A.R.T. Fusion Association-Romania
“Only stupid people work”
The play was performed in September in one placement center for 30 abandoned/neglected children/teenagers (mostly boys) from Bucharest
Characters:
Oppressor – A teenage boy (17 and a half years old) – MARIUS
Oppressed – A teenage boy (15 and a half years old) – IONUT
Allie of oppressor – A teenage girl, a friend (17 years old) – NICO
Allie of oppressed – A teenage girl who becomes a friend (16 years old) – Andreea; Neutral character – A teacher/educator from the placement center – FLORENTINA
At the placement center – In the common room The oppressor and his ally talk about the oppressor’s last deed (running away from the placement center) and the punishment he received for that. He will be in charge of cleaning the common room and the kitchen for a month. They talk about running away together after they turn 18, soon. The teacher comes and presents the new boy who is going to stay there. She presents him to the other children and reminds the oppressor about the punishment he received. After the teacher leaves, the oppressor fakes the intention of being friends with the new boy and lets him know the “rules” of the house and that “it is HIS turn to clean the common room”. The ally of the oppressed character, tries to say something but she is taken away by the ally of the oppressor, making her not influence the oppressed in any way.
At the placement center, in the evening, after dinner – In the dining room The oppressor is congratulating the oppressed on the good job he did cleaning. He is being nice to the oppressed making him think they are on the same side as long as they work together. As a “bonus” for the work he is doing, the oppressor tells the oppressed that if he ever has problems in school he can count on him to “fix them”. It is known that everybody in the placement center is being picked on in school because they don’t have parents, they are naïve, they don’t have a future. The ally of the oppressor supports him. At the same time, the ally of the oppressed is trying to make the oppressed understand that he should not listen to Marius and that he is not obliged in any way to help him with the punishment he has been given. She is shut up by Marius. The teacher comes, interrupts their conversation and tells them a new waiter-cook course is starting soon and that it would be good for them to attend since it is nationally recognized. She presents the advantages that the course has. The oppressed is really excited to take part. The ally of the oppressed is sure her mother will call her from Italy and will take her to go to work with her there so she refuses to take part. The oppressor and his ally make fun of the idea and don’t give an answer. After the teacher leaves they begin to make fun of the oppressed because he wants to take part in the course and tell him that it is a shameful job and that he will be no good for it. A real job means being a “boss”.
At the placement center – in the common room, after they finished dinner The oppressor complains that the oppressed did not do his job cleaning as well as he used to. The oppressed tells him that he’s been busy with the waiter-cook course that he is attending, with school and homework and that he didn’t have so much free time. The oppressor gets mad, his ally makes fun of the oppressed and supports the oppressor in his attitude. Each time the ally of the oppressed wants to defend him, she is shut off by the oppressor. She is weak and lacks self-confidence and she is easily manipulated by the “strong ones”. The oppressed tries to explain why he wants this so badly (He wants to have a job when he goes out of the placement center, he wants his parents to be proud of him when and if they see him sometime etc.) but the oppressor makes fun and interrupts him. The “disadvantages” of the waiter-cook course come again into discussion, now even more detailed (He is stupid for wanting to work. It is hard to have a job – you have a tight schedule, you don’t get to see your friends, you have a boss etc.). The oppressor attacks him with personal stories about his parents and the fact that he doesn’t know where they are and that they will never know that he wants to be a responsible kid. After that, he threatens him to give up the stupid dream, otherwise “they will not be friends and that is not good”.
2 weeks after
At the placement center, in the room of the oppressor and oppressed. The oppressed comes into the room looking for his robe and his note-book, on his way to the course. He is in a hurry and he cannot miss any more meetings because he will be thrown out. The oppressor gets mad and the oppression reaches the last level of tension. He uses all his “arguments” and mostly the ones emphasizing the shame this job brings, emphasizing the fact that he is not made for it and convincing him that he really is not suitable for this kind of job. Last but not least the oppressor reminds him of the fact that his parents didn’t want him. He tells him that he is stupid to think that he will ever meet his parents and that they will ever be proud of him. The oppressed eventually quits, discouraged and hopeless.
Interventions
1. The ally of the oppressed – making her more courageous and making her stand by the oppressed more in order for him to feel he has someone on his side. Now, with the change, the ally of the oppressed tries to tell the teacher that she should pay more attention to the behavior of the children, mostly Marius.
2. The oppressed – in the discussion with everybody, and the teacher is present. The change is made after the teacher leaves the stage. The oppressed is more courageous than he used to be at first.
