organise discos and other extra-curricular activities. Parents should be involved in the activities of the schools. The sons or daughters of single mothers are more at risk of social exclusion than those who have both parents at home (this question is very provocative, so consider using it carefully!).
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Storytelling + Role-on-the-Wall Aleksi is the main character of our drama. He is a 15-year-old boy, and he lives in the town of (Ask:What could be the name of this town?). He usually writes his name with an X (Alexi): he feels it is cool that people see that there is always some mystery to him. He hates being an average guy. Aleksi lives with his mother and they get along well with each other, they actually really love each other. Aleksi also loves his father, though he does not live with them anymore.They see each other every week and do some things together (what do they do?). His mother has a new boyfriend, (ask the participants to give him a name), but Aleksi does not like him, because always when he comes, he listens to country music. X really loves line-dancing. In his class, Aleksi is everyones favourite. Even the teachers usually like him. What makes a boy of this age be popular in his class? What are the characteristics they like? Aleksis favourite subject in school is English and his the best in his class in it. His mother has promised him, he can go to a language course in England the next summer. Mother will pay one third, Dad one third, and Aleksi himself one third of the trip. Aleksi earns money for the trip by (ask the participants: How can boys of this age earn money?).There is only one condition: Mother has said that Aleksi must behave well during this year to convince her that he can be responsible during the trip to England. So, there still is a long winter to go until summer. Aleksi was so excited about the trip that he could not resist telling about his plans to everyone.Well, even the mothers new boyfriend X helped him to get some weekend work as a (What?) Role-on-the-Wall The group is asked to give ideas to draw an image of Aleksi together. What kind of a hat does he have? What kind of clothes? He has printed his own T-shirt: Is there a text on it? What does it say? Write more information on Aleksi around the image: What are his hobbies? Aleksi also plays in the school band: what kind of music? What is the name of the band? You can draw the image of Aleksi during the storytelling, and add new characters and facts to it as the narration goes on.You can ask some of the group to draw, or ask for drawing advice from the group. Storytelling and Brainstorming After many years, the pupils are allowed to organise a school party again. Until now the headmaster has not been willing to let them organise it, because there had been some problems in earlier years. Some of the parents will come and supervise the party. Ask the group: What kind of problems have there been? Who will come to supervise the disco? Define the character a bit: Who is she or he? Why do they come?
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Creating a Space Go to small groups of three persons. Give each group ten small pieces of paper. You are now the school party committee consisting of the chosen group of pupils that begins to dream up the School Party of the New Millennium the best party EVER! No budget or imagination limitations! Each group writes the things, objects, programme or decoration that they dream of for their party on the pieces of paper. These pieces are then put into their places in the space (use the blue tag) on the walls, floors, etc. Defining the Space / Storytelling The facilitator asks someone from the group to give a tour in their dream space. Give applause to each idea! Well, the pupils did not get quite everything.The parents and teachers did not allow them to haveand, but it still became quite a fiesta, because they had quite good sponsors (who were the sponsors?) Still Images The party starts. All the participants are asked to move in the space along the music, to do all the things that can take place there, relate to each other etc. When the music stops, everyone freezes. One person is taken out of the situation to choose three people who are in the same situation or in relation to each other by touching them.The others are asked to unfreeze. They are asked to tell different interpretations of what is happening in the image. The exercise is repeated three or four times: an hour later, two hours later Gossips Someone is missing: Aleksi is not at the party, even though several hours have passed. He is supposed to play in the school band, which is just about to start playing. He has said that he will prepare well for this partysomeone had seen him at the shopping mall in the afternoon talking to some people. Where is he? Who were the people he was talking to? What should we do? The participants move randomly while gossiping and speculating on what is going on. Teacher-in-Role / Partner-in-Role Suddenlythere is loud shout CMOOON EVERYBODYYYYYYYYYYYY!!! At the door The facilitator or someone prepared or dressed for the role of Aleksi, makes a dramatic and an extravagant entrance, he starts to dance and act wildly, obscurely and theatrically. Group Discussion Group discusses or gossips on the situation alike earlier speculating on Aleksis actions. The facilitator creates tension in the group by provoking the group with opposite opinions like But how do we know? He is just happy. That is typical of him etc. Suddenly while they were talking, they realise that Aleksi has disappeared. Someone says that he had gone to the toilet
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Defining a Space Construct a single toilet (for both sexes) using the tables.There is a small window in the toilet. Improvise a queue of waiting youngsters, who are in a hurry to get in, but do not know about Aleksis problem. Some people, who have seen Aleksi, come and tell that Aleksi is there. Group Improvisation and Teacher-in-Role The group tries to knock and hear answer. He is lying there, but he is awake.What should I say? Facilitator echoes the answers of Aleksi. Aleksi does not want to come out. Small Group Improvisations (alternative solutions) and Evaluation of the Solutions (group discussion)
What do you think these youngsters would do in this situation? Do they risk Aleksis trip to England? Who would they ask to help or would they choose to do something else? Go to groups of four people. Create improvisations of possible solutions or acts, these young people could suggest to each other and then try them out. The improvisations are presented to the large group. Facilitator asks: What did they suggest? How would it work? What would be the result of this? Is this a typical way for young people solve this problem? What would be the best thing to do in this situation? How would Aleksi react if his mother refused to let him go to England?
