Devising Theatre for Social Change Inzanzibar, Tanzania
Application for THEA 3700
Devising Theatre for Social Change inZanzibar, Tanzania
Dates of Course:June 23rd to July 7th(Summer Interterm 2018)
Instructors: Ashley Hamilton, PhD and Clare Hammoor, EdD ABD
Application due via email: Monday, February 26th by 12:00pm
Note* Please be aware that we will be only accepting 5-7 students for this travel course. Please only apply if you’ve read the application thoroughly and are very serious about attending. And, please type your answers into this form. Thank you.
Course Overview
The major objective of this practical, travel based, interterm course is to examine and explore the purpose, practice and procedures of site-specific, group-specific theatre which is intended to create social change. Theatre for Social Change is the practice of creating and/or using theatre for or with a community with the intention to create social change. This course will give us the opportunities to explore devising theatre for social change with a group of high school students in Zanzibar, Tanzania (East Africa) over the course of two weeks with the organization Global Empowerment Theatre (GET) as our host. GET has been working in Zanzibar every year, running this specific program, for the past 10 years and his built up a strong relationship with the community. Ashley taught in Zanizbar for three weeks in 2014 and in Mumbai in 2016, with GET.
For two weeks we will work with a group of 20-25 Zanzibarian students (ages 14-17, mixed gender) to devise a play about social justice issues in their community. As an example, in the past, we have explored issues of poverty, gender bias, drug use and religious prejudice in our plays in Zanzibar. As a class, we will use various theatre of the oppressed (TO), writing and devised theatre exercises to help the students explore their lives and their stories. We will assist the students with playwriting and also with blocking and producing their production, which they will perform for their community at the end of our two weeks of work. DU students will not perform the show we create. We are there to support the Zanzibarian students in their playwriting, devising and the telling of their stories to their community.
In addition to the on the ground work we will do in Zanzibar, we (DU students and instructors) will be discussing the various perspectives and complexities of this work, including the challenges of cross-cultural awareness, power, privilege and oppression. Additionally, we will consider larger themes of ethics, aesthetics and best-practices as we work.
In this course students will be introduced to various examples of theatre for social change on the ground, which will consist of the major of their class work. But, prior to departure, students will read and analyze several case studies and projects that have emerged from the field of social justice and applied theatre. Additionally, students will write a reflective paper after the course is over.
The major goals of this course are:
•To review the key theories informing theatre for social change
•To practically work and create theatre on the ground with a cross-cultural community
•To become more aware of the power, privilege, oppression and ethics of this work
•To learn more about the practice and work of devising theatre for social change, including specific exercises and tools
•To support the Zanzibar students in their writing and performances
•To develop a perspective of how this work impacts both facilitators and the populations involved
•To use critical thinking and analysis, informed by our course, to reflect on your own experiences on the ground
Application Questions
Name: ______
Gender Pronouns: ______
Major(s): ______
Year: ______
Are you able to attend a mandatory course orientation on Saturday, March 31st at 10:00am? (Date may change if many can’t make it)
___Yes ____No
Are you able to be in Zanzibar, Tanzania from June 23rd till July 7t, 2018?
___Yes ____No
Are you able to secure an international passport and visa for travel to Zanzibar, Tanzania by June 23rd?
___Yes ____No
Are you able to take care of all medical necessities (i.e. shots, immunizations, malaria medication, etc.) necessary for travel to Zanzibar, Tanzania by June 23rd?
___Yes ____No
Are you able to purchase an airline ticket and the program fee (the program fee covers all of your travel in-country, supplies for the course, all of your meals and your lodging from June 23-July 7th) for this course? *Note: The Interterm office does offer generous scholarships
___Yes ____No
Have you reviewed the attached course itinerary and feel comfortable with the timeline/amount of work? (Please note that it is an intense amount of work in a quick period of time.)
