LEVEL 1: DAY 2
JULY 11, 2023
Inside the Ukrainian Hall: the resident cat. She seems to enjoy her short visits with us, strolling around and getting friendly pets where she can find them.
OBJECTIVE DISCUSSION
We began, as usual, sitting in circle: reflecting together, building our community, creating a shared language.
We talked about "meeting your character halfway" (my words). In TfL, we are not acting out our own personal issues (psychodrama). At the same time, we are not performing as cardboard cut-outs, one dimensional characters, stereotypes. We are drawing from the richness of our own authentic experience to perform something new.
This work can stir up deep feelings and disagreements, and that is all to the good. There is no mollycoddling of the participants, no "trigger warnings," and no caretaking. Here is where some of us (myself included) may differ with David, at least in some ways, and to some degree. We had some "off the record" conversations about this during the week. I think it would be a good idea to build in some moments (rituals, exercises, etc.) for people to have the opportunity to re-center, re-balance, process, and generally, take care of themselves and each other. This is tricky, because (as David has noted) we sometimes go to extremes in "protecting" each other. David's objective is to respect the agency and the resilience of the individual, and to knock people off balance, moving from a state of homeostasis to imbalance, and possible change.
The Rainbow of Desire is one way to create imbalance, by subverting the oppressor/oppressed binary, investigating the complexity of people and their relationships, and helping us to see each other as human.
Throughout the week, David told some wonderful stories, which I will not try to repeat here, because I could too easily get them wrong in important ways. I will just mention here, for future reference and follow-up, that David told one story about a community conversation regarding gender neutral bathrooms, and another about the CEO of a Guatemalan mining company, and his relationship to his workers. In both situations, TfL was a catalyst for dialogue and positive change. In his work with doctors and medical students, David came to understand that his interventions, though they did not produce immediate, dramatic change, worked as a kind of "systemic acupuncture" over a period of several years. David also spoke of an intervention with an advertising agency. The big shift was that they made "play" the regular thing they do every day, throughout the day. It began with starting every day with one or two games or exercises.
I am wondering how much Image Theatre (and possibly, Forum Theatre) I can bring into my work: with students, with prisoners, and with community clients.
I have been thinking how the vocabulary of Nonviolent Communication (Marshall Rosenberg) is very compatible in many ways with the vocabulary of TfL.
I am also interested in finding ways to bring TfL/The Theatre of Empowerment together with CMM (a communication theory/practice: "the coordinated management of meaning").
David: "Failure is a great gift in Forum Theatre because it reveals something important about the consciousness in the room."
Cover the Space. We played a version of this well-known game, immediately following it up with
Defender. Without telling anyone, identify one person as your enemy/assailant, and another as your defender. As you move about the space, do your best to keep your defender between you and your enemy.
Versions of both Cover the Space and Defender can be found here, and in many other places. In addition to David Diamond's book Theatre for Living, there is of course Augusto Boal's Games for Actors and Non-Actors. A personal favorite of mine is Michael Rohd's Theatre for Community: Conflict and Dialogue.
David suggested that through these exercises (and others), we were acting as neurons, firing off of one another, and thinking together. He invoked Gramsci to speak about the ongoing cycle of planning-acting-reflecting that helps to frame our work together.
Addressing Inappropriate Behavior. David uses this process: (1) Say to the group, there's something going on here that's interfering with our ability to do the work, and that's making this an unsafe space. I'm asking that that behavior not continue. (2) If it continues, call for a break, and quietly take the person aside to talk about the behavior, boundaries, and what specifically you are requesting they do. (3) If it still happens, have another conference with the person, this time offering them a choice: to correct the behavior and remain with the group, or to leave the group.
Listening. Sitting in circle: First person turns to the right, makes eye contact with the person next to them, and claps their hand together (this all happens in one coordinated movement). The receiver anticipates the clap, and claps in unison with the sender. Then they swivel to the right, and the exchange continues around the circle.
Stage two: Facing forward, clap, slap both thighs, clap again, and turn to clap with the person to your right, who repeats the process, and passes it on.
Stage three: Without stopping the first series, the facilitator starts another series going in the opposite direction. Then they start another, and another, until (inevitably) things break down and the group erupts in laughter.
These games are not "warm-ups." They are the work, a kind of "entrainment," synching up the rhythms of the group.
Effective Hand. With eyes closed and arms either at our sides or crossed across our chest, we moved slowly and gently through a contained space. If we encountered other person, we turned and moved around them. Warning us not to open our eyes, David called "freeze." We were then to move until we encountered another person, breaking into pairs (David helped us with this). The next step was for us to take the hand of our partner, and with eyes remaining closed, to memorize it. After a time, we were instructed to let go, and with eyes still closed, to move around the room, as before. At some point, David called "freeze," and then instructed us to continue our blind journey, in search of our partner's hand. There was a lot of taking of hands and exploring of hands and rejecting hands. Someone later said that it reminded them of dating.
DISCUSSION
We became engaged in a discussion about the practice and the ethics of casting, in both the presentational theatre, and in Forum Theatre. This led to other topics. Some of the thoughts that emerged:
"Whose stories are on the stage - and who is going to tell them?"
"Marketing isn't outreach."
"Internal reconciliation is as necessary as reconciliation between communities."
During this discussion, and at other times during our six days together, David illustrated a "point of connection" by touching a fingertip from his left hand to a fingertip from his right hand. His point was that we do not need to share the same experience or social identity in order to find a point of connection. I am not transgender. I do not know much if anything about what it is to live as a transgender person. I am not in a close relationship with a transgender person. Still, because we are both human, I can find points of connection: our need for integrity, community, safety, beauty, etc. Through dialogue, we can find real (not abstract) points of connection, and as we build relationship through further interaction and familiarity, those two fingertips can extend their initial point of contact to two overlapping fingers, and eventually, maybe, (at least in some cases), there will be two hands clasped together.
