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Appendixes
- Southern Illinois University Press
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Appendixes Contributors Index [44.222.138.70] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 15:20 GMT) 269 Appendix A: Theatre for Social Justice Institute Overview Pre-Institute Planning For six to twelve months before an Institute, the partnering organizations work together to determine the discrimination issue on which they wish to focus, the target audience they want to reach, and the measurable outcomes they intend to achieve. For example, a disability rights organization might want to address able-ism in a specific university by creating a play for an audience of that university’s administrators and board members with the goal of persuading them to improve accessibility to campus buildings and classrooms. The partnering organizations then develop an expanded list of partnering organizations and departments; a work plan, timeline, and division of responsibilities; and a detailed budget, including available in-kind resources such as workspace and potential performance venues, equipment, copying, and potential cast and crew. Once all of these issues and logistics have been worked out, a Memorandum of Understanding is written and signed by representatives of all partnering organizations. The partnering organizations then gather a diverse group of about thirty-five people interested in using activist theatre to address the selected issue. To continue with the above-mentioned example— addressing able-ism in a university setting—an ideal group for this project might include seven or more university students (students of diverse abilities, races/ethnicities, genders, academic and extracurricular interests, and so on); five or more diverse university educators and staff; as many members of the target audience as possible (in this instance, people with the ability to authorize improvements to campus infrastructure, such as administrators, board members, and trustees); seven or more theatre majors (actors, writers, improv troupe members, Appendix A 270 and the like); a counselor or social services professional; someone with legal expertise; and several people with knowledge about the disability rights movement and disability issues. The Institute/Dramaturgical Quilting Bee Structure Two theatre activists/Institute facilitators, trained by Fringe Benefits, travel to the work site (usually a school or community center) and conduct five days of intensive four-hour workshops with a group of approximately thirty-five participants. In between each workshop session, the FB teaching artists and as many project participants as possible transcribe audiotapes of stories, discussions, and improvisations from the workshops, flesh out the dramatic structure determined by the group, transform the transcribed improvisations into a first draft of the play, and use the group’s dramaturgical input to refine and polish the script through several drafts. Day One: Introductions and Story Sharing The workshop begins with an opportunity for participants and facilitators to introduce themselves, an overview of the process and goals of the day and of the Institute, and an explanation of participation guidelines. The participants then share put-downs, jokes, stereotypes, and stories (leaving out names) of incidents wherein they’ve witnessed or been involved in teasing, name calling, bullying, intimidation, violence , and/or other forms of discrimination against members of the particular group of people whose concerns are the focus of the Institute —continuing with our example, university community members who have disabilities. The participants then share stereotype-busting stories about people with disabilities. At the end of the day, we devote about thirty minutes to facilitator-led improvisations based on some of the participants’ stories. The session ends with a “Closing Circle” in which all are invited to share briefly how they’re feeling or to state a hope they have for the play. Day Two: Determining Which Stories and What Structure Will Work Best for the Target Audience Everyone has about twenty minutes to review the transcripts from Day One. We then take time to think about our target audience, to develop a “demographic profile” of the “Movable Middle”1 of that audience, and to consider our own stereotypes and fears about the Theatre for Social Justice Institute Overview 271 Movable Middle. We go on to consider possible common ground we share with target audience members and what kinds of entertainment they might prefer—what films, plays, television programs, and the like. At this point, each participant writes down on his or her own private “ballot” the three stories—from among the discrimination and stereotype-busting stories shared on Day One—that he or she thinks will be most likely to open the mind and heart of “John and/or Jane Q. Movable Middle” and change their discriminatory behavior (or encourage them to change discriminatory policies...