Stephen Belber Visits - Eric Hoffman

Stephen Belber Visits - Eric Hoffman

It is a desire to teach young people how to be more decent that unites the educators in the City College of New York educational theatre graduate program.  “Decency”, or what we also call “non-cognitive skills” or “social skills” or “character”  (the field of education is still struggling to place a label on this important concept), is essential for young people to grow up to be productive, kind, happy and engaged citizens.  This is the goal of all caregivers and educators, but educational theatre is uniquely positioned to help young people develop a moral compass and identify the role they play in their community.  Through roleplaying, young people are given opportunities to recognize the choices they have and, on stage, experience the consequences of those choices.  It’s not that theatre education teaches young people to be heroes.  It simply gives them the skills like patience, curiosity, gratitude and focus that allow decent people to work hard, communicate and engage with their families, communities and careers.  When faced with adversity, people with these skills make better choices than those who don’t.

On October 9th, my classmates and I were lucky enough to participate in a dialogue with Stephen Belber, one of the core ensemble members of the Tectonic Theatre Project, which created the profoundly moving and significant play The Laramie Project.  The Laramie Project tells the story of the homophobic murder of Matthew Shepard and the reaction it caused in the community of Laramie, Wyoming and the national media.  During the lecture, Belber went into depth about the philosophy that informed Tectonic Theatre Project’s process of the creation of this piece.

In The Laramie Project, a docu-drama created from the verbatim transcripts of interviews conducted by the members of the Tectonic Theatre Project, we are introduced to residents of Laramie, Wyoming.    Many of the real people depicted in the play people struggled to save Matthew Shepard’s life, helped their community to heal and forced their community to take a hard look at itself and the consequences of its homophobia. These individuals come from different walks of life and through the journey of the play we watch them grow and evolve.  Through the play, we see how the tragedy of Matthew Shepard’s death lead them to discover compassion and bravery they did not know they had.   Belber reported on a process that helped a town become an observer of itself for the first time.

Can the lives of future Matthew Shepards be saved if people become observers when they are young?  I am not sure if a robust theatre education program in Laramie’s grade schools could have prevented this tragedy, but I do know that part of the solution to preventing this kind of hate lies in the lesson plans like the ones found in Sharon Grady’s Drama and Diversity.  Grady lays out a series of lesson plans that help young people understand and combat racism, sexism classism, abelism and homophobia.

Theatre education and plays like The Laramie Project can wake people up, give them a chance to observe the world and their lives more closely, which will help them make compassionate and brave choices that will transforms the world into a more decent place.  Stephen Belber gave our class guidance as artists and educators as we try to make a world more self aware, one classroom at a time.  

Jeremiah Drake Visits - Laurie Berich

 Jeremiah Drake Visits - Laurie Berich

On Sunday September 16^th, the Graduate program in Educational Theater hosted a workshop led by Harlem’s own Jeremiah Drake. A multi-faceted artist and educator, Jeremiah currently runs a weekly Theater of the Oppressed workshop at Riverside Church for Harlem residents. He also works with Face to Face, an organization that provides free cosmetic surgery for battered women.

            Current students and alumni gathered in the NAC ballroom for an afternoon crash-course in Theater of the Oppressed. Jeremiah began the workshop beckoning us to “come closer,” a request he noted was a trademark of August Boal himself. He spoke to us of his life, his experience as a teaching artist in the Chicago Public School System, and his belief in the effectiveness of Forum Theater.

            Jeremiah stepped into the role of Joker, the name for the facilitator of a forum theater piece. Forum Theater differs from other forms of theater through its audience participation. Those present are both spectators and actors, cleverly combined to create the title “spectactor.” The process began asking for personal stories of oppression that we have either experienced or witnessed. After four or five suggestions we took a vote to decide which story we would explore.

            The story that was chosen was about being a witness to a mother verbally abusing her young child in a restaurant while onlookers sat idly by. Graduate student Todd Woodard, who had shared the story, was asked to play himself and to cast others in the scene. As Todd pulled spectactors into the playing space, Jeremiah handed each person a prop. These were pieces chosen at random including a gladiator helmet, a telephone, a sickle, a sombrero, and a tennis racket among other things. I noted that giving people who are “non-actors” a prop was a great technique. It immediately gives them something to do in the scene, taking away from the awkwardness of the spotlight.

