Skip to main content

Mohammed Elmasry: Week 8 - What a Riot!

I was a little confused...so is What a Riot! a piece of its own talking about Upset!?

I suppose I will first talk about the theatrical mechanisms that were interesting about this reading. The Joker system first and foremost is classic Boal. This allows the reader/audience to be directly engaged and involved with the discussion at hand, in this case it is systematic racism in the United States. I personally, love this kind of theater. Oddly enough I have noticed that my training at CalArts strays away from these kinds of mechanisms. Even for something like showcase, I was told to not break any walls or address the audience in any way, as it would put pressure on them and "take them out of the performance". Does this mechanism put too much of a strain on the audience? Taking them out of the theater and putting them in real "Danger?" As the Joker says on page 7 "Is it here? Or is it gone? That is for you decide!"

I think that no director, no matter how skilled, should ever speak for audiences unknown to them. People are different and so are their reactions. This reading was very enlightening, I always like to reflect upon my own life with my readings and I have realized that Theater of the Oppressed itself is oppressed within our own society here at Calarts. We only are allowed to speak of certain things and whether we want to admit or not, someone is always censored or not able to fully express their art because it is "politically" dangerous or "incorrect".

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jeremy Griffith - The Roof is on Fire

1. CONTEXT: What were the circumstances that framed the meaning and process of this project? There are many minority teens in low-income, low-opportunity areas who have unheard voices. Their self-esteem isn't cultivated and all of their portrayal in the media is negative. 2. CONTENT: What was the issue, need, idea or opportunity addressed by this project? Teen voices were unheard, opinions of them were based on negative media stereotypes, and many of them had very poor self-esteem. 3: FORM: What is the medium that was used to address or embody the content? Immersive theatre in the form of car-conversations that audience members could eavesdrop on. 4. STAKEHOLDERS: Which are the groups or individuals that were invested in the project? The teenagers were very invested because of their desire to free their voices. The adults who helped were invested because they wanted to help these kids start to change the narrative. And the d...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mind Map

Post a Comment
Read more

What a Riot - Bri Pattillo

   I like the Theater of the Oppressed methodology of the Joker. It sort of reminded me of El Pachuco in “Zoot Suit”, like this narrator commenting on all the action. I thought the Joker methodology was a good way to introduce a Theater of the Oppressed tactic into the piece. A lot of the Theater of the Oppressed options that we read about last week have an element of questioning within in them, but I think the Joker was a good one to use with young people. It was nice and cool that she was able to include the students’ actual questions into the play.     I did think her approach was rather problematic. She highlighted the problem herself and posed the question, “To whom and to what is the author beholden when writing a play for a specified population that has been invited to contribute to the playwriting process?” My problem was her answer, when she said that the students didn’t understand all of the references or language in the play. I don’t...
Post a Comment
Read more