Final Image Theater workshop for 2008-2009 term, 12/13-14

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The Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory (TOPLAB)

--a member of The Institute for Popular Education at the Brecht Forum--

--founded in 1990--

451 West Street

New York, New York 10014

toplab@...

http://www.toplab.org

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" We must emphasize: What Brecht does not want is that the spectators

continue to leave their brains with their hats upon entering the

theater, as do bourgeois spectators. " --Augusto Boal

======================================================================

The Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory (TOPLAB)

presents

An Introduction to the Theater of the Oppressed:

Image Theater and the Aesthetics of the Oppressed--The Written Word

a two-day workshop

Saturday, December 13, 2008 from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, and

Sunday, December 14 from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm

(PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED; sign-in begins at 9:15 am on Saturday)

facilitated by Larraine Brown and Janet Gerson

at The Brecht Forum

451 West Street *

New York City

* travel directions below

An overview of the theory and philosophy of popular education and Theater

of the Oppressed (TO), and an introduction to Theater of the Oppressed

techniques, concepts, methods and games, with a focus on Image Theater.

This is the fourth in a Fall series of four workshops on the integrated

arts approach to Image Theater used at Augusto Boal's Center for the

Theater of the Oppressed in Rio de Janeiro--sculpture, drawing, poetry,

dance, music. Consideration of Boal's new ideas concerning the aesthetics

of the oppressed will be included. Each workshop highlights a specific

type of art or cultural expression, as well as a specific Image Theater

technique. The written word is the form to be emphasized in this workshop.

All workshops in this Fall 2008 series are designed to " stand alone " and

people can enroll in any or all of them. Attendance at one is not

contingent on attendance at previous sessions.

Image Theater is designed to develop individual skills of observation and

self-reflection, and cooperative group interaction. Leadership-building

and consensus-building games and techniques explore relations of power and

group solutions to concrete problems through " living body imagery. "

Discussions begin through the language of images, offering a fresh

approach to power analysis and new opportunities for the exchange of

ideas.

This workshop is open to everyone. No theater or acting experience is

necessary.

The workshop involves physical movement, so wear loose, comfortable

clothing.

There is no formal application, but PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED. Please

write to us at toplab@... to let us know you will be coming or

pre-register online at http://brechtforum.org/node/2004?bc=.

We strongly urge participants to register online at

http://brechtforum.org/node/2004?bc=

Tuition--sliding scale: $95-$150

*****

Other Upcoming TOPLAB Workshops:

Tentative Winter and Spring 2009 schedule, subject to change

January 23: Diabetic Drama workshop (using theater to explore issues

surrounding diabetes; facilitated by Robbie McCauley)

January 31-February 1, 2009: Forum Theater (theme: the downfall of the

American Dream)

February 8: Heal the Healer workshop (facilitated by Kira- Ferrand)

February 14: Diabetic Drama workshop (using theater to explore issues

surrounding diabetes; facilitated by Robbie McCauley)

February 21-22: Cop-in-the-Head (workshop for people of color)

March 6: Refuge and Resistance (performance and month-long multi-media

installation by women survivors of violence and TOPLAB facilitators;

coordinated by Nina Mercer and Vanya ))

March 7: Demasking Stereotypes (facilitated by Potri Ranka Manis)

March 21: Diabetic Drama workshop (using theater to explore issues

surrounding diabetes; facilitated by Robbie McCauley)

March 28-29: Forum Theater

Late March/early April: Refuge and Resistance (closing event)

April 18-19: Cop-in-the-Head

April 25: Diabetic Drama workshop (using theater to explore issues

surrounding diabetes; facilitated by Robbie McCauley)

May: workshops with Augusto Boal and n Boal (not yet confirmed)

May 30: Diabetic Drama workshop (using theater to explore issues

surrounding diabetes; facilitated by Robbie McCauley)

*****

Travel Directions

The Brecht Forum is at 451 West Street (West Side Highway) in Manhattan,

between Bank and Bethune Streets, 1-1/2 blocks north of West 11 Street.

