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Schools, PTA’s, homeschool groups and other youth education organizations
San Carlos Children’s Theater in partnership with Fuse Theatre presents:
Theatre for Social Justice
SCCT and Fuse Theatre teaching artists create theatre for social justice with students and help them find their collective voice. Students will research, write, and develop performance pieces based on social justice topics.
Grades 6-8.
In-school, online, and after school options.
Program includes 9 units (approximately 45 mins each) and performance options.
Customized scheduling available.
Email: donna@sancarloschildrenstheater.com
More Info: fusetheatre.org
sancarloschildrenstheater.com
Description:
Theatre for Social Justice is a program created by San Carlos Children’s Theater and Fuse Theatre, designed to give 6th-8th grade students a space to learn about social justice and express themselves through theatrical performance. This program is customizable; it can be done in the classroom or online, and contains a multitude of units that teachers can select from.
Student Workshops: In the first 3 units, teaching artists from SCCT/Fuse will guide students through discussions and activities based around social justice. Students will learn about topics like privilege and intersectionality in a safe, brave, and encouraging environment. Units 4-6 will focus on how to devise a theatrical work. Students will learn about the basics of theatre, and will be inspired to express themselves through poetry/written work, movement, music, and technical theatre. Teaching artists will lead the students through a topic selection process so that they can decide which social justice topic they’d like their performance to be about. In the last 3 units the students will create their theatrical piece together and perform.
Public Performance: This is an added performance at your location for friends and family to attend outside of the school day.
Professional Development for Teachers: Another option is a workshop for teachers that can be held at your location or on-site in Belmont. Teachers will explore how to address social justice issues in the classroom, they will be given tools to help their students understand these issues, and they will complete devised theatre exercises to implement in the classroom.
Background:
San Carlos Children’s Theater in partnership with Fuse Theatre hosted a successful online pilot version of Theatre for Social Justice in April of 2021. In one weekend, students grades 5th-8th virtually put on a “Play-in-Day” with the help of teaching artists from both companies. On Friday evening students attended a social justice workshop and selected their topic, and on Saturday they learned multiple devising theatre techniques and worked with teaching artists to create and rehearse a play that they then performed that evening. Prior to the Play-in-a-Day student workshop, a professional development workshop for teaching artists was offered. Fuse and SCCT offered suggestions and lessons to incorporate social justice and decolonization into theatre classes and performances for young artists.
Goals:
Enduring Understanding/Objective: Youth will understand how to define social justice and use a variety of lenses as they move into theatre devising.
Essential Questions:
-
- What is social justice?
- How might privilege be used to support/voice/bring awareness to an issue? a. Privilege. b. Equality vs Equity
- Through what lens will I look at an issue?
- What are the principles of collaborative theatre work (devising)?
- What are the essentials of storytelling?
State Standards Links from www2.cde.ca.gov:
Cn – Connecting (Artistic Process)
Pr – Production
Cr – Creating
Re – Responding (Interpretation and Analyzation of Artistic Work)
Scheduling Options:
- 9 units (40-50 mins each) fit into the school schedule. Units include an in-class performance.
- Example A: 1x week = 9 weeks
- Example B: 2 day workshop intensive with all 9 units
- Example C: Anything in between!
- Optional public performance to invite families and friends after school hours.
- Online option for the program is available.
- Professional Development Workshop for teachers as an additional add on or stand alone program.
Cost: $1800/per classroom for both program and 1 Public Performance. $1600/per classroom without public performance. TBD based on schedule/Professional Development workshop.
