Mexican Theatre for Women's Rights: Opening Borders
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/4223779/mexican-theatre-for-womens-rights-opening-borders
Bring the Mexican Theatre of the Oppressed Group, El Taller, to 8 US cities in May to share women's rights-based art. Gracias!
OUR PROJECT
In May 2012, the Theatre of the Oppressed Group of the organization El Taller A.C. will visit eight cities in the US to present three feminist theatre pieces in venues like migrant-focused non-profit organizations, theatres, churches, and universities. Our productions, born of collective creation, envelop the audience in an interactive staging using the methodology created by Augusto Boal: Theatre of the Oppressed, and specifically Forum Theatre. The themes we confront in the shows range from human trade for the purpose of sexual exploitation of women (3000 Mujeres), domestic violence, lesbian visibility, safe sex, sex education, sexual assault in the workplace (Mujer no se escribe con M de Macho), and the cruelty suffered by migrant women (a piece we are currently developing).
National debate on immigration and various expressions of human rights will play a large role in 2012 elections both in Mexico and the US. In the face of great adversity, it is imperative to show we can work together to make a difference beyond the sphere of government policy. We believe art must be part of this process. El Taller A.C. would love you to join us in generating collective and artistic solutions to these issues. Although our time in the US will be brief, we believe our pieces will begin to weave the tapestry of change to benefit the various communities after we are gone. One powerful moment can connect our collective hopes, memories, and worldviews.
OUR GROUP
The Theatre of the Oppressed Group of El Taller A.C. is a group of seven people with diverse interests and occupations who share a common passion: theatre, activism, and the defense of women’s rights.
Our lair is El Taller: Centro de Sensibilización y Educación Humana A.C. (The Workshop: Center for Sensitization and Humanizing Education, non-profit) a nongovernmental organization centered around the defense of women’s rights through trainings, consciousness-raising and sensitization. El Taller A.C. advocates so women can make decision about their own bodies and reproductive health. El Taller A.C. also takes particular interest in the needs and rights of non-heterosexual women.
El Taller A.C. is the physical space where our dreams and expectations have materialized with respect to Theatre of the Oppressed; it is where we have rehearsed and performed our Forum Theatre shows, united common forces, concrete actions, and diverse allies. For more information, visit us online at www.facebook.com/eltallerpuebla or on Twitter: @ELTALLERAC .
THE SHOWS WE HAVE CREATED Our group has developed seven Forum Theatre pieces and one performance of Invisible Theatre over our four years, covering themes from violence within relationships, the challenges many lesbians face with their families, sexual assault at work, interruption of an unwanted pregnancy and reproductive rights, lesbophobic hate crimes, marriage between couples of the same sex, and human trade for the purpose of sexual exploitation—the theme of our most recent production, 3000 Mujeres, and one of the plays we will present in the US.
THE CITIES
El Paso, TX
Albuquerque, NM
Santa Fe, NM
Minneapolis, MN
Northfield, MN
Madison, WI
Washington DC
Baltimore, MD
New York, NY
OUR AMBITION
The principal objective of the project we hope to carry out in the United States is to share our artistic work and generate reflection around three prevailing social problems that negatively affect women, that we believe demand urgent attention, not only for the purpose of informing or making visible the situation, but in order to sensitize and seek solutions to change it. Our goal: to generate meaningful dialogue that incites specific actions to improve the lives of women and reduce their vulnerability in our patriarchal, consumerist, macho society.
Our fight is feminist, our passion is theatre. You, too, can take on this fight, this passion…your solidarity through this project will help us generate a significant change in the lives of women. We invite you to join this effort. As a small token of our gratitude, we will send contributors like you stickers, hand-made crafts, or tickets to accompany us in one of our productions. For donors outside the US or Mexico, we ask that you include an extra $5-$15 to cover shipping costs.
We are sooo grateful for your support and interest. We ask that you share our project via Facebook, Twitter, personal outreach, blogs, etc. The more views we get, the more public our project becomes on Kickstarter, the closer we get to funding the full cost of the $30,000 trip. If you’d like to learn more about El Taller A.C., the US tour, or how to get involved, please send Justin a Kickstarter project message. Saludos!
http://northfield.org/content/el-taller-ac-theater-group-presente
http://alleynews.org/2012/05/el-taller-a-c-social-justice-theatre-portrays-commonalities-using-brazilian-augusto-boals-theatre-of-the-oppressed-forum-methodology-at-15th-ave-st-pauls-church-m/
El Taller A.C. (The Workshop, non-profit) Puebla, Mexico-based social justice theatre organization, is literally crossing borders to bring the message that borders affect people on both sides, albeit in very different ways through their tour Women Opening Borders: A Journey in Equity, Culture and Art.
The troupe members—six Mexican citizens and one US citizen will present two actor-written and -directed plays. El Taller A.C. challenges audience members to resolve a myriad of forms of violence that most directly affect women: the challenges faced by migrant women, sexual harassment at work, domestic violence, and prejudice due to sexual orientation. The primary focus of the tour is a show about a single mother who is compelled to migrate to the US in order to provide better for her children who stay behind in Mexico. The piece is entitled Camino de Esperanza / Esperanza’s Passage and uses Brazilian Augusto Boal’s (1931-2010) methodology, Theatre of the Oppressed: Forum Theatre, which invites audience members to step into the shoes of one of the characters in order to change the final outcome of the play.
