During the past three days, while Level 2 students have been exploring Theatre of the Oppressed methods, Levels 4 & 5 (the senior and graduating classes) have been working with Linda Key to prepare an original piece of theatre upon which to base an interactive workshop, theatre-in-education (TIE) style. This afternoon, Wednesday, while Level 2 was enjoying its cultural exchange, Linda and I, guided them into a workshop devising process, asking them to identify the themes of their piece, the central questions they want to pose to their audience and the strategies and structure they will use. This is complex drama and pedagogical work, but these students rose to the challenges with insights and enthusiasm that amazed us. The ideas flowed fluently. They have truly understood this work and the nature of participant-centered drama practice. Tomorrow they will refine the workshop and practice the strategies, and on Friday they will present both play and workshop to an invited but uninitiated audience. It will be an ultimate test of their learning in the past three or four years!
Chris
