Spring 2012 Workshops

Register now for our spring workshops! The first set is a 2-part facilitator training on Saturday days March 17 and 24 (you can come to one or both) at Studio 34. The second set will be a 5-part series on Tuesday evenings starting April 17 at the Rotunda. Details for each below:

"How To Facilitate... and Difficultate"

A 2-Part T.O. Facilitator Training
Saturdays March 17 & 24

11am-6pm at Studio 34

4522 Baltimore Ave. West Philadelphia

"Facilitator" means "one who makes things easy," while a "difficultator" can mean "a facilitator who offers challenges for a group to overcome." This is the essence of Theatre of the Oppressed: to use the stage as a place to rehearse the hard stuff we face in everyday life. This two-part workshop will cover essentials of playing and leading theatre games, as well as how to build these games into anti-oppression work. We will sharpen our skills as facilitators and difficultators, balancing fun with meaningful transformation, and learning how to hold space for a group while simultaneously offering challenges for that group to work through. Register for one day ($25-$55 sliding scale) or both ($45-$95 sliding scale).

"Turning Issues & Isms Inside-Out"

A 5-part T.O. Workshop
Tuesdays 4/17, 4/24, 5/1, 5/8 & 5/15
7-9pm at the Rotunda
4014 Walnut Street, West Philadelphia

Theatre of the Oppressed uses words, sounds, images, movement and the art of play as ways to examine problems from different perspectives. In this workshop series, the group will pick a handful of target issues and "isms" (e.g.: racism, sexism, ageism, ableism, etc.) and develop some tools for collectively deconstructing and rearranging them in new ways. From there we'll strategize on how to do the same n the wider world.

Pre-register for either series via "tophilly@gmail.com" or call 215-730-0982. Tuition is sliding scale, $45-$95 per series, no one turned away for lack of funds.

T.O. Philly News: Spring 2012

Graphic from Gayer Panchali (Song of the Village),
from the book Where We Stand: Five Plays from 
the Repertoire of Jana Sanskriti, used by permission.

Philadelphia Theatre of the Oppressed has had a productive and fun fall and winter. In West Philly, we held several series of workshops on Games, Image Theatre, and Rainbow of Desire, which included readings by Augusto Boal and members of India's Jana Sanskriti movement. We also co-facilitated a retreat with German volunteers from Action Reconciliation Service for Peace, and shared T.O. tools with North American volunteers from Reach Up, Reach Out, who are traveling to Guatemala to teach acro-yoga and capoeira to kids. (They're having a pancake brunch fundraiser this Sunday—do come!)

Right now a few of us are involved with a theatre project called The Sea of Tranquility  that debuts inside a historic mansion in Allamuchy, New Jersey (about 2 hours from Philly by car, 60 minutes from NYC). The piece is devised work, meaning that the script gets developed through its rehearsal process, and includes physical theatre, live music, dance and mask work. We're also integrating a lot of Image Theatre into our process as we take local folklore and explore how stories can be told from different perspectives. Performances are March 2nd, 3rd and 4th at 6:30 and 8pm in Rutherfurd Hall, right off of I-80 in Allamuchy. More details and tickets can be obtained from Rutherfurd Hall's website.

This spring in Philly we will host our first Theatre of the Oppressed facilitator training on two consecutive Saturdays—March 17th and 24th at Studio 34 from 11am to 6pm. Tuesday night workshops will resume at the Rotunda, plus there will be a number of fundraising events to help folks travel to the Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed Conference in California. To pre-register for the trainings, or for more info on these events, drop us a line: "tophilly@gmail.com"  or call 215-730-0982.

See you soon!

Workshop Series: From Image to Action

Tuesdays: 1/24, 1/31 & 2/7  • 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

at the Rotunda • 4014 Walnut Street

Suggested Tuition: $25–$45—no one turned away!

Please pre-register at "tophilly@gmail.com" or call 215-730-0982

Theatre of the Oppressed is a tool for rehearsing reality: what we do onstage we may strive to do in everyday life. In this 3-part workshop, the group will use theatre games and techniques to identify, explore, and take apart various forms of oppression. We’ll then strategize ways to transform our ideals for liberation into concrete actions. 

What we learn and make in this workshop will be supplemented with take-home readings written by others who use Theatre of the Oppressed in different ways: peasant farmers in India and Brazil, young people in New York and Minneapolis, and survivors of torture and war in Colombia and Afghanistan. These readings show us how this work can be used in the wider world and inspire us to transform our own communities in similar ways.

Note: We ask that participants commit to coming to all three sessions in this series. To pre-register, please call 215-730-0982, or email "tophilly@gmail.com"