Power to the People? – Defining the Problem
25th March, 2011 - Posted by Gavin - 7 Comments
This week the group continued working in the groups they formed last week and began to name and discuss what had brought them together. They then began to make an image of the problem and found a way of moving in and out of the image using rhythm, sound and movements.
Although there is more work to be done on this, one group seems to be looking at bureaucracy and the doors and hurdles needed to go through to get something done whereas the other group is looking at how outside pressures can wear you down over time so that in the end you begin to internalise these oppressions and become part of the system. Interesting stuff and I can’t wait to see how these turn into Forum Theatre scenes!
Date for your Diary – The performance of these scenes will form part of a larger discussion around empowerment in Leith and will be on Wednesday 11th May from 4-8pm. More information will follow shortly.
Finally it was suggested this week that we spend some time thinking about words that describe “empowerment” for us. It would be great if we could get an A-Z list of words and reasons why for next week so please feel free to add yours below as comments. I will kick us of with A for Anger because this can be a driving force for many people who have been disempowered to group together and become more powerful. Now who has got a good B…
7 Comments
Elaine Farris
March 26th, 2011 at 12:30 pm
B for Belonging because we all have a need to belong and many people want to belong to a better society, one that through their own decision making they have been part of creating themselves.
Barbara
March 27th, 2011 at 3:58 pm
Can I add Action to the A?
C for Control, for by empowering, you start to be in control – yourself or others.
D for Decision – no wishy washy doubting hesitation.
F for Fulfilment for by taking control over your own life/lives, you can begin to feel fulfilled.
No E for the moment.
Nick Cheales
March 28th, 2011 at 9:35 am
C is for Confusion
D is for Disturbance
E is for Equalitarian(prefer it to egalitarian)
F is for Flippin eck it’s a complicated old business this empowerment lark!
Elaine Farris
March 28th, 2011 at 1:49 pm
F is for Fear – Feel the fear and do it anyway!
G is for Gut instincts – Go with and trust gut instincts regardless of ‘cops in the head’
Nick Cheales
March 29th, 2011 at 10:45 pm
X is for xenophilic (triple word score and I win)
Elaine Farris
March 30th, 2011 at 1:43 pm
Zero-sum theory – eg. If the people are going to have more power then the politicians need to have less!
There we are – finished the alphabet!
Barbara
April 14th, 2011 at 12:08 pm
It was interesting how, at last night’s session (April 13), we discovered that the 2 groups were working on similar themes. However, I felt that the outcomes were very different. Whereas Suzanne, Karen and Nicola went for total submission and assumption of the imposed identity (dancing to their tune) provoking immediate audience sympathy and reaction, Nick, Sevin and I went for a take it or leave it act, resulting in the protagonist either conforming, but against their better judgement, perhaps in the hope that they would be able to change things from ‘within’, or leaving, so marginalising him/her-self, receiving social ostracism and not achieving their ‘Want’. Either way they submit to the ‘oppression’ of the ‘majority’. I think this is often typified by bigotry in our society.
Gosh, and I thought that up at 5am this morning!!!
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