Spring is a time of growth and renewal, and Sheatre offers fun and creative ways to promote both personal development and social change in their Spring Workshop Series. Artistic Director Joan Chandler leads three experiential workshops in Owen Sound, open to participants of all experience levels. This series explores different techniques and exercises from Augusto Boal’s “Theatre of the Oppressed” where interactive theatre and improvisation are used as tools to encourage positive social change and personal growth. Associate Artist Warren Bain co-leads the first workshop, but is excited to participate in the other two. “Joan is so close to the source for this type of theatre,” Bain says. “She has first-hand learning from Augusto Boal, it’s like learning rhymes from Shakespeare.”
These informative training workshops are open to all, and ideal for community workers, counselors, educators, performers, directors, activists, social change advocates – anyone interested in ways that theatre and the arts can empower individuals and contribute to a healthy, compassionate society. For more information, call Sheatre at 519 534 3039 or email [email protected] Registration is required. The three spring workshops are:
FORUM THEATRE WEEKEND – Saturday, March 2 & Sunday, March 3
Led by Joan Chandler and Warren Bain. This two-day workshop introduces participants to the different aspects of Forum Theatre and explores creation, improvisation, intervention and facilitation. Forum Theatre is a UNESCO-recognized educational tool for implementing social change. It’s a form of interactive theatre that enables a community to explore multiple strategies in response to a problem or conflict presented in a short play. Learn how theatre can be a vessel for putting our words into action and give voice to advocacy.
When: Sat., March 2 & Sun., March 3, 2019 10 am – 5 pm each day
Where: OPSEU Owen Sound Regional Office, 100 – 1717 2nd Ave E., Owen Sound
Attire: This is an interactive, participatory workshop. Dress for physical activity.
Minimum Age: 16+
Cost: $200, includes workshop and healthy lunch and snacks on both days. Register: At this Google Form https://goo.gl/forms/58aTTOqhI8NA0P893
COPS IN THE HEAD – Saturday, April 6
Cops in the Head was developed by Augusto Boal as a response to address internalized oppressions. Joan Chandler leads this exercise, which asks, what are the learned voices that we carry which cause us to make unhealthy choices? How do we identify these voices, confront them and cope with them in healthy ways?
When: Saturday, April 6, 2019 10 am – 5 pm
Where: Harmony Centre, 890 4th Avenue E., Owen Sound, ON
Attire: This is an interactive, participatory workshop. Dress for physical activity.
Minimum Age: 16+ Cost: $125, includes a healthy lunch and snacks. Register: At this Google Form https://goo.gl/forms/58aTTOqhI8NA0P893
RAINBOW OF DESIRE – Saturday, May 4
Rainbow of Desire is used to help us understand and examine relationships in conflict. Joan Chandler leads this exercise, which explores all the different colours and hidden hues of assumptions and misunderstandings between two people. This workshop allows us to look at a single moment in time and consider both sides of a conflict.
When: May 4, 2019. 10 am – 5 pm
Where: OPSEU Owen Sound Regional Office, 100–1717 2nd Ave E., Owen Sound, ON
Attire: This is an interactive, participatory workshop. Dress for physical activity.
Minimum Age: 16+
Cost: $125, which includes a healthy lunch and snacks. Register: At this Google Form https://goo.gl/forms/58aTTOqhI8NA0P893
About the Workshop Leaders and Sheatre
Joan Chandler is a producer, director, writer, arts educator and workshop facilitator. Joan is the founding Artistic Director of Sheatre, a professional community arts company located near Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada. She has a keen ability to work with groups, collaboratively spinning new plays with, by and about their own stories and concerns. Her work focuses on interactive productions about social issues, and on plays that celebrate community and the creative spirit.
Under Joan’s direction, Sheatre has reached over 142,775 youth and adults in Canada, the US and England through the creation and production of 114 original plays, employed over 500 unique artists, and engaged almost 9,900 people in 1,250 workshops and events. Sheatre’s work is presented in schools, seniors’ homes, community halls, churches, parks, and theatres, primarily in under-served rural and small urban environments. Credits include A DESPERATE ROAD TO FREEDOM, BE OUR ALLY, FAR FROM THE HEART / LOIN DU COEUR (film and stage play), SNOW WONDER, TOM and THE BALLAD OF KENNEDY’S. Sheatre and Joan received The City of Owen Sound Cultural Award for Theatre. The Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General conferred a Victim Services Award of Distinction to her and Sheatre for FAR FROM THE HEART in 2008. (www.sheatre.com and www.farfromtheheart.com)
Warren Bain, Sheatre Artistic Associate - Warren is an actor, director, writer, facilitator, and arts educator from Toronto whose work has taken him across Canada in roles ranging from sea monsters to 1930’s British aristocrats. An arts educator and social arts activist with over a decade of experience, he has extensive training in the creation, development, and execution of Image Theatre, Theatre for Living, and Theatre of the Oppressed.
In addition to Sheatre, Warren has worked as an actor and arts educator with Canadian Opera Company, Suitcase Theatre, Mixed Company Theatre, Kids on Broadway, Toronto District School Board, Toronto Catholic District School Board, Toronto Parks & Recreation, Mirvish Productions, St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival, and Youth Elevating Youth. Warren’s workshops include Theatre for Conversation, mySELF my CONFIDENCE, Shakespeare? Forsooth! and Yes! Improv! (www.warrenbain.com)
source: media release, Sheatre
