Alexis Cummings
Leah White
HON Performance and Social Change
10 Dec. 2014
“Now What?” Paper
Forum theatre is designed to engage the audience. With oppression on the rise,
there is a high need for interventions and people willing to help stop oppression against
things such as race, gender, and class. Through presenting our forum theatre scenes and
reflecting on its effectiveness, I will be able to make connections to my honor’s
competencies and implement social change in my life.
Throughout the whole process, I was involved in the project in many ways. To
begin, I had great attendance that allowed for me to watch and be part of the growing
process of our scenes. I was able to work side by side with older students and have an
influence on our scenes; by doing this I was able to learn about teamwork within a group
and how to be a leader when being the youngest student in the class. Continuing on, I
had a positive attitude in the classroom and was able to take matters seriously when
discussing tough topics. Lastly, I put forth my full effort; after getting critiques on my
writing assignments and my personal narrative performance, I worked hard to make
myself more knowledgeable about the topics we were discussing in class, so I could
apply it to our scenes. Overall, I was able to grow as a student and as a leader and impact
our performance in a unique way.
When it comes to the performance, I think that it was very effective. We meet
many of our performance goals in a number of ways. To begin, we got reassurance from
our audience that our scenes were realistic after performing them; this helped us relate to
our audience on a personal level. We were also able to create a positive atmosphere for
our audience. By doing so, we had good participation from our crowd and were able to
talk about oppression felt by many people. Next, we had a good turn out for the number
of people who attended; it was nice to see a large number of international students to
confirm that we were addressing and targeting the right audience. Continuing on, we also
had many points of intervention and maintained a passive aggressive attitude throughout
our scenes; this allowed our target audience to recognize ways they can deal with
oppressors commonly seen in Minnesota. When it comes to personal interventions, I did
not have the chance to talk as a main roll. Due to this, I was not involved in any
interventions besides being a bystander. Although I did not have the chance to intervene,
I think that the interventions that were done were very realistic. My classmates made
sure to show resistance with, the reality of life, and the difficulty that comes when trying
to deal with oppression. Overall, our performance went very well, and we were able to
make a difference in our universities community.
If given the change to perform again, there are a few things that should be done
differently. To begin, I think that we should have had an audience of just international
students. Because of the open setting, I think that it resulted in the international students
being timid and not as willing to step up and take action. As a result, many of our
volunteers were not foreign exchange students. I also think there should have been more
opportunities for intervention for the international students. This would have beneficial
for our focus on practicing change for revolution. During our scenes, most of the
interventions were ways in which other people could help solve the issue instead of ways
in which the international students could deal with oppression that they deal with on a
regular basis. With the interventions in mind, I also think that our scenes had to many
easy solutions. In real life, solutions to oppression are not easily thought of. Lastly, I
think that I would have been a unique experience to be able to perform in front of an
audience of immigrants; this might have resulted in different intervention ideas and a
more secure atmosphere for change. On a personal level, there are also a few things that
I would change. To begin, I wish that I would have had a part where I could have said
more. Although I still contributed to the group in a number of ways, I think that it would
have pushed me more to have a part in which I had to participate in interventions. Even
though there were things that could have been done differently, I think that our
performance was successful.
When approaching aspects in life, I will now look at them differently after
studying Boal’s methods and the topics of oppression and privilege. After learning that
oppression is often targeted towards race, ethnicity, and gender, I will now be more
aware of things people say that may be offensive. To begin, my perspective of education
has changed; I now can see that white men and women create many of the standardized
tests for education. Living in a melting pot society and being globally competent, I
realize that this leaves white students at an advantage. Next, I will take into
consideration family dynamics and positions on the social ladder; I will not be quick to
judge by appearance or belongings but rather by personality. Continuing on, I will take
into account the term intersetionality coined by McCormack (2010). He stated that many
people often face more than one oppression at a time; this could be due to gender and
race or any other combination of characteristics that make someone vulnerable. Next, I
will not take for granted the ease of my daily living; when I begin to think that I have it
rough, I will remember all of the things I carry in my invisible knapsack (McIntosh,
1988); I will now realize the privilege that I have walking into a barber shop,
interviewing for a job, or buying make up just because of the color of my skin. It is
astonishing to realize how much invisible power I have that I have neglected to see for so
long. Lastly, I will look at oppression differently; I will understand the importance of
rehearsal for revolution and change stated by Boal. After reading about oppression,
privilege, and practicing Boal’s methods, I will now look at life differently.
During my life, I plan to take action to help support social change. To do this, I
plan to continue to study another language to enhance my global competency. Next, I
will talk with my children about healthy thinking and being globally competent, so they
have accurate information that will help them recognize signs more clearly and respect
other’s boundaries. This will teach them to recognize oppression and learn how to take
action to prevent it or help others. I will also volunteer for local organizations that deal
with domestic violence and/or sexual assault program, housing, and affordable food.
Lastly, I will stay open minded towards culture and others personal experiences; I will
not be quick to judge and will support equality by taking action in my community. I plan
to take every opportunity that is presented to me so that I can help implement social
change.
Through enrollment in this class, I have been able to build my honor’s
competencies in a number of ways. To begin, I was able to work on my research
competency. Throughout the class, I wrote many reading reflections on scholarly
articles. I was able to work on information synthesis and ethical citing. I was also about
to show information literacy and my ability to integrate researched information in
reflections. In doing so, I was able to take the information I gained and apply it to class
discussions. I was also able to work on my global citizenship competency. This class
allowed me to work with international students and create theatre that allows
international students to practice dealing with oppression. This shows that I was able to
exhibit cultural competency and awareness. I was able to address the leadership
competency, which was unforeseen. Through working with older students and creating a
forum production, I was able to have input in what went on and identify my role within a
team. I was also able to teamwork on campus with other students and organizations and
become a stronger leader.
With all of the information I have learned, I plan to use it in my honors portfolio
in a couple of ways. To begin, I plan to post one of reflection papers under my research
competency page; this will show successful ethical citing and information synthesis and
literacy. Next, I plan to post my “Now What?” paper under my honors section on my
portfolio; I will do this to show how I am meeting course requirements and taking an
upper level honors course to obtain honors credit towards graduation. Lastly, I will state
how working and performing our scenes made me a better team worker and enhanced my
speaking abilities. I will be able to include this within my leadership section to show
how the course shaped me as a whole.
In conclusion, by learning about oppression and privilege I have gained a better
understanding of what others face on a day-to-day basis. From taking this class, I was
able to explore personal and social attitudes about race, class, and gender through class
discussions, performance activities, and personal writings. I was then able to apply
interactive theatre techniques in a forum theatre performance designed to challenge
oppression felt by international students on campus. From learning about Boal’s
methods, oppression, and privilege, I hope to implement social change in my life and
create a brighter tomorrow.