Poems and Individual Creative Writing Each participant is given a piece of paper. When they finally could open the toilet door, they noticed that Aleksi had written poems all over the toilet walls! Each participant writes a poem that Aleksi had written on the wall.The poems are read in the circle, so that the participants change papers and read poems written by other people. Alternatively, everyone can wander around and read their poem out loud in turns. Circle of Statements Make the same statements as in the beginning. Ask if anybody has changed his or her mind. Suggestions for Action What should we do in a situation, in which we suspect that someone is feeling ill due to drugs but we dont know for sure? What should we do or think in our own lives to be better prepared in this kind of situations. Small groups of three or four people make from two to four statements or suggestions for action.
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These are read to the whole group. People write them down and hang them on their wall or calendar at home or work place. OR: Sharing in circle: What did I learn? What did I understand about the problem? How does it relate to real life? Was it realistic? What real life problems did it bring up? Is the communication easy between the different interest groups around a young person? QUESTIONS: How many of you finally thought that Aleksi was really intoxicated? Was this just because you thought the drama was supposed to deal with the issue of substance abuse? Other Directions and Developments of Drama: Depending on the time used, there are many possibilities for beginning to develop the drama. If the group chose that Aleksi had really used drugs, we can explore how he got involved with them. What happens if this is revealed? Was this the first time or just one of many times? The group can create improvisations on this, or the drama teacher can create the next steps of drama pretext on these suggestions.
Still Images or Improvisations and Forum Theatre What happened at home the following day? Who was there? Create an improvisation on how mother (and possibly other people there) reacted. Forum theatre: How should she have reacted better? Try different alternatives! Family relations: Improvisations in small groups OR Drama pretext: Conflicts within the family, mothers new boyfriend, the real father, etc. Alternative futures: Where would Aleksi be in ten years? (Still images, improvisations, writing Aleksis Diary individually)
Childhood experiences: the problems in later age are said to have originated in earlier age: what kind of problems might cause serious problems later? Was Aleksi at all under the threat of social exclusion, because he seemed to be quite social? Reality workshop: share some of the real life experiences of the participants (parents, educators or other adults). A future workshop or a brainstorm of ideas for action. Forum theatre can be created on the basis of the real life experiences of the participants; either distanced if the group does not know each other well, or straight if the participants volunteer and feel comfortable and safe Exploring a chosen theme or topic suggested by the participants further. Lectures, group studies, asking a police or a psychologist come in Literature (in Finnish): Huoponen, K. et al. (2001): Pihteiden kytn ehkisy. Opas koulujen ja sidosryhmien yhteistyhn. Opetushallitus, Stakes ja Terveydenedistmiskeskus, Helsinki www.stakes.fi/
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4. Literature
Literature & other sources on participatory, applied or educational drama
This list may help you in finding some useful literature and other material for developing your practice as a drama worker. The list includes different genres of applied, educational and participatory drama.We also tried to help you by classifying the materials under the following categories: BASIC (very useful and practical materials) OTHER (additional reading and other approaches, e.g. for study purposes) THEORY (for those who are interested digging deeper into the topics) There is also some more general reading on education, socio-cultural work, evaluation of drama practice etc. on the list.The materials mentioned on the list are at the moment mainly in English and in Finnish. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. Drama in Education (DIE) Theatre in Education (TIE) Forum Theatre Invisible Theatre Legislative Theatre Theatre for Awareness / Theatre for Development Devised Theatre / From Fact to Fiction Playback Theatre Sociodrama Celebratory Drama Hospital Clownery Site-specific Theatre Drama, Myths and Ritual Forms of Performance Live Action Role Play (LARP) Street Theatre Community Theatre / Theatre in the Community Text-based Amateur Theatre Improvisation Theatre General Viewpoints & Other Topics a) Genres of Applied Drama b) Drama in Multicultural Contexts c) Sociocultural Animation; Meaning and Purpose of CulturalWork d) Evaluating Drama
