What A Riot Reflection/Wonderings

Reflections/Findings:

The concept of The Joker System and its components made it more clear to me how Theater of the Oppressed could be used to create a work of theater that has structure and characters beyond a set of exercises that hold a potential multitude of characters and representations for one scenario. The Joker System, already present in Theater of the Oppressed provides a clearer structure for performance rather than something experiential.

I do agree that there is some element of the students’ voices that are lost when a professional playwright is charged with collecting their words and rearranging them in a manifested structure. However, given time constraints and keeping in mind that this was likely many of the students first experience of devised theater, I understand the necessity of the involvement of a playwright and that playwright’s voice and experience being included. I wonder if given more time and more opportunity for the students to explore the research and the process themselves, if they could have come up with an entirely student devised performance.

It was interesting to me that these students’ way of reflecting back on their own histories and exploring their own identities was to explore certain themes through the lens of another culture and identity, and that the element of alienation in the performance was said to have allowed them to do this from a safe distance conducive to big picture reflection.

Wonderings:

I’m interested to know more about the concern that the professional team was indoctrinating or “proselytizing” the students with their own beliefs, especially when it comes to the parents. Could this project and its subject matter be dangerous for the students to learn about and participate in in their lives outside of the program? If so, how does this further inform the project, it’s handling of the subject matter, and its process?

In what ways could the process have been more inclusive of the students’ words and feelings?

Could this project be opened up to include whole families or entire classrooms including teachers and administrators? How would that change the process and its outcomes?