[mobglob-discuss] Fw: Think Democracy? Practice Democracy!

[Paul Browning]

Think Democracy? Practice Democracy!
----- Original Message ----- 
From: democracy 
Sent: Friday, December 12, 2003 2:26 PM
Subject: Think Democracy? Practice Democracy!


Hey Friends!

Headlines' upcoming project Practicing Democracy will be using interactive theatre to make law.   The central question we will be exploring is, "How can the City of Vancouver respond to the cuts to welfare?"  Presently, we are looking for people who may be interested in joining the community workshop (Feb 1-6) and people who might want to create and tour the mainstage production (Feb 10- March 21).  Participants must be living in Vancouver and affected by the cuts to welfare in some way. 

Presently, we are looking for people who may be interested in joining the community workshop (Feb 1-6) and people who might want to create and tour the mainstage production (Feb 10- March 21).  If you know anyone who is living in Vancouver and who would like to join this project, please pass the information along.  The deadline for applications is December 15th. (more info below)

Details are posted on our website www.headlinestheatre.com.  I welcome you to give me a call if you have any further questions.

Practicing Democracy is a lively and fun event where Vancouver residents will use theatre to communicate with local government and define civic law.  I hope you will join the fun!

All the best,
Jennifer
-- 
Jennifer Girard
Community Outreach Coordinator 
Headlines Theatre
#323-350 East 2nd Ave.
Vancouver, BC Canada V5T 4R8
(604) 871-0508 (ph)  (604) 871-0209 (fax)
e-mail:    outreach at headlinestheatre.com
web:    http://www.headlinestheatre.com


-

this is your chance to take part in

Practicing Democracy 


. Are you affected by the Provincial Government's cuts to Welfare?

. Do you want to explore solutions in a playful and engaging way?

. Do you like to think on your feet?

If you answered yes to these questions, then Headlines Theatre invites you to participate in Practicing Democracy.

We are looking for thirty people to participate in a week-long THEATRE FOR LIVING workshop.

Participants must be living in Vancouver and affected by the cuts to welfare in some way.  Using theatre games and exercises we will explore how Vancouver residents experience these issues.  It is these points of tension that will form the subject matter of the Forum Theatre play.  

We need a diversity of perspectives to inform this work.  Your experience of the cuts to welfare may be direct or indirect.  Perhaps you have current or recent experience of welfare or you have family, neighbours, clients, customers, students, patients or co-workers who are impacted.  If you are keen to explore your relationship to poverty in the city, your perspective is valuable to this workshop.

Join us in developing this exciting project!  


. Join the community workshop!
February 1 - 6, 2004

The community workshop will use theatre games and exercises to build trust and explore your experiences and perspective around  the cuts to welfare.  To a large extent these games and exercises are non-verbal. You will be asked to look into moments of stress, tension, internal and external struggles from your own life in order to investigate issues at both a personal and a systemic level. This will happen through a physical language -- not testimonials.  

This workshop does not go to public performance. Its purpose is to create a mandate for the creation of the Forum Theatre production that will tour inside Vancouver. 

The workshop will take place from February 1-6, 2004.  It is very important that you are able to commit to coming to every day all day of the workshop. Each workshop participant will be paid $500.00 for the week and lunch will be provided each day. 

Housing will be provided for those participants who are not currently in housing pending funding availability. All workshop participants will be interviewed prior to the workshop as part of the participant selection process.  Please contact us if you have any questions.    


. Are you interested in being in the touring production? 

Six members of the community workshop will create the mainstage Forum Theatre play along with Headlines¹ Artistic Director David Diamond and a professional design team. 

We don¹t want the community workshop to be an audition so, if you want to be considered for the cast, you will be asked to do some improvisation work with David during the participant interviews.

Cast will be paid $550 a week for the duration of the project (February 10 ­ March 21, 2003), with housing supplied for those who require it.  Cast members will sign contracts stating they are available for the full time period.


. The Schedule







December 15, 2003
Deadline for applications. 
(Maximum 24 participants)
Please specify whether or not you are interested in going on to create 
the main stage production or if you would like to be in the workshop only.

Acting experience is not required, 
but we do need a letter/email/fax or phone call stating  
why you are interested in being part of the project, 
that you are available for the times and dates outlined in this schedule, 
how we can reach you 
and a resumé if you choose.  

We will gladly answer any questions. Our address and numbers are below. 

January 8 - 10, 2004
Participant interviews and cast auditions.
All participants will be interviewed, those interested in being in the play
will audition. It is not possible to prepare for this, just bring yourself and be willing to play!

January 15
Final selections.
We will announce the workshop participants and cast.

February 1 - 6, 2004
Workshop.
The THEATRE FOR LIVING workshop will take place from 10 am - 6 pm each day.

February 10 - 29, 2004
Rehearsals.
(10 ­ 6 daily, Monday is day off)
The cast creates the main stage production.

March 1 - 21, 2004
Performance.
The forum theatre production will be performed 
20 times in three community halls around Vancouver.

Early April, 2004
Report goes to Council.
The record of the audience interventions, in the form of 
recommendations that the City can implement will be submitted to Council.








. Sign me up!

To become a workshop participant, please send us a letter/email/fax indicating that you are able to commit to the dates and times of the workshop (February 1-6 from 10 am to 6 pm each day). If you are interested in creating the public mainstage show and being in the tour, please indicate that you are available to do so (February 10-29 every day except Mondays and March 1-21 for performances).  

