Theatre of the Oppressed Workshop for Activists, Educators, You

We invite artists, students, community workers, educators, and activists to participate in a two day-long Theatre of the Oppressed workshop hosted by Levana Saxon, Rosa Gonzales and Jessica Bell.

The purpose of this workshop is engage participants in Theatre of the Oppressed as an effective, creative and empowering tool for our educational and social change work. Specifically, we will build participants' skills at facilitating a popular Theatre of the Oppressed technique called forum theatre and build upon an interactive performance piece centered around climate change and justice. The two day workshop will enable participants to have the opportunity to participate in theater of the oppressed exercises, as well as the opportunity to practice facilitating and receiving group feedback.

When: Sunday, July 13th and Sunday July 20th, 10.00am - 5pm.

Cost: $80. Need-based scholarships available.

Where: To be announced (somewhere accessible by BART in the Bay)

Apply: Please email a brief description of yourself and your experience using Theatre of the Oppressed as a tool. (No experience is fine!) to Jessica Bell, 415 425 8837, jessicambell [at] gmail.com

WHAT IS THEATRE OF THE OPPRESSED?
Theatre of the Oppressed was established in the early 1970s by Brazilian theatre director and activist Augusto Boal. It is a form of popular theater, of, by, and for people engaged in liberation, in changing the world. More specifically, it is a participatory theater designed for people who want to creatively analyze and discuss problems of oppression and power, and explore group solutions to their problems.

WHAT IS FORUM THEATRE?
Forum Theatre is one important theatre of the oppressed tool. Forum Theatre works to create a scene of a specific oppression and allow participants and audience members to interactively create, alter and discuss the scene in order to analyze and solve the problem. For example, one forum scene could consist of bystanders observing an intoxicated woman being heavily flirted with by a man at a party. In this scene, it is clear that the woman is far too intoxicated to stop his advances. As the scene evolves, the bystanders discuss the pros and cons of intervening. The scene ends as the man carries the woman from the party. Participants enact and alter this scene again and again until people are satisfied with the outcome.

WHO ARE THE TRAINERS? Levana Saxon is an educator activist dedicated to participatory and creative education for the earth. Levana currently works as an educator and organizer for the Rainforest Action Network. She recently completed her MA in Education and Participatory Theatre at San Francisco State University.

Rosa Esperanza Gonzlez is a teacher, writer, and visual/performing artist. She is a member of headRush, a pycho-político spoken word theatre and popular education crew from Oakland. Rosa has a Masters in Latin American Studies from Stanford and a Masters in Teaching from the Arts in Education program at the University of San Francisco.

Jessica Bell is an organizer and social justice trainer for the California Food & Justice Coalition, an organization that seeks to create a more sustainable, just and community driven food system. Jessica is also a movement trainer with the Ruckus Society. Previously, Jessica worked at Rainforest Action Network as a campaigner for two and a half years.