NWSA conference 2007

General conference session PANEL

Title: Performing identities: Critical analysis of the use of theatre to

address social justice issues

Abstract: This panel session will explore the use of theatre-based

education/prevention programs to address social justice issues, such
as sexual violence, racism, homophobia. The primary aim of this panel
is to engage in critical analysis of the use of performance as a tool for
prevention of and education about social issues. Presenters will move
beyond description of campus-based performance initiatives, to offer a
variety of critical perspectives on the role of performance as education and
social justice activism.

Moderator: Donna Bickford, director, UNC, Carolina Women’s Center

In line with the conference sub-theme, performing feminisms, this

panel session will explore the use of theatre-based
education/prevention programs to address social justice issues, such
as sexual violence, racism, homophobia. The use of performance and
theatre as a tool for prevention and education continues to gain
currency as a ‘best practice’ in higher education. Examples of such
programs range from campus-based initiatives (e.g., University of
Texas, Austin’s Voices Against Violence, Cornell’s Interactive Theatre
Ensemble) to nationally recognized performance groups (e.g.,
Equalogy). This session will provide an overview of theatre-based
education/prevention programs to address social justice issues. This
overview will include discussion of the various techniques and
approaches (e.g., Baol’s Theatre of the Oppressed). Then, presenters
will share their respective research, including investigation of
predominant discourses taken up to depict men and women in theatre-
based sexual violence prevention programs, evaluation of theatre-
based prevention programs, and theorizing on the uses of theatre as a
means for social justice. Following the presentation of papers, a
moderator will facilitate discussion on the use of feminist performance
as an educational tool, the potential to self-script social change, and
the importance of shifting from a monologue/dialogue to polyphony of
voices that empowers individuals to act.

Presenter 1: Dr. Susan V. Iverson, assistant professor, Kent State

University
Title of Presentation: Performing gender: A discourse analysis of
theatre-based sexual violence prevention programs

Among the numerous approaches that are employed to prevent sexual

violence, the performance of scenarios has become one of the
‘promising practices’ in U.S. post-secondary education. This article
describes findings from a pilot study to analyze scripts used for
theatre-based sexual violence prevention programs. Employing the
method of discourse analysis, this study analyzed five sexual violence
prevention scripts from three higher education institutions to identify
the predominant discourses taken up to depict men and women in
theatre-based sexual violence prevention programs. Analysis revealed
dominant discourses of masculinity and femininity shaping images of
men as heroes and abusers and women as vulnerable and victims. This
presentation will consider the unintended effects of scripting social
problems.

Presenter 2: Dr. Beverly Black & Dr. Arlene Weisz, Wayne State
University
Title of Presentation: Evaluating a theatre-based sexual assault
prevention program

Drs. Weisz and Black, in collaboration with a local sexual assault

prevention program, coordinated a peer educational theater
production for the local university community in 1997. A staff member
from the local sexual assault prevention program originally wrote the
play, entitled “Hold Her Down,” for high school audiences. We adapted
it for the university community. We recruited students, primarily from
the School of Social Work, to present two performances of the adapted
play on our campus. We evaluated the program with pre-test,
posttest, and a follow-up questionnaire. We also held focus groups
after the program so that audience members could discuss their
reactions to the play. This presentation will share evaluative results,
drawn from quantitative and qualitative data, on the uses of theatrical
prevention program to address dating violence and sexual assault on
campus.

Presenter 3: Carrie Hoelzer, artist and graduate student, University of

Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Title of Presentation: Performance art as a transformative tool

Performance art continues to be a tool that many women find

contributes to their personal transformation. Some reoccurring motives
of women have include 1) moving from viewing one’s self as a passive
to an active agent within their environment, and 2) calling attention to
the dominant paradigm with the hope of disrupting it. By engaging in
acts of performing gender, re-enacting memory, and role playing,
women escape isolation and create effective networks of
communication. This paper will provide an overview of feminist artists
who have engaged in performance art and other experiential modes of
expression throughout the last 45 years. Deploying expressive paths of
self-investigation have enabled and empowered women, typically
dealing with personal difficulty, to impact change in their own thinking,
as well as in the perceptions of others around them, regarding social
problems

Presenter 4: Walter Gershon, assistant professor, Kent State University

Title of Presentation: Expression and Intent: A process for creating
social justice theatre

The arts are powerful media for posing questions, considering options,
and reflecting society. More recent forms of activist theater are being
used in ever increasing venues and formats to raise awareness about
issues of social justice. However, as often happens in any organized
event, an emphasis on the correctness of structure or outcomes
supersedes the very process a given framework is intended to
produce; adherence to format and technique may disempower those
the medium seeks to empower (actors and audience). Rather than use
any one particular framework (e.g., Baol’s Theatre of the Oppressed),
this paper proposes that the process for creating theater for issues of
social justice can be conveyed as intent and expression. It is the
author’s assertion that this process will produce theater that is locally
meaningful, and as such, carry the necessary gravitas that opens
dialogue about issues of justice to those on-stage and off.
This panel will explore the use of theatre-based programs to address
social justice issues. The use of performance as a tool for prevention
and education continues to gain currency as a ‘best practice’ in higher
education. This session will provide an overview of theatre-based
programs, and include discussion of the various techniques and
approaches. Then, presenters will share their respective research,
including investigation of predominant discourses taken up to depict
men and women in theatre-based sexual violence prevention
programs, evaluation of theatre-based prevention programs, and
theorizing on the uses of theatre as a means for social justice.
Following the presentation of papers, a moderator will facilitate
discussion on the use of feminist performance as an educational tool,
the potential to self-script social change, and the importance of shifting
from a monologue/dialogue to polyphony of voices that empowers
individuals to act.