Mission
To create productive alliances between artists, activists, and communities in the District of Columbia in order to face shared social, economic, health and human rights issues together.
Vision
The Washington DC Coalition for Theatre and Social Justice (DCCTSJ) will serve as a network for artists, activists, and community leaders to connect and together identify social injustices. DCCTSJ will create theatre troupes with community members who face pressing social, economic, health, and human rights issues, and will train Theatre of the Oppressed Jokers, with the help of Theatre of the Oppressed NYC, in the creation of Forum Theatre performance, which uses theatrical scenes to ask questions of the audience on critical community issues and invites “spect-actors” to intervene in the action and physically rehearse alternatives to the problems posed in the scenes. These troupes will create and tour original, interactive plays inspired by real‐life struggles, in order to engage peers in theatrical problem‐solving and incite transformative action.
Teams
Creative ACTion
Core team leaders: Althea Middleton-Detzner, Nawal Rajeh, Lori Pitts
The creative action team partners with social justice campaigns and organizations to incorporate applied theater techniques into all levels of strategy and movement building in order to imagine and create communities free from oppression and injustice. Our team seeks to use theater as a catalyst to build power and resilience for individuals and movements through popular education and creative ACTions.
ACTive theatres
Core team leaders: Annalisa Dias, Mimsi Janis
The active theatres team partners with socially conscious theatres to incorporate activist frameworks into all stages of creative processes and organizational structure by creatively challenging colonial legacies of oppression. We consult with local theatre institutions on cultural assessment and strategy for decolonizing methodologies. We also serve as a catalyst for proactive community dialogue about difficult issues ranging from justice in casting to hiring processes to sustainable theatre-making to artwashing, displacement, and relationships to the land itself.
Education
Core team leaders: Mimsi Janis, Lisa Hill-Corley
The education team provide opportunities for artists, activists, and socially-conscious organizations to learn how to use theatre as a social justice tool. This team trains Theatre of the Oppressed Jokers to work with community partners to create and perform plays based on real-life struggles and creatively challenge systems of oppression. We also develop new workshops based on community needs.
To create productive alliances between artists, activists, and communities in the District of Columbia in order to face shared social, economic, health and human rights issues together.
Vision
The Washington DC Coalition for Theatre and Social Justice (DCCTSJ) will serve as a network for artists, activists, and community leaders to connect and together identify social injustices. DCCTSJ will create theatre troupes with community members who face pressing social, economic, health, and human rights issues, and will train Theatre of the Oppressed Jokers, with the help of Theatre of the Oppressed NYC, in the creation of Forum Theatre performance, which uses theatrical scenes to ask questions of the audience on critical community issues and invites “spect-actors” to intervene in the action and physically rehearse alternatives to the problems posed in the scenes. These troupes will create and tour original, interactive plays inspired by real‐life struggles, in order to engage peers in theatrical problem‐solving and incite transformative action.
Teams
Creative ACTion
Core team leaders: Althea Middleton-Detzner, Nawal Rajeh, Lori Pitts
The creative action team partners with social justice campaigns and organizations to incorporate applied theater techniques into all levels of strategy and movement building in order to imagine and create communities free from oppression and injustice. Our team seeks to use theater as a catalyst to build power and resilience for individuals and movements through popular education and creative ACTions.
ACTive theatres
Core team leaders: Annalisa Dias, Mimsi Janis
The active theatres team partners with socially conscious theatres to incorporate activist frameworks into all stages of creative processes and organizational structure by creatively challenging colonial legacies of oppression. We consult with local theatre institutions on cultural assessment and strategy for decolonizing methodologies. We also serve as a catalyst for proactive community dialogue about difficult issues ranging from justice in casting to hiring processes to sustainable theatre-making to artwashing, displacement, and relationships to the land itself.
Education
Core team leaders: Mimsi Janis, Lisa Hill-Corley
The education team provide opportunities for artists, activists, and socially-conscious organizations to learn how to use theatre as a social justice tool. This team trains Theatre of the Oppressed Jokers to work with community partners to create and perform plays based on real-life struggles and creatively challenge systems of oppression. We also develop new workshops based on community needs.