IND Eighth Avenue A, C, or E train to 14 Street or BMT Canarsie L train to

8 Avenue (take a few minutes to look at " Life Underground " , Tom Otterness'

series of whimsical bronze sculptures scattered throughout both sections

of the station); walk down 8 Avenue to Bank Street, turn right, walk west

to West Street, turn right.

IRT Seventh Avenue 1, 2, or 3 train to 14 Street; get off at south end of

station, walk west on 12 Street to 8 Avenue, left to Bank Street, turn

right, walk west to West Street, turn right.

New Jersey PATH train to Street; walk north on Greenwich

Street to Bank Street, left to West Street, turn right.

#8 bus to West Street; walk up West Street to 451.

#11, #14A or #20 bus to Abingdon Square; walk west on Bank Street to West

Street, turn right.

#14D bus to 8 Avenue and 14 Street, walk down 8 Avenue to Bank Street,

turn right, walk west to West Street, turn right.

===

The Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory (TOPLAB)

toplab@...

http://www.toplab.org

" My fellow Americans, major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the

battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed. "

-- W. Bush, May 1, 2003

" ...I told the American people that the road ahead would be difficult, and

that we would prevail. Well, it has been difficult--and we are

prevailing. "

-- W. Bush, June 28, 2005

" Our cause in Iraq is noble and necessary....America is engaged in a new

struggle that will set the course for a new century. We can and we will

prevail. "

-- W. Bush, January 10, 2007

" Prevailing in Iraq is not going to be easy. "

-- W. Bush, March 19, 2007

+U.S. military fatalities through May 1, 2003: 140

+U.S. military fatalities through June 28, 2005: 1743

+U.S. military fatalities through January 10, 2007: 3017

+U.S. military fatalities through March 19, 2007: 3217

+U.S. military fatalities as of November 25, 2008: 4204 (this figure

exceeds the number of people killed in all of the incidents that occurred

on September 11, 2001)

+Iraqi deaths due to the US invasion, as of September 2004 (estimated by

The Lancet): 100,000+

+Iraqi deaths due to the US invasion, as of July 2006 (estimated by The

Lancet): 654,965

+Iraqi deaths due to the US invasion, as of November 25, 2008 (estimated

by Just Foreign Policy): 1,288,426*

*These figures are based on the number of deaths estimated in The Lancet

(the British medical journal) study through July 2006, and then updated

based " on how quickly deaths are mounting in Iraq " . To do that, Just

Foreign Policy multiplies The Lancet figure as of July 2006 by the ratio

of current deaths reported by Iraq Body Count (IBC), divided by IBC deaths

as of July 1, 2006. The IBC numbers, considerably lower than those cited

by The Lancet, Opinion Research Business (a British polling firm which

estimated 1.2 million Iraqi deaths as of September 2007), and even the

Iraq Ministry of Health, are based on the number of fatalities cited in

various news reports and have been criticized, with much justification,

for not giving an accurate assessment of the real Iraqi death count. The

much more rigorous and statistically-reliable study, conducted by teams

from s Hopkins University, Columbia University and Al-Mustansiriya

University, and published in The Lancet in September 2004, put the figure

at around 100,000 civilians dead. However, that data had been based on

" conservative assumptions " , according to research team leader Les ,

and the actual count at that time was credibly assumed to be significantly

higher. For example, The Lancet study's data greatly underestimated

fatalities in Fallujah due to the surveying problems encountered there at

that time. The second Lancet study, released on October 10, 2006,

indicated that 654,965 " excess " deaths of Iraqis have occurred since the

outbreak of the aggression and genocide committed by the United States

against the people of Iraq. The current figures provided by Just Foreign

Policy seem to be logically consistent with the increasing rates of death

from 2003 to 2004, and 2004 to 2006.

Sources: http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html

http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/

http://icasualties.org/oif/

http://www.iraqbodycount.org/

http://www.zmag.org/lancet.pdf

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1338749,00.html

http://www.agoracosmopolitan.com/Iraq_war.html

http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/article.php4?article_id=6271

http://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/Week-of-Mon-20041025/008279.html

http://www.thelancet.com/webfiles/images/journal/lancet/s0140673606694919.pdf