Social Justice Devised Digital Theatre
What’s Happening in these Pictures?
WHAT
Students in MYP Drama engaged in a brilliantly designed theatre project in which they explored themes of oppression and injustice, contextualized and personalized similar issues, and devised theatre pieces as action to inspire change for a target audience. Due to the virtual learning procedures, students crafted a virtual presentation for a live audience and to share with the SFS community.
WHY
As students prepare for life after high school, the act of exploring critical social justice issues helps prepare students to take action in a diverse global society. Using theater to create a more just and harmonious world is a conceptual idea that can transfer across disciplines.
Throughout this process, students reflected on how although they had to switch to virtual learning, had to collaborate via Zoom, and could not perform for a live audience, they still found pathways to remain creative. Though acting on a digital stage, students expressed a high level of passion in exploring issues of race and inequity, citing that these issues are too important to not remain resilient in this storytelling experience via digital theater. Developing self-management, embodying compassion, and taking informed action in service to the community demonstrated deeper learning as Seoul Foreign School graduates.
HOW
Launching the unit involved exploring theatre of the oppressed and having students identify which local or global issues might be ‘oppressing’ them or which issues were most compelling.
Students became more aware of these issues and the power of theatre by investigating artists/directors like Augusto Boal, Anna Deveare Smith, Moises Kaufman & the Tectonic Theatre Project, and Cardboard Citizens. They also explored types of theatre like Theatre of the Oppressed (which includes Image Theatre and Forum Theatre), and Verbatim Theatre.
Students workshopped with their teacher, Dr. Murdoch, on how to combine all of the above into a devised theatre piece. They analyzed their issues, aimed to “create dangerously” (as inspired by Edwidge Danticat in her book Create Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist at Work), while remaining ethically sensitive and thoughtful in understanding points of view and lived experiences.
A powerful aspect of their performance was including aspects of verbatim theatre where they interviewed community members in order to embed ‘verbatim’ responses with a greater global dialogue on social issues.
The Mastery Behind the craft:
Co-Teachers on this unit, Dr. JL Murdoch and accomplished director Edie Moon not only embodied compassion and conviction in social justice theatre, but a mastery of pedagogy, and extreme professional agility. By attending ISTA trainings virtually about performance techniques on Zoom and teaching it to the students in the subsequent weeks, Murdoch and Moon gave students the skills necessary to perform and take action for social justice despite the lack of a physical audience.
Listen to Keahi tell you about the their intended impact with their Social Justice Theatre Performance:
Click here to see a student performance:
Thank you
Edie Moon and JL Murdoch for their vision, expertise, and for allowing student voices to shape conversations about justice and inclusion in our local communities while preparing to be positive actors in our global communities.