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1. Drama-in-Education (DIE)
BASIC: Kanerva, P. ja Viranko, Viivi (1997): Aplodeja etsijille. Nkkulmia draamaan sek taidekasvatuksena ett opetusmenetelmn. Laatusana oy/idinkielen opettajien liitto, Helsinki. Owens, Allan ja Barber, Keith (1998): Draama toimii. JB-kustannus, Helsinki. (1997): Drama works. Planning drama, creating practical structures, developing drama pretexts. Carel Press Ltd, Carlisle. (2002):Draamasuunnistus. Draamaty, Helsinki. (2001): Mapping drama. Carel Press. stern, Anna-Lena (toim): Katarsis. Draama, teatteri ja kasvatus. Atena, Jyvskyl. Neelands, Jonothan (1990): Structuring drama work. A handbook of available forms in theatre and drama. Cambridge University Press. (1992) Learning through imagined experience. The role of drama in the national curriculum. Hodder & Stoughton, London (1984): Making sense of drama. A guide to classroom practice. Heinemann Educational Books, Oxford. Woolland, Brian (1993):The teaching of drama in the primary school.The Effective teacher series. Longman, London and New York. OTHER: Bolton, G.: (1984): Luova toiminta kasvatuksessa. Tammi, Helsinki. (1998): Acting in Classroom drama. A critical analysis.Thornes (Publishers) Ltd, Cheltenham, England. (1992): New perspectives on classroom drama. Simon and Schusters Education, Cheltenham, England. Bowell, P ja Heap, B.H. (2001): Planning process drama. David Fulton, London. ONeill, C: Drama worlds. A framework of process drama. Heinemann, Portsmouth. (1991): Drama structures. A practical Handbook for teachers. Stanley Thornes (Publishers) Ltd, Cheltenham. Fleming, M. (1996): Starting Drama teaching. THEORY: Heikkinen, Hannu (2001): Pohdintaa draamakasvatuksen perusteista. Kirjassa: Korhonen, Pekka ja Heikkinen, Hannu (2002): Draaman maailmat oppimisalueina. Draamakasvatuksen vakava leikillisyys. Jyvskyln yliopisto, Jyvskyl.
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stern, Anna ja Lnsitie, Janne (toim.) (2000): Kasvot ja naamio. Vuosikirja 19992000. Draamapedagogiikan yksikk, Opettajankoulutuslaitos, Jyvskyln yliopisto, Jyvskyl. Wagner B.J. (1976): Dorothy Heathcote. Drama as learning medium. National Education Association of USA, Washington D.C. Hornbrook, David (1991): Education and dramatic art. Basil Blackwell, Oxford. Johnson, Liz & ONeill, Cecily (toim) (1990): Dorothy Heathcote. Collected writings in education and drama. Stanley Thornes (Publishers) Ltd, Cheltenham.
2. Theatre-in-Education (TIE)
BASIC: Jackson,T. (toim) (1993): Learning through theatre. New perspectives on Theatre in Education. T.J.Press (Padston) Ltd/ Routledge, Cornwall. Schutzman, Mady ja Cohen-Cruz, Jan ( ): Playing Boal. Theatre, Therapy, Activism. Routledge, London.
3. Forum Theatre
BASIC: Rohd, Michael (1997): Hope Is Vital.An interactive theatre and community dialogue training manual for educators, youth, community workers and artists. Owings Mills. Boal,Augusto: (1979): The theatre of the oppressed. Unizen Books, New York. (1992): Games for actors and non-actors. Routledge, London. (1995): Rainbow of desire. The Boal method of theatre and therapy. Routledge, London. (1998): Legislative theatre. Using performance to make politics. Routledge, London. Diamond, David: Theatre for Living. Julkaisematon. OTHER: Hkmies,Annukka (1999): Pinokkio. Sairaanhoidon opiskelijoiden ptttyprojekti forumteatterin keinoin. Kirjassa: Mielenterveysty ja opetus matkalla kohti muutosta. Mielenterveystyn opettajat ja ylihoitajat ry. Kirjayhtym Helsinki, Tampere. Schutzman, Mady ja Cohen-Cruz, Jan ( ): Playing Boal. Theatre, Therapy, Activism. Routledge, London.
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www.headlinestheatre.com www.formaat.org Nikkil, Pivi: Teatterin tekij sorron yss. Teak, verkkolehti. http://www.teak.fi/teak/Teak199/6.html THEORY: Nikkil, Pivi (2002):Augusto Boalin sorrettujen teatterin teoria sek sen sovellus: Forum-esitys A Woman of no importance. Pro gradu. Helsingin yliopisto, teatteritieteen laitos, Helsinki. Riekki, Janne (pro gradu)
4. Invisible Theatre
BASIC: Boal,Augusto: (1979): The theatre of the oppressed. Unizen Books, New York. (1992): Games for actors and non-actors. Routledge, London.
