7 Incite / Insight Spring 2018 First Time Presenter Spotlight
Process Drama : A Theatrical Tool for Social Justice
By Colleen Horan & Sindy Isabel Castro
Setting In Fall 2017 , graduate students Colleen Horan and Sindy Isabel Castro enrolled in Chris Vine ’ s course Intro to Drama Conventions at the City University of New York ’ s School of Professional Studies . During one particular session , Vine facilitated a process drama entitled Last Town , inspired by the novel The Last Town on Earth by Thomas Mullen .
Last Town Scenario Students were asked to participate and go in role as community members living 100 years ago . A war breaks out , a plague spreads , and a group of strangers come to their town seeking refuge . As a community , they must decide what to do . Should they welcome the newcomers in with open arms ? What else would they be welcoming in if they did ?
Process Through “ drama ” conventions , the class was tasked with making decisions and taking on mindsets that belonged to their characters . The drama offered insight about how process drama can aid facilitators and teachers in encouraging dialogue around difficult topics and explore possibilities for action within the safety of being in someone else ’ s shoes .
Perspective : Sindy Castro In Fall 2017 , my classmates and I learned about process dramas in the course Intro to Drama Conventions at CUNY ’ s MA in Applied Theatre program . Process dramas allow participants to engage in a fictional world in order to create meaning for themselves . A particular process drama entitled Last Town , devised by our professor Chris Vine , has stayed with me .
The mayor comes into town one day with a big announcement . Returning from his journey , he has discovered an outbreak of some sort of infectious disease , setting in motion the events in Last Town . Through various dramatic conventions , we created characters and explored the decisions made by the town needing to wrestle with this new disease .
As a participant , I saw the rapid spread of rumors and the rise in xenophobia in the process drama . There was a moment when we had to decide whether we would let newcomers into our town , a group that contained children . When I spoke up in favor of letting the group in , another classmate said we needed to take care of our community ’ s children first . This hit me like a pile of bricks . I still remember how I felt during that moment in our class process drama .
Upon reflection , I saw connections to current xenophobia and raising of borders due to fear in the real world . I began to understand why some people might be afraid of accepting refugees into their country . Although I didn ’ t agree with it , I was starting to understand why someone might feel that way .
As Colleen and I were working on finalizing our AATE Conference session proposal in December 2017 , I was thinking heavily on immigration issues in this country . The rhetoric around immigrants being really negative , the removal of DACA , the removal of the TPS program , etc . These issues were affecting people I knew . What was I doing about it ? What could I do ? What would I do ? In our original proposal , I wrote about how people generally think back on historical moments or when they read the news , and they believe they would act or do something different . Taking action or rising up , however , isn ’ t always easy . We are not always able to make the right decision in the moment . We might fear the interpersonal repercussions with the people we work with . We might fear the legal repercussions of our actions . It ’ s not always easy . How and why do we choose to advocate for something in spite of all that ?