Skip to main content

"What a Riot!" Response - Noah Cott

I really enjoyed this read--Mady Schutzman’s writing is eloquent, poignant, and explorative rather than definitive. I kept finding myself inspired by quotes and writing them down to peek at later or use for a later project. However, along with the joy I felt reading this, I also felt a sort of skepticism as I read it, though never fully formed. I felt defensive knowing that the project, which honed in on specific events which have monumental reverberations within the black community, featured no black ensemble members. I was skeptical of the philosophy which allowed the adults’ voices and politics to have a prevailing voice through the vessel of the youth, and I sometimes had a suspicion that maybe her priorities were askew. In a way, the fact that this skepticism has such a spotlight on it in my mind is a sign of my privilege--the privilege of not having to be skeptical about these things--and I am grateful for that check. I haven’t come to a prevailing conclusion about any of these things, but all of those things were embedded into my experience reading this beautiful piece of writing.
Strategies Mady Employed:
-Having the group offer historical figures they were curious about/wanted to celebrate
-using the joker system to include many perspectives; “mutability of identity”
-Including “the young people’s experience learning about the characters they were to portray; their reactions and questions to the often brutal and terrifying events in the characters’ lives”
-Listening to the desire of the group: “I don’t to play poor latinos anymore”
-“Brechtian distance” from violence as an opportunity to critique
-Utilizing popular culture in the form of the Wheel of Fortune parody to “assume a common language associated with fun and entertainment within which to stage more probing questions of social politics”
-“Community and human relations prioritized over professional training”

Strategies That Resonate:
-Using the joker system to include many perspectives
-Including “the young people’s experience learning about the characters they were to portray; their reactions and questions to the often brutal and terrifying events in the characters’ lives”
-Listening to the desire of the group: “I don’t to play poor latinos anymore”

Relevance to Community:
-These students grew up in the immediate wake of the rodney king news phenomenon and riots, which heavily impacted what it meant to grow up in Los Angeles
-Choosing Claudette, who was 15 when she performed her act of courage, provides an immediate relevance to the group, whose ages ranged from 13-17
-Listening to the desire of the group: “I don’t to play poor latinos anymore”

Questions for Mady:
-What was the thought process behind displaying triggering images like full KKK regalia in a theatre piece featuring only minors? Was that a decision everybody came to together?
-You quoted donald amerson saying, “this rage is not a one-color thing either,” and I really agree, but how did you navigate writing a piece about an oppressed group with an ensemble which doesn’t include anyone inside of that oppressed group?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Research- Andrew Moore

My first year at calarts, I was unfortunately raveled in a title 9 investigation revolving sexual misconduct. While I was not a involved directly, I was a bystander and very good friend to the person who started the investigation. I was asked by the affected person to be interviewed for evidence. My experience in the interview room with the investigator was anything but reassuring. I was asked to give my side of the story, but I was pushed by questions asked by the investigator that were geared towards finding the attacker innocent. I used to have trust in the government ability to handle situations like this justly, but I was disappointed to see that the disgusting stories that I've heard about victim blaming and non-fiction. The fact that it was unraveling itself before my eyes was very surprising. Unfortunately the person stayed in the dorms on campus through all of this and at the end of the year there was an even more dramatic event involving the same person and another gir...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prison system effect on communities of color/ Connection to slavery

Although the United States has made some progress, it remains a substantially racially segregated nation residentially. And, the country stays very economically segregated as well. It is not surprising that poor people of color have been incarcerated disproportionately during the massive increase in imprisonment that has occurred in the nation since the early 1980s. It is from poor communities of color that a very large number of felons are removed, and to these same neighborhoods that they return when their sentences end. This population churning has been called “coercive mobility” by criminologists. Although it is the intent of legislatures, judges, police, and prosecutors to protect citizens and communities, there is reason to believe that coercive mobility has the unintended consequence of actually increasing crime and victimization. There is overrepresentation of minority group members among those engaging in crime, but even after this is taken into account, people of color a...
Post a Comment
Read more

What a Riot!

What strategies did she employ in her process of making in play with the youth? Some of the strategies Mady Schutzman employed in her process of making a play with the youth were, utilizing the Joker System, presenting exercises to create a “safe” space by opening the floor and space to the youth to speak, reflect, and share their stories. What approaches resonated with you? Many of the approaches that were used were very intriguing and interesting, but there was one approach that resonated with me. Particularly, the questions that came out of one of the approaches. In the vein of the Joker System, it was designed to ,”promote social inquiry and personal agency by asking questions (How do I know what I know? Who authored the historical narratives we reiterate? Are those stories relevant to me and my community? Who do they privilege and who do they marginalize?” Mandy shared. These questions resonated with me because they are questions I have been asking myself this...
Post a Comment
Read more