The other piece, Mujer no se escribe con M de Macho / You Don’t Spell Woman with the Same ‘M’ in Macho is an upbeat one-woman farce divided into three monologues.
The troupe shows us our commonalities in spite of our differences, and helps us build bridges of understanding across the chasms of prejudice which have been widened by political forces on both sides of the US/Mexico border, and the more subtle manifestations of violence against women created by discrimination and tradition.
Augusto Boal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusto_Boal
Augusto Boal (16 March 1931 - 2 May 2009) was a Brazilian theatre director, writer and politician. He was the founder of Theatre of the Oppressed, a theatrical form originally used in radical popular education movements. Boal served one term as a Vereador (the Brazilian equivalent of a city councillor) in Rio de Janeiro from 1993 to 1997, where he developed legislative theatre
Center for the Theatre of the Oppressed-CTO-Brazil
After the fall of the military dictatorship, Boal returned to Brazil after 15 years of exile in 1986. He established a major Center for the Theatre of the Oppressed in Rio de Janeiro (CTO), (www.ctorio.org.br ) whose objective was to study, discuss and express issues concerning citizenship, culture and various forms of oppression using theatrical language. Boal's work in the CTO made way for the approval of a new law that protects crime victims and witnesses in Brazil. Boal's group, (Team CTO: Artisto-Political Coordinator Helen Sarapeck/Political-Artistic Coordinator: Geo Britto/ Jokers: Geo Britto, Olivar Bendelak, Claudete Felix, Flávio Sanctum, Monique Rodrigues e Alessandro Conceição. International Joker Barbara Santos e Claúdia Simone. Joker Regional: Claudio Rocha, Kelly di Bertolli e Yara Toscano. Joker Assistants; Janna Salamandra. Image Consulting: Cachalotte Matos. Financial Management: Graça Silva Legal Advice: Victor Gabriel) has worked next to numerous organizations that fight for human rights. In 1992, Boal ran for city councillor in Rio de Janeiro as a theatrical act, and he was elected. Boal's support staff was his theatre group, with whom he quickly developed various legislative proposals. His objective was to work out issues citizens might be facing in their communities through theatre, and also to discuss the laws of the city of Rio with people on the streets. After having worked to transform spectator into author in Theatre of the Oppressed, Boal initiates the Legislative theatre movement process, in which voter becomes legislator. Boal is known to say that he did not create laws arbitrarily while he was city councillor. Instead, he asked people what they wanted. Other politicians were not very fond of this. Out of 40 of Boal's proposed laws, only 13 got approved during his term as councillor of Rio de Janeiro. His term ended in 1996, but he continued performing legislative theatre acts with different groups in Brasília, where four more laws got approved even after Boal had left. Boal also worked with prisoners in Rio and São Paulo. Boal argued that people in prison are not free in space, but that they are in time, and that the Theatre of the Oppressed strives to create different types of freedom so that people are able to imagine and think about the past, the present, and invent the future instead of having to wait for it. All this was in order for prisoners to have "a healthier and more creative lifestyle." People in the Movimento sem Terra or Landless Workers Movement of Brazil also experienced working with Boal's theatre methods. Boal's son Julián worked along with his father and now continues to take the Theatre of the Oppressed to various communities in Brazil and around the world. In March 2009, he received the title of "World Theatre Ambassador" from UNESCO
The Rainbow of Desire: The Boal Method of Theatre and Therapy. London: Routledge, 1995 This book reevaluates the practices commonly associated with the Theatre of the Oppressed for a new purpose. It has been argued that Boal contradicts himself with this take on his work, as it mostly concerns itself with creating harmony within society, whereas his early work was concerned with rebellion and upheaval. Boal states that, "Theatre is the passionate combat of two human beings on a platform." However, Boal's works can be seen as a progression and exploration of a Left Wing world view rather than a unified theory. In the context of those under-represented in a society, his methodology can be used as a weapon against oppressors. In the context of those in a society who are in need of catharsis for the sake of their own integration into it, it can be switched round to empower that individual to break down internal oppressions that separate that individual from society. The theories have been useful in the pioneering field of drama therapy and have been applied by drama practitioners. Boal states in his work that there are three properties of the aesthetic space. First, is plasticity. He says that one can be without being. Objects can acquire different meaning such as an old chair representing a kings throne. He states that only duration counts and location can be changed. Second, is that the aesthetic space is dichotomic and it creates dichotomy. This idea suggests that there is a space within a space. The stage is in front of the audience and the actor is creating his own space. Third, is telemicroscopic. This idea creates the idea that it is impossible to hide on stage. Every aspect of the space is seen and it makes the far away close-up
Augusto Boal
Brazilian director and dramatist who believed theatre should be a force for radical change
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/may/06/augusto-boal-obituary
photos
https://www.google.hr/search?q=Augusto+Boal&client=opera&sa=N&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&ei=jYbBU_nqAcPjywO3kYCwDw&ved=0CBgQsAQ4Cg&biw=1440&bih=792