Theatre as Social Action

Theatre as Social Action uses theatre to explore a social issue of pressing importance to young people and the community at large. Past projects have created collectively-built plays about living with chronic illness, father-son relationships (or the lack thereof), immigration, the Patriot Act, and prosecuting minors as adults.

Students record, re-write, and re-enact the stories of themselves, their families, and other people they know to get first-hand experience with the emotional and social realities of the issue at hand. They survey a broad range of media – print, radio, television, internet, film, etc. – to broaden their understanding of the issue. Through writing and improvisation, they then create and explore characters drawn from all the aforementioned resources, in order to inhabit and understand multiple perspectives in the debate surrounding the issue.

Students complete reading and writing assignments in class and at home, and learn the basics of dramatic structure, plot development and characterization. Finally, students collectively create, script, rehearse, and perform a cohesive final project that uses theatre to change the way they and other people think about the given issue.

To learn more about this workshop, contact Aaron.

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