5. Legislative Theatre
BASIC: Boal, Augusto: Legislative theatre (see in 2.) Piekkari, Jouni (1995): Rautala-projekti TopToijala! Raportti asukaslhtisen suunnittelun kokeilun knnistysvaiheesta Rautalan asuinalueella Toijalassa.Toijala. Headlines theatre web-site: www.headlinestheatre.com See also 6.
6. Theatre-for-Awareness / Theatre-for-Development
BASIC: Backman, Idalotta ja Piekkari, Jouni (1994):Teatteria todellisuuden toreilla. Kirjassa: Ervamaa,Tomi & Piekkari, Jouni (toim): Sambia sinisin silmin. Kehitysyhteistyn Palvelukeskus, Helsinki. Kennedy, Samuel (1995): A Woopsy, woopsy, BANG; BANG. A manual for doing popular theatre in the Eastern Caribbean. Eastern Caribbean Popular Theatre Organisation ECPTO, Dominica. Pattanaik, Subodh (2000a): Psyco-cyco theatre. Natya Chetana, Bhubaneswar. Piekkari, Jouni (2002): Paikalliset net osallistavassa kulttuurityss (pro gradu). Tampereen yliopisto, musiikkitieteen laitos.
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OTHER: Kerr, David (1995):African popular theatre : From pre-colonial times to the present day. Studies in African literature. New Series. Heineman, New Hampshire. Mavrocordatos, Alex ja Martin, Pathika (1995):Theatre for development: listening to the community. Kirjassa: Nelson, Nici ja Wright, Susan (toim.): Power and participatory development: theory and practice. Intermediate Technology, London. Pattanaik, Subodh (2000b): Natya Chetanas creative response super cyclone 99 (A Report). Natya Chetana, Bhubaneswar. Mirii, Ngugi wa (toim.) (1986): Community based theatre skills. Bulawayo workshop 1986. ZIMFEP, THEORY: Mda, Zakes (1990): Marotholi travelling theatre:Towards an alternative perspective of development. Journal of Southern African Studies,Vol 16, no 2, June. Mda, Zakes (1993): When people play people: Development communication through theatre. Zed, London. Bulawayo. Mlama, Penina Muhando (1991): Culture and development. The popular theatre approach in Africa. Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Uppsala.
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9. Sociodrama
BASIC: Blatner, Adam (1997): Toiminnalliset menetelmt terapiassa ja koulutuksessa. Psykodraaman tekniikat kytntn sovellettuna. Gummerus, Jyvskyl. Jennings, S.(toim)(1992): Dramatherapy. Theory and practice for teachers and clinicians. Routledge, London. THEORY / OTHER: Marineau, N. (1989): Jacob Levy Moreno 1889-1974. Father of Psychodrama, sociometry and group psychotherapy. Tavistock, London. Nieminen, S. ja Saarenheimo, M. (1981): Morenolainen psykodraama. Historiallinen ja filosofis-psykologinen analyysi. Psykologien kustannus, Helsinki. http://www.mopsi.org/psykodraama.html
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Spain
ANNA CAUBET is co-founder of Patothom and teaches there; she is an actress and also acts as a Joker in different groups. JORDI FORCADAS is a graduate of stage direction and a co-founder of Patothom. Along with Anna Caubet and a team of specialists, he applies drama techniques in different social collectives (with children and parents in schools, social centres, youth centres, penitentiaries and immigrant shelters). DAVID MARTNEZ, An actor and a theatre creator, mainly works in awareness raising theatre workshops and provides theatre classes for young people in secondary education and to non-Spanish speaking immigrants. He is a member of the directive Drama Way Catalunya in co-ordination with Forn of teatre Patothom.
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Portugal
MARCO FERREIRA is an actor and a theatre creator in Companhia de Teatro na Educaco do Baixo Alentejo in Serpa in Portugal. In his work he uses various forms of participatory and applied many drama methods like devising emansipatory performances and celebratory drama.
Finland
ULLA HALKOLA is an education coordinator and organisational developer at the Centre for Extension Studies at the University of Turku. She is also a professional psychotherapist in private practice and a photographer. Phototherapeutical methods and also drama methods are important tools in her work both in education and psychotherapy. She is a chairman for the Finnish PhotoTherapy Association since the year 2004. TARJA KOFFERT is a professional psychotherapist and psychotherapy trainer both in family and individual therapy. She works a lot with young people and their families. As well as Ulla Halkola she is also an organisational developer and counsellor. She has developed phototherapeutical methods and drama methods in her work. She is an active member in Finnish PhotoTherapy Association. TITI LILLQVIST is a freelancer community worker trainer of coming drama and youth workers. She is specialised in drama in youth work, historicaltourist drama and community and development work. JOUNI PIEKKARI is a specialist of participatory drama and community work, who has developed curriculums and projects in these fields on polytechnic and university trainings levels and in non-governmental organisations in Finland, Zambia and Estonia. By background he is an ethnomusicologist.
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