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Olympia Family Theater is hosting two Forum Theater events following
performances of Reviving Ophelia on Sunday, May 25th and Friday, June 6th. The
events will be facilitated by Tim McCleod of the Teen Council of Planned
Parenthood. Participants will have the opportunity to “forum” parts of the
performance by watching selected scenes be replayed, stopping the action, and
stepping in to the scene to replace a character they feel was without power or
oppressed in some way.
Members of the audience will have priority seating at the
event following the performances. Additional available seats will be offered on
a first come first seated basis. Donations for the events are gladly accepted.
FORUM THEATER is a problem solving technique within Theater
of the Oppressed (T.O). in which an unresolved scene of oppression is
presented. It is then replayed with the audience invited to stop the action,
replace the character they feel is "lacking power", and improvise solutions.
Remaining actors improvise responses from their characters to the spec-actor
interventions.
THEATER OF THE OPPRESSED is a form of popular community based
education that uses theater as a tool for transformation. Originally developed
by Augusto Boal in his work with peasant and worker populations in Brazil, it
is now used all over the world for social and political activism, conflict
resolution, community building, therapy, and government legislation. T.O.
invites critical thinking. It is about analyzing rather than accepting,
questioning rather than giving answers. It is also about "acting" rather than
just talking. In T.O., the audience is not made of spectators but
"spect-actors". Through the evocative language of theatre, everyone is invited
to share their opinion on the issues at hand.
Definitions adapted from Mandala Center for Change, Port
Townsend http://www.mandalaforchange.com/theatreopp.htm
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