Date/Time
Date(s) - 2013/11/10
11:00 am - 4:30 pm
Location
Graduate Theological Union, Starr King School for the Ministry, Fireside Room
Categories
Theater of the Oppressed is a collection of games, techniques and exercises for using theater as a vehicle for personal and social transformation. It uses the dynamized human body and the charged theatrical space as a laboratories for exploring power, transforming oppression, and finding solutions to the fundamental problems of conflict, inequality, injustice and human suffering.
This class is open to anyone interested in exploring art & theater as method for engaging with the issue of oppression, while developing creativity, insight, and critical intelligence in dealing with this core issue.
No acting experience is necessary.
Time: 11am-4:30pm Sunday, Nov 10th
Venue:
Fireside room, Starr King School for the Ministry (Graduate Theological Union), 2441 Le Conte Ave. Berkeley, Ca 94709
Directions: See also below
Cost:
This workshop is offered free. We consider this work to be part of our shared social, artistic, activist commons.
We also consider the propagation and dissemination of this work important for meaningful social change.
However, we appreciate donations which will allow us to increase access to future participants.
Notes for the Workshop:
Please dress comfortably (in layers, if necessary) to move. Feel free to bring water, comfortable shoes/socks, a notepad & a snack/lunch if you need.
We will break for lunch for about an hour, around 1pm. We suggest you pack a lunch to eat or get something from the many reasonably price cafes and restaurants in the neighborhood, and bring it back to the space, where we will eat together while continuing our discussion and reflection. We also encourage the sharing of food during these workshops, so feel free to bring extra to share if you feel so inclined.
There is a kitchen on the premises, with a microwave and refrigerator available for storing/heating food.
Bathrooms on site are wheelchair accessible.
Facilitators
Jiwon Chung is a professional actor, director, and a key theorist of Theater of the Oppressed. He is the Artistic Director of Kairos Theater Ensemble, Adjunct professor at Starr King School at the Graduate Theological Union, and past President of the national organization for Theater of the Oppressed. Author of numerous books, articles, and performances, he is considered a pioneer in the integration of somatics, theater of the oppressed, and socially engaged art. The focus of his work is in the application of theater as a tool for social and political change, using Theater of the Oppressed to challenge, resist, and transform systemic oppression and structural violence and to redress large scale historical atrocity and injustice. His approach to performance and social change is informed by his background as veteran, martial artist, and 3 decades of Vipassana meditation.
James C. Haines is an experienced group facilitator and workshop leader for non-profit and educational organizations, as well as in Juvenile Justice Facilities. He is skilled in community organizing, intercultural communication and youth/peer counseling. James leads workshops on meditation and emotional intelligence as a means of healing conflict, breaking cycles of violence and building effective partnerships across diverse cultures and communities. He is committed to fostering compassionate communities and cultures that support adults and youth in realizing their full potential.
Sarah Shourd is a writer and an educator based in Oakland, CA. She has used participatory theatre and writing in her classes in Mexico, Syria and the U.S. for over a decade. In 2008-9, Sarah was living and teaching in Damascus, Syria when she was captured by Iranian forces while hiking behind a tourist site in Iraqi Kurdistan. She was held in solitary confinement for 410 days by the Iranian government and then released without ever being tried or charged. Sarah now draws from her own experience in prison, as well as the challenges she faced reintegrating into post-prison life, in her workshops and writing. Her memoir A Sliver of Light: Three Americans Imprisoned in Iran—co-authored by Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal—will be published by Houghton-Mifflin Harcourt in March 2014.