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Re: Conflict Resolution in Museums
by
Hi Robert:
Are you familiar with a genre of theatre creation known as Forum Theatre, which was developed by a South American theatre practitioner named Augusto Boal? I recently had a chance to study it in a week long intensive workshop with Headlines Theatre of Vancouver, British Columbia, and to implement it into a program I’ve developed for the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, Alberta, examining issues around post railway immigration to western Canada.
Boal developed Forum Theatre (sometimes known as Theatre of the Oppressed) as a way to allow disadvantaged people to tell their stories through drama, and to use improvisation as way to explore solutions to their problems.
There is a book I’d recommend – GAMES FOR ACTORS AND NON ACTORS by Augusto Boal. As well, I’d suggest taking a look at the website for Headlines Theatre at www.headlinestheatre.com to see the range of workshops they offer.
Closer to you, you might want to check out a theatre company called TieBreak in Norwich, England – I don’t know if they’re still around, but if they are, they at one time did a lot of work around Boal’s teachings and Forum Theatre.
If you are interested in a summary of how I’ve applied Forum Theatre to my program on immigration, let me know, and I’ll email it to you. I’ve also submitted an article to INSIGHTS on a series of programs I developed for the New York Museum of Modern Art’s POP IMPRESSIONS exhibition when it hit the Glenbow last year. The emphasis was upon the life and work of Andy Warhol, and I developed extensive drama based programming to be delivered to both schools and the public. It was the most fun I’ve ever had in a museum.
I hope this helps,
Steve Gin
Creative Director, Teatro Berdache /
Education & Interpretation, Glenbow Museum
Calgary, Alberta
Canada
BurkeGin@aol.com