You must also state why you want to be a part of this project and how it is relevant to you.  You may include a resumé if you choose.

Please be sure to include your contact information!  If you have any questions, feel free to give us a call.

Headlines Theatre
#323-350 East 2nd Ave.
Vancouver, BC Canada V5T 4R8
(604) 871-0508 (ph)  (604) 871-0209 (fax)
e-mail:    democracy at headlinestheatre.com
web:    http://www.headlinestheatre.com
--


frequently asked questions:




this is what 

Practicing Democracy 

                                                   looks likeS




Why focus on the cuts to welfare?


Of course welfare is the jurisdiction of the Province of British Columbia (BC) not the City of Vancouver, so the first question that comes up is, why focus on welfare cuts?  The practicalities of what will happen due to the welfare cuts will fall to municipalities and local service providers.  Already, we can see increases in homelessness, panhandling, shelter and food bank usage, as well as increasing difficulties for impoverished children,  for people with mental health issues, in policing....the list goes on.  We wish that these problems were not happening but they are. The challenge for a democratic society is to agree on ways to deal with these problems.  

Legislative Theatre is a dynamic, democratic and joyful mechanism for problem solving and the creation of community dialogue. It is a way for people to use the theatre to communicate with Government!

To read more about how the topic was chosen by Vancouver residents go to www.headlinestheatre.com.


How does the play get created?


Our mandate is to create theatre with people in community. What this means is we will be using theatre games and exercise to explore how the issues affect the lives of the participants. We will be exploring the struggles they face in relation to the welfare cuts.  It is these points of tension  in the lived experiences of the workshop participants that will form the subject matter of the play. This ensures that the play is created by the community and not solely from the 'executive artist's' perspective.

So how does this happen? From Feb. 1-6 we will gather a group of 30 participants together who are living the issues. All participants will be paid to participate in a week long THEATRE FOR LIVING  workshop, out of which will come the core material for the Forum Theatre play.  No acting or theatre experience is required.  If you would like to join the workshop group, read the section "Sign me up!" above.


What happens in Forum Theatre?


The play is performed once so the audience can see it. Then it is performed again. This second time, audience members can yell "Stop!" if they see someone struggling with a problem and have an idea of how to solve that problem. The "Stop!" freezes the action. The audience member enters the playing area, takes the place of the character who is in struggle, and tries his/her idea, improvising with the other actors. In this way the public gets to use the theatre as a concrete tool to investigate various perspectives on a particular issue and to find real solutions to those problems in the real world. Forum Theatre is a rehearsal for social change; the theatre becomes a tool for community dialogue. It is fun, fast paced, meaningful, thought-provoking and always entertaining.


How is Legislative Theatre different from Forum Theatre? 


We will engage a legal expert for the project. At every performance, it will be this person's job to document the ideas that come onto the stage from the audience, collate them, study them, and translate the desires at the core of the actions into legal language.  This will become "The Legal Expert's Report".


What will happen with "The Legal Expert's Report"?


Once the performances are over, The Legal Expert's Report will be presented to City Council and participating agencies as a discussion paper for the creation or revision of civic legislation around the issues.  City Council has agreed to use the input as a valid part of their deliberations about the issues at hand. We will also make the report available to service providers, the media and anyone else who wants it.


Where did this idea come from?


THEATRE FOR LIVING  is based on the work of Augusto Boal, the Brazilian creator of the "Theatre of the Oppressed".  In 1997, Boal became a Vereador (the equivalent of an MLA in BC) in the District of Rio de Janeiro. As part of his agreement to run for office, he took his entire theatre company into office with him, and together they developed "Legislative Theatre".  In this system, Forum Theatre was used to enable groups around Rio (from street cleaners to blind people) to create plays on issues of importance to them. Through this interactive process, they had the opportunity to suggest laws that might be passed to improve their lives. Boal then took these laws to the Chamber and proposed them. In this way, 22 laws were passed over two years.

As Boal writes in his book,  "Legislative Theatre" does not accept that the elector should be a mere spectator to the actions of the elected official, even when these actions are right: it wants the electors to give their opinions, to discuss the issues, to put forward counter-arguments, to share the responsibility for what their elected official does." (Legislative Theatre: Using Performance to Make Politics. Augusto Boal. Translated by Adrian Jackson, Routledge, 1999.)


Has Legislative Theatre ever been done in Canada before? 


"Legislative Theatre" has never, to our knowledge, been done in Canada. However, for over two decades Headlines has been a national and international leader in the development of Boal-based theatre techniques. We have had numerous successes in creating structural change through this work.  For example, as a result of a play that Headlines created on refugee issues called ¿SANCTUARY? (1989) the BC refugee hearing interview seating arrangement was re-designed in order to create a more equal physical relationship in the room.  

In a more recent project, regarding safety for youth in the streets, (Squeegee, in 1999) legal advocate Rina Zweig, BA, and LL.B., created a report for City Council based on the ideas and desires of audience interventions.  Even though the Council of the day refused to participate in the project, agencies working with street youth took the recommendations in it seriously and adapted their programs. To read the Squeegee Report go to www.headlinestheatre.com.








PERFORMANCES MARCH 3-21
TICKETS BY DONATION

THREE VANCOUVER LOCATIONS

for more details go to 
www.headlinestheatre.com
democracy at headlinestheatre.com
604-871-0508



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