Skip to main content

Mengqing - What a Riot! Response

What strategies did she employ in her process of making in play with the youth?

Schutzman used the joker system to get all the students involved and discussed. Students could share their different perspectives and learn more about their own interested throughout the play. By making a direct connection between the students themselves with the historical event, the students learn more effectively by themselves. 

What approaches resonated with you? 

I was not growing up in a society which has racial issues, so I didn't have much interest in a similar topic. By reading What a Riot! It encouraged me to know more about the racial issue in American society because I am a minority in this society now and I have experienced different racial issues too. I'm glad that Schutzman educates the teenagers about this issue and its history. This could help the teenagers have a better understanding of their race and other race.   

How was the play relevant to this specific community? 

For the teenagers who grow up in LA or live in LA, this is a great learning experience and this would help them have a better understanding of the history of the city and racial issues.  

What questions might you ask Mady and why? 

what are the difficulties when you organize this activity? what do you do when the students are too shy and not willing to share their idea? 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rachel Tibbetts - What a Riot

Schutzman starts off this reflection with an excerpt from the play she created. The opening lines serve to give recognition and context to the subject matter by immediately dedicating the show to Rosa Parks. This is an extremely effective strategy to introduce the tone and subject matter of the piece. The addition of Claudette at the end was the “icing on the cake” to the introductory excerpt. Raising questions and therefore instantly opening up a dialogue. Schutzman approached the students by asking questions while also letting them choose the person/people they wanted to learn about and also depict in the play. I think entering a school with something to teach is the idealistic approach to interacting with students; when students are in class they are expecting to be taught and ask questions. This is the exact approach Shutzman used. This allowed her to familiarize herself with the student community and find their interests, question...
Post a Comment
Read more

Katharine Means What a Riot! Response

In 2005 Mady Shutzman was invited by CalArts CAP to write a play for the teenage participants Plaza de la Raza arts center in East Los Angeles to perform. At first I was intrigued by this, as my limited knowledge of Boal and Theatre of the Oppressed techniques has been around the participatory games, activities, and techniques used to build community. I know some about Forum and Legislative Theatre, but had little conception of what a TO play would look like. Shutzman's piece, UPSET! , was modeled using Boal's Joker System. There is a character called the Joker who probes the characters and audience during the play with the "ultimate goal to raise questions, offer multiple points of view, and encourage dialogue". Shutzman used this form as a "means to incorporate the teens curiosity, dismay, outrage, confusion, fear, and inspiration in relation to the subject matter of the play within the play." The teens decided upon Rodney King and Claudette Colvin (a youn...
Post a Comment
Read more