___Yes ____No
Have you ever devised theatre before? (If yes, please explain)
___Yes ____No
Have you ever created theatre for social change before? (If yes, please explain)
___Yes ____No
Have you traveled to a third-world country before (either on vacation, humanitarian projects or for work)?(If yes, please explain)
___Yes ____No
Are you comfortable working and living with a group? (Due to safety, and for the good of our ensemble, we will be working, eating and living together for 2 weeks)
___Yes ____No
Why are you interested in participating in this course?
What is your experience working with diverse populations?
Are you willing and able to examine your own identity and to discuss issues around cross-cultural awareness (race, class, gender, etc.) for this course?
What potential ethical concerns/issues could you forsee within this project? And, what will you do to navigate them with the ensemble?
What do you think you, personally, can bring to this experience (to the students in Zanzibar, the ensemble, etc)?
Thank you for your time and thoughtfulness. Applications are due via email by Monday, February 26th at 12:00pm to Ashley’s email: . We will let you know by Friday, March 2nd if we’d like to interview you for the course (in early-mid March). Don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions.
Course Itinerary as of 2/13
(Subject to Change)
Mid to Late March 2018
1st Orientation: Discuss GET, syllabus, reading assignments, travel plans, visas, medical preparations, etc.
Early June 2018
2nd Orientation: Discuss final travel plans, cross-cultural awareness and course itinerary
June 15th
Reading reflections due on Canvas by midnight
Saturday, June 23rd
All students and instructors will have arrived to Zanzibar
Morning-afternoonWalking tour of Zanzibar
EveningWelcome dinner
Sunday, June 24th
MorningNew Facilitator Final Orientation and training
Prep and check all supplies
** Generally we will be working with the Zanzibar students from 9am-12pm (subject to change) Monday through Friday for two weeks. After that, we will break every day for lunch and then come back together to reflect, type up our work from the day, make new copies of scripts, prepare for the next day’s activities -- before we head to dinner each evening.
Monday, June 25th
MorningDevising Day One
AfternoonStudent Lunch
2-4pmType stories and print
5-6pmDirector plans, Prep for the day
Tuesday, June 26th
MorningDevising Day Two
AfternoonStudent Lunch
2-4pmType stories, Enter student names on spreadsheet “The Grid”
5-6pmDirector plans, Prep for the day
Wednesday, June 27th
MorningDevising Day Three
AfternoonStudent Lunch
2-4pmType Stories/Image theatre scripts, script order
5-6pmDirector plans, Prep for the day
Thursday, June 28th
MorningDevising Day Four
AfternoonStudent Lunch
2-4pmType stories, finalize script order, final edits
4pm Print
5-6pmFinish script edits for first draft – Send to photo copy
5:30-6:30pmDirector plans, Prep for the day
Friday, June 29th
MorningDevising Day Five
AfternoonStudent Lunch
2-4pmType stories, finalize script order, final edits
4pm Print
5-6pmFinish script edits for first draft – Send to photo copy
5:30-6:30pmDirector plans, Prep for the day
First week Facilitator debrief? (or move to Sat am?)
Saturday, June 30th
Possible Excursion (on your own, not hosted by DU) -- Spice tour or travel to beach
Sunday, July 1st
AfternoonShort meeting and Prep for Monday
Monday, July 2nd
MorningDevising Day Six
AfternoonStudent Lunch
5:30-6:30pmDirector plans, Prep for Tuesday
Tuesday, July 3rd
MorningDevising Day Seven
AfternoonStudent Lunch
5:30-6:30pmDirector/rehearsal plans, Prep for the day
Wednesday, July 4th
2-5:30pmDevising Day Eight
6-7pmPrep for final rehearsal
Thursday, July 5th
9-10:30amFinal Dress Rehearsal
11am-12pmShow #1
OR
1:30pmArrival & Prep
Student Lunch
2-3:30pmFinal Dress Rehearsal
4-5pmShow #1
Friday, July 6th
10-11amShow #2
11:15am -12pmCertificates & Speeches
AND/OR
3-4pm Show #2/3
4:15-5pmCertificates & Speeches
EveningDebrief, Reflection, Close Out and Final Celebratory Dinner
Saturday, July 7th
Depart head back to the US
Saturday, July 14th
Final Paper due on Canvas by midnight
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