            After the roles were cast, we moved into some image theater work. Jeremiah prompted each spectactor to create a frozen picture of their character. Drake called out “Don’t think, just do, 3,2,1!” to those who hesitated, and “Let the image speak!” to thought-track each character. The spectactors did a full run-through of the scene. Our Joker Jeremiah checked in with Todd for the accuracy of the scene, and gave him permission to change any element for the sake of accuracy. On the second run through in Forum Theater, any spectactor is allowed to yell out “Stop!” to freeze the scene. They then take the place of the protagonist to try a different approach in dealing with the conflict.

            After a few brave but failed attempts, Jeremiah lined up the remainder of spectactors for a “lightening forum.” At a rapid pace, each spectactor had about ten seconds to try their own version of conflict resolution. When we finally came to an end, the restaurant scene was mayhem and our oppressor was in handcuffs. For the third and final run-through, Todd stepped back into his role as the protagonist to utilize the tactics of the spectactors.

            At the end of the forum, Drake told us that the most important part of the process is in the exchange of ideas. We explored the issue of public child abuse at length, so now what? Forum Theater can be used to simply raise consciousness about an issue, or it can become legislative theater that is done in an effort to create or change a law. The group settled on a law that would fine anyone caught physically or verbally abusing a child in public. Drake intended to take this idea to a senator and invited anyone and everyone to join him if they wished.

            Leaving the workshop, I was left wondering how Forum Theater could be applied with students. Children and adolescents are not always given a voice or valued in discussion, and in this way they are an oppressed population. Perhaps Forum Theater can provide the opportunity and empowerment to have their voice heard and to actively participate in shaping the world around them.

A New School Year, An Alumni's Voice - Benjamin Posner

A New School Year, An Alumni's Voice 
Benjamin Posner

So there I was staring at a class of twenty-­‐five 1st graders on their first day of school. We stood there for a few moments, waiting for the other to move. We shared a look that said “I want my mommy.” I broke the silence and said “don’t worry, it will be alright.” I’m not sure who needed more convincing, them or me? Probably me.
Being a new teacher is a lot like being a new student. You don’t know anybody. You don’t know where to go. You don’t know what to do. It takes about a week to meet the rest of the faculty and staff, a couple days to figure out where everything is, and a few years to figure out what you’re doing. Or so I’m told.
And I hope its true because right now I have no idea what I’m doing. There’s nothing quite like the pressure 25 audiences a week all demanding entertainment, and a decent education. I will say that proper planning helps to guide me through each week, as well as early bedtimes and packed lunches. A good mentor helps too and I’m extremely lucky to have one at school that is not only committed to my success but the success of the arts in education. In fact, my school has band, chorus, dance, and theatre.
I feel like a member of the Avengers. I’m the rookie with his chest puffed up, trying not to look quite so green. But I am and there’s no use hiding. Even the students know, but just like the teachers, they are kind, and understanding, and patient.
There are trying times too. Times when my plans go awry with lessons that are too difficult or too simple. There are snags in my curriculum. And many times I have looked to my mentor for help in those situations. I cannot overstate how helpful the guidance and counsel of a veteran teacher can be. Most of the teachers at my school are veterans in the system and they are all extremely forthcoming with advice.
Aside from lesson planning, curriculum development, classroom organization and decorating, there is also administrative work like benefit and union enrollment, and payroll logistics. Teaching is part of the job, but it’s not everything. Teaching is what you get to do when you finished all your other work. It’s like dessert. It’s the reward you get after getting off the phone with human resources. I value my graduate training at CCNY above any other but I wish they (or anybody) offered a class in navigating the avenues of bureaucracy at the New York City Department of Education. My advice to anyone becoming a teacher is to deal with the DOE over summer BEFORE the school year starts. It will save you time and sanity.
But I don’t let the minutia detract from the excitement of my first year. Anyway I’m far too busy to busy myself with busy work. I occupy my time with lesson planning and learning the wildly different names of about 600 students. Their personalities are also wildly different and interesting and I am amazed at their level of enthusiasm for drama. It feels like they’ve embraced me, taken me under their wings. They look at me like they know what it’s like to be the new kid in school. They say “hi” in the hallways. They bring their parents to see me. They tell me I look like Superman and smell like Batman. So I guess I’m not an Avenger after all.