Unraveling Religion

A one-day workshop 

facilitated by Magda Scharf 

and Morgan Andrews

Saturday • June 8, 2013 • 10am-3pm

at the Friends Center • 15th & Cherry

in Center City Philadelphia

Tuition $15-$45 sliding scale

Pre-register via "tophilly@gmail.com"

For the past 5 years, T.O. Philly has led interactive workshops on a number of different topics.  During these workshops, religion often pops up as a theme, but we've rarely had time to unpack it (or unravel it) as fully as we'd have liked.  For this reason we're partnering with Action Service Reconciliation for Peace (an organization that promotes German-Jewish dialogue, among other things) for a participatory half-day workshop about religion, open to all people of any creed.

The first hour begins with group introductions and explorations of what faith and/or religion mean for each of us:  What are our associations with religion?  How and when are they positive?  Negative?  Oppressive?  Or empowering?  In the second hour we weigh how different faiths, and their faithful, are perceived in our world(s) to delve deeper into discussion about religion in social and political contexts, both as a force of coercion as well as for liberation.  After lunch, we'll use the last 2 hours to share, act out and unravel personal stories through the technique of Forum Theatre to "try out" previously unseen opportunities for positive social change to our communities.

Unraveling Religion runs from 10am to 3pm, with a one-hour break for lunch in the middle.  This workshop is open to everyone with any range of life experience.  To reserve a spot, please email "tophilly@gmail.com".  Tuition is sliding scale, $15-$45.  No one will be turned away for lack of funds and work-trade is also available.

About the Facilitators:

Magdalena Scharf was born to German and Spanish parents, grew up in Iran and Brazil, and currently divides her time between Philadelphia and Berlin.  She has been involved in bringing LGBT youth from Germany and Brazil together for cross-cultural exchange, and works for the NGO Action Service Reconciliation for Peace, which fights racism, discrimination and social exclusion internationally.  She has been involved with Philadelphia Theatre of the Oppressed since 2011.

Morgan Andrews is a North American activist-artist from a Muslim-Jewish-Catholic-Unitarian family.  He co-founded Philadelphia Theatre of the Oppressed in 2008 having trained at TOPLAB in New York, with Jana Sanskriti in India, and with T.O.'s late founder Augusto Boal. In addition to hosting workshops in West Philly, Morgan has jokered T.O. extensively for LGBT youth in Philly, with activists in Brazil, and with university students and faculty around North America.  Morgan also teaches at Studio 34 and Maha Yoga, and creates plays with the Medium Theatre Company.

Workshopping Gender

Presented April 2013 at Studio 34 in Philadelphia, and April 2016 for Outward Bound in Baltimore.

Back in 2013, Philadelphia Theatre of the Oppressed gathered a couple dozen people together for an evening all about gender facilitated by Qui Alexander. We mapped gender with charts, diagrams, and by moving ourselves around the room, and Qui led group exercises that aimed to:

• define differences between sex, sexuality, gender identity and gender expression.
• talk about different gender expressions, both inside and outside of the gender binary.
• learn about trans and genderqueer identity and how to be an ally to gender-variant people.
• think critically about our own genders and assumptions we have around others' genders.

One tool that helped people understand these concepts was the Genderbread Person.  Many iterations of Genderbread People have populated the web. This version is the simplest and a good introduction to distinguishing a few terms:

In 2016 T.O. Philly led a similar workshop for the staff of Outward Bound in Baltimore.

About the facilitator:

Qui Alexander is a queer Black Latino facilitator, trainer, consultant, organizer and yoga teacher who describes himself as a laugh-loving, shape-shifting and nerdy ball of fire.  Qui began LGBTQ advocacy work during his undergraduate years at Bryn Mawr College and continues to do that work in Philly with the Attic Youth Center and nationally with the Brown Boi Project.  Somewhere along the way, Qui accidentally got into yoga, wellness and social justice.  He has since committed himself to volunteering at his local community acupuncture clinic and teaching yoga to queer, trans and POC communities.  Qui combines all of these experiences to hold space for folks in different capacities, striving to affirm identities and open people up to the deeper places learning can take them while inspiring others to embrace change in all parts of their lives.