

Tom
Goldtooth | Nuestro Ambiente | Poetry
Slam
EJ Theater Troupe | South Africa | South
Korea
The
Environmental Justice Theatre Troupe
Washington, DC
October 22-27, 2002

The
Theatre Troupe performed at the Environmental Justice Summit held October
22-27, 2002 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Washington, DC. The troupe
used a theatrical sketch to highlight an environmental justice struggle.
The sketch was then repeated and members of the audience were invited
to replace an actor(s) in order to offer different points of view or
to change the outcome of the sketch. This was a theater of liberation
and empowerment where the distinction between actors and audience became
blurred. The organizers of the workshop operated under the assumption
that everyone is both a teacher and a learner, and each person brings
unique experiences to the collective dialogue. This theatrical workshop
was based upon the work of Paulo Freire and Augusto Boal. By using pedagogy
and theater, Freire and Augusto worked with oppressed people of the
world developing critical thinking to overcome social systems of oppression.
Effective dialogue is a prerequisite to liberation, empowerment, and
environmental justice.
(Photos above: Theater Troupe: William
Ho, Jumana Vasi, Kishi Animashaun.)