3. The Ally of the oppressed – After the teacher leaves, she is more on the side of the oppressed and calls back the teacher. She says that as far as she knows, she is the one responsible to show the oppressed around; she tries to make the teacher understand that there is a problem in the centre. The ally of the oppressed is even more courageous and does not leave the oppressed and the oppressor alone. Although she is a girl, she can have a little more power.
4. The teacher – She is changed in order to pay more attention to what is happening and not letting the ally of the oppressor and the oppressor make fun of the enthusiasm the oppressed has when listening to the announcement about the course. She explains in a more detailed way why they all should attend and supports the oppressed more in his decision to take part.
5. The ally of the oppressed – After the teacher comes, she once again tries to talk to the teacher and make her take more action against the situation of oppression. The teacher becomes more interested in the situation and asks question in order to find out more information before acting.
6. The oppressed – He is more courageous and directly confronts the oppressor regarding the fact that he does not want to be the only one cleaning, since it is not his punishment. He offers to work together with the oppressor but not alone. Being cornered by a more courageous ally of the oppressed and oppressed, the oppressor lived into his room, having still a superior attitude.
7. The ally of the oppressed – States that the oppressed should follow his dream to become a cook or a waiter if he wants to and if that is his dream.
8. The oppressed – she tries to make the oppressor understand that he should not behave the way he is behaving with his friend (the ally of the oppressed) and that he really wants to continue taking the course of waiter-cook. He is supported by his ally in the discussion with the oppressor. The oppressor starts listening more actively and lacks arguments against the situation.
9. The oppressed – Believes in his dream even more and is not so intimidated by the oppressor, being supported by his ally at the same time.
Forum Theatre Curriculum
There are many factors that influence the exact steps that a group needs to go through in order to develop a Forum Theatre Play:
Of course there are many possibilities based on these factors for a forum theatre facilitator to develop a schedule and process step by step. This specific curriculum is addressed to new Forum Theatre facilitators or not yet fully independent in developing FT performances with different kinds of groups. It will propose a structure that has the following assumptions:
Methodological aspects
The units are divided in 2-3 hours and they are split in bigger categories in order to understand more deeply the "philosophy behind” and why such an order is proposed. These units could be implemented in a 5 days intensive training course (following the order proposed) or 1 or 2 units per week. Based on experience (if possible), it is suggested to use the second approach in order for the group members to digest the process more easily, to better assimilate the learning outcomes and to have more flexibility in terms of time allocated to various FT needs of the group.
The units do not include breaks – but of course 3 hour long sessions could be rather tiring so the facilitator is invited to provide a break after 1 hour/1 hour and a half – depending on the structure of the unit.
Depending on the group dynamic it might happen that in a certain stage you need to work more than the number of units suggests in this curriculum. The facilitator should pay attention to the dynamic and group needs in order to assess the speed of the process. As you will see in the structure below it might be that the group needs more time for teambuilding before getting into Forum Theatre work, or more time for exploring social issues in their community and deciding on one problem as well as maybe more time for improvisational skills. The number of units (and time division) is based on the previous experience of the partners and authors but nevertheless there are groups that need more or less time (for various aspects) and this is not a criterion for judging their competence in the Forum Theatre field. It is very important for the facilitator of this process to be flexible, plus ready to change and adjust their own curriculum if it is necessary.
For the person who will facilitate these sessions it is strongly advisable to have been part of a forum theatre group before, to have had the chance to experience the process and the method personally (as an actor). It could be helpful for the facilitator to have been previously in the position of the Joker with a public but nevertheless it is not a compulsory condition – every Joker starts from somewhere!
If the facilitator doesn’t have experience with the Forum Theatre method (as mentioned before) then it is very important for him/her to be in touch with an experienced FT facilitator for advice and assessing if the process is going in the right direction.
Please note that at the end of this manual you can find the contacts of some of the Forum Theatre facilitators (engaged in this project) who are willing to provide online guidance and consultancy to new facilitators (with or without experience in Forum Theatre).
If you never worked with this method and you don’t have anybody around you that has this experience (willing to help you out) – please contact the resource persons mentioned at the end of the toolkit!
Structure of the units
Please find below the structure of the units and after it a detailed description of each unit, one by one.
1-Team development - Introduction, Getting to Know Each-Other and TeamBuilding Intro – 5 minutes
2-Intro to the Forum Theatre Method and Preparatory Exercises
3-Preparatory Exercises – part 2
4-Power and Oppression Concepts
5-Oppression Exercises and Oppressions in Our Community
6-Transferring the Social Problem in Forum Theatre Play Format;
7-Improvisation Exercises and Other Preparatory Exercises
8-Exercises for Getting Into Character and Developing the Play
9-Rehearsals – with different exercises
10-Preparing the Team for the Performance