Reality Theatre in the Exploratory Classroom

I took a workshop at the EdTA conference in Chicago last fall on implementing "reality theatre" into the classroom. This form of theatre is basically process drama most famously utilized by Augusto Boal as a means to liberate the oppressed workers and peasants in South America.

The concept is that true life situations are acted out for an audience. The situations are problems faced by the participants. It could be discrimination in the workplace, sexism or racism in daily life and so on. Once the situation is played out, the audience can suggest ways to change the scenario. The scene is then replayed based upon audience suggestions.

Thus different actions lead to other outcomes. This can have an empowering effect upon both players and audience. Instead of feeling helpless in the face of a sexist boss or a racist landlord, tactics to deal with such people are developed through the use of theatre.

The latest hot topic in education these days is how to deal with bullying. There is a new state law in Ohio that mandates all incidents of bullying are reported by the teachers and administrators and specific steps are then taken in dealing with the situation.

I have implemented a Reality Theatre project for all my 5th grade exploratory classes this year. The students in a 9 week class that meets four days per week. The basics of drama are "explored" during class time, generally culminating in some kind of class project.

After four weeks of various theatre exercises and explorations in collaborative improvisation, I ask the student to write individual accounts of bullying they actually witnessed either as participants or observers. They must change the names of the characters so that no actual person's name appears in their stories. After everyone has turned in a real life story, I divide the class into groups and give each group a story to work into a performance.

When they present their stories, the audience discusses what they witnessed and offer suggestions for changes. The group immediately goes back onto the stage and tries out the suggested changes and a final discussion allows all to come to some conclusions.

I have been videotaping the group work and the audience responses. I will need to do a great deal of follow up work on this project to attempt to see if the work has any effect on decreasing bullying among these students.

I am almost finished with the second exploratory group. Each time I do the project, I learn more and gain more insight into the process and the effect it is having upon the students. I will report more as the year goes on.