"Glass Bottle" or "Wind in the Willows" (Trust Falls). In small groups of 6-7, and in complete silence: one person stands in the middle of the group circle.The center person places hands at sides or across chest, and closes eyes. Everyone moves in and places their hands on the center person's shoulders, as a way of letting the center person know they are there, and ready to catch them. Then they move back away from the center, far enough to allow the person a sense of falling, but not too far away. For me, the logical distance was so that if they fell toward me, my hands would meet their upper back. Important: we were not locked into position, but could (and indeed should) move to catch the person most safely and effectively. "Catchers" were advised to have their strong leg behind them, for stability. The center person is always to be met/caught by two sets of hands. The manner of catching is that of a shock absorber, not that of a wall. Further instructions:
* Slowly, gently, place the person back upright (no pushing).
* It may be helpful for the center person to think of themselves as "stiff as a board and light as a feather."
*Don't caretake. (Despite this instruction, one person in my circle found caretaking irresistible, not only catching, but also clasping the shoulders of the falling person each time.
*Let them fall.
*To the center (falling) person: Dom't bend or lean.
(Lunch)
Ideal Image
David asked for one of the images that we had generated and selected from the day before. Using that image, we practiced the following:
ideal image (David Diamond, verbatim)
We have an image in front of us that is an image of characters engaged in a struggle. Can someone from outside the image imagine these characters in a new, ideal image in which they have achieved ‘a healthy community’, or ‘respect’, or ‘safety’? (The language of this question changes, depending on the investigation being made.) We are looking for an idea that is possible, not ‘magic’.
You have an idea? Come and re-sculpt the people in the image into your ideal image. Be as specific as you can with body shapes, facial expressions, etc., and don’t forget the relationship of one character to another.
People in the image: Remember this new image, try to understand what you are thinking and feeling in it. Now, return to the original image. On a series of handclaps, one step at a time, let’s see if you can get from the original image to the ideal, but you must remain true to your character in the original image. This means you might get to the ideal and you might not; your character might want to or might not; your character might feel fine about other people getting there, and he might not. Keep in mind that you can also affect each other. Don’t be afraid to touch. Each step is a new image; use as much of your bodies as you can.
Joker Tip: Take at least six handclaps to explore this, depending on the complexity of the image, the spaces in between the characters, and the intensity of what happens.
(To the audience) What do we see when we watch this? What insights do we have from the symbolism of the journey? Did we get to the ideal? How? Why? Why not? Other ideal image ideas?
Halfway through the movement from initial image to ideal image, David asked for a word or phrase from each character. After the next move, he asked for a secret thought. Then he asked the audience: "What do you see?" He also interviewed each character, and after each interview, asked the audience if they've been there in their own social justice work.
MAGNETIC IMAGE. (We activated two - in a Power Play, all are activated.)
GOAL: To create a fiction that tells the truth of the group. (David illustrated this by having four people stand together in a crescent shape. Facing the center, each one reached out with one finger to touch the fingertips of the others.
This is about making character-driven theatre.
The play itself is the tip of the iceberg.
The process of building the play is the bulk of the iceberg.
(During this process: no applause - ever!)
Creating the Images
2. We felt the feeling associated with the struggle.
3. We visualized an image representing that feeling.
4. People were invited to share their image with the group. (We were advised to divorce the specific person from the shape being offered.) Five people came up to share their images. The group was also advised: if the image you imagined was in any way close to one of these, do not add it.
5. The audience members were asked to go to the shape most like their own, or to the one that was most relatable in some way.
6. In the groups of shared images: we were instructed to share the stories behind out images, and then to identify one word that captured a core issue relevant to all of the stories.
7. With that one word (core issue) in mind, we created a group image.
8. Each group presented its image before the large group. At the end, everyone voted for two of the images.
Activating the Images: For each image, we proceeded in this way:
9. The audience was invited to name possible relationships between the characters. All responses were welcomed.
10. For each character in the image: What are they saying out loud? Then: What are their secret thoughts?
11. Actors in the image: Re-ground yourself in the image. Let all the ideas generated in the large group discussion affect you.
12. Perform silent internal monologues. The Joker leads the actors with questions such as "Who are you? What is your relationship to the other characters? What do you want? What are you afraid of? What do you hope for? Five minutes from now? Ten minutes from now? Tomorrow?)
13. The Joker touches one actor, and they say one thing out loud.
14. The Joker touches a second actor, and they respond. (Idea: to help the actors connect, suggest that they repeat a word or phrase spoken by the previous actor.)
15. The Joker touches a third actor, and they respond to the evolving interaction (and so on).
16. In their frozen images, the actors improvise a verbal interaction.
17. The actors continue their interaction, now moving and speaking.
Possible Interventions:
* In slow motion, move to get what you want.
*Freeze, and slow an extreme image of your strongest emotion.
*Speak your secret thoughts.
Discussion
To audience: What do you recognize in your own struggles with social justice?
The Joker asks each character a series of questions about their circumstances, relationships, desires, fears, choices, obstacles, etc. The responses do not need to be coordinated with each other - it is fine to have multiple incompatible stories.
The exercise concludes with "de-roling" the actors.
CLOSING
Final Game: Tag with Safety Nets. One person is IT, and a second person is THE RUNNER (the pursued). Everyone else pairs up and makes a safety net: facing each other, they join hands and stand back, allowing for as large a space between them as possible.
The runner can seek protection by ducking into any one of the nets. When they do, the person who is standing behind them breaks away and becomes the runner. The person who entered the net replaces them.
Closing Circle.
Closing Ritual.
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