At the beginning of the 1990s, People's Theatre was introduced into Taiwan via the third world. I... more At the beginning of the 1990s, People's Theatre was introduced into Taiwan via the third world. It is a theatre dedicated to raising critical awareness, empowerment, and providing opportunities for public engagement. It aims to bring about social change by providing the underprivileged the vocabulary for self-expression, leading to greater cultural autonomy and social participation. However, in the real world application of People's Theater models, which are aimed at allowing people to have the right to create their own theater and express their voices through theatrical production, who are the central players in the "process" of the theater productions? Who is presenting the source material?Who is responding to it? Who is performing it? Who is politicizing it? What process for teaching people "how to transfer" theater to the public is most effective toward People's Theatre goals? In my role as a People's Theater worker, my practice in various geographical environments and my experience with various gender, class, economic, and regional power struggles in the secular world have caused me to question present models of today's theater forms in regards to their effectiveness in reaching the goals of People's Theater, where hidden power dynamics obstruct or interfere. Therefore, the theater model I utilize relies consistently on the people's direct expression of their own physical experience, and uses a series of body deployment exercises so that the players learn how to tap those experiences to master their own life power. Productions by the people, based on this model, develop the theater into a political space that can empower, heal, form alliances, transform relationships, and contribute to a positive reformation of society-Heterotopia.
At the beginning of the 1990s, People's Theatre was introduced into Taiwan via the third world. I... more At the beginning of the 1990s, People's Theatre was introduced into Taiwan via the third world. It is a theatre dedicated to raising critical awareness, empowerment, and providing opportunities for public engagement. It aims to bring about social change by providing the underprivileged the vocabulary for self-expression, leading to greater cultural autonomy and social participation. However, in the real world application of People's Theater models, which are aimed at allowing people to have the right to create their own theater and express their voices through theatrical production, who are the central players in the "process" of the theater productions? Who is presenting the source material?Who is responding to it? Who is performing it? Who is politicizing it? What process for teaching people "how to transfer" theater to the public is most effective toward People's Theatre goals? In my role as a People's Theater worker, my practice in various geographical environments and my experience with various gender, class, economic, and regional power struggles in the secular world have caused me to question present models of today's theater forms in regards to their effectiveness in reaching the goals of People's Theater, where hidden power dynamics obstruct or interfere. Therefore, the theater model I utilize relies consistently on the people's direct expression of their own physical experience, and uses a series of body deployment exercises so that the players learn how to tap those experiences to master their own life power. Productions by the people, based on this model, develop the theater into a political space that can empower, heal, form alliances, transform relationships, and contribute to a positive reformation of society-Heterotopia.
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