Performance and Social Change and Community-based theater

A version of Performance and Social Change and Community-based theater is taught to a class of 15 graduate and undergraduate students who spend 20-30 hours working with (somewhat vaguely defined) community-based theater groups. These include a program using theater to teach literacy in elementary schools, a theater company for highschool kids on the north side of Minneapolis, a few interactive theater companies, and a Latina women’s group celebrating La Posada. A lot of time is spent in the classroom asking questions about cultural colonization, social agency, and the responsibility of the artist/community to engage in mutual exchange. Also questioned is…