Transforming Narratives of Gun Violence through Performance

In Transforming Narratives of Gun Violence through Performance (TH495/TH667/SI300), students learn and use a variety of applied theatre techniques to partner with local community-based, anti-violence organizations in order to transform the dominant narratives related to gun violence in the United States.

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Course Information

DEPARTMENT(S):
Theatre

PROFESSOR:
Dana Edell

PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS: Massachusetts General Hospital Gun Violence Prevention Center, Massachusetts Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence

LEARNING PARTNERS:
Maridena Rojas, Lavell Fulks, Angelica Fontes, Stephany Zhivotovsky

In this unique course, students will learn and use a variety of applied theatre techniques to partner with local community-based, anti-violence organizations in order to transform the dominant narratives related to gun violence in the United States today. Students will learn how theatre artists have used their skills and creativity to address root causes of gun violence, such as systemic racism, poverty, and toxic masculinity. We will study and practice a variety of applied theatre techniques, including Theater of the Oppressed, devised performance, and theater in education. Through arts-based research, applied theatre activities, community participant interviews, personal reflection, and a long-term devising process, students will write, create and perform original, trauma-informed, collaborative theatre. This course requires students to be flexible, creative, and patient as we respond to the needs and desires of our partners. The syllabus and class projects might evolve and shift throughout the semester as we foster deeper connections with our community partners in order to create and implement mutually beneficial projects. Class times: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12pm to 1:45pm.

A Look Inside the Co-Creation Process

LEARNING FROM ONE ANOTHER’S EXPERIENCES

Transforming Narratives of Gun Violence through Performance is an applied theatre class, meaning the professor, students, and learning partners utilized the medium of live performance as a means to unpack questions and assumptions about gun violence, both locally and nationally. The class partnered with the Massachusetts Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence, the Massachusetts General Hospital Gun Violence Prevention Center, and other local organizers and activists in order to better understand the complexities of the issue and, ultimately, to co-create a short performance piece.

The semester began with a focus on collective learning, digging into the issue of gun violence by trying to understand and unpack both historical and current dominant narratives, as well as the personal experiences of both students and learning partners.

“I both give my experience to the class, but also, I take back from the class things that are beneficial to the programs and the organizations that I support. Because for me, it's all about how these things overlap… And I always look at the fact that we have so many colleges in Boston. How can we be more intentional about making connections around this issue?”

— Learning Partner

To frame these discussions, the class implemented Calls to Action and Calls to Hope, which were opportunities for participants to bring specific issues to light (Calls to Action) or highlight real-world positive steps taken towards changing the narrative in our country (Calls to Hope). Participants also created tableaus, 3-D models, and shared their stories in order to better understand one another and deepen their connection as a community and ensemble.

DEVISING A FINAL PERFORMANCE

After coming to a better understanding of existing narratives, the class then asked itself: what role do we have to transform those narratives, and how can we do that through performance? In the last month of the semester, the class did a lot of writing, landing on a structure for the performance and making key decisions about what they wanted to say and what myths they wanted to bust in their final performance.

The Studio's work culminated at Peace in Process, a collective event on December 12 which celebrated the work both fall 2023 TNGV Social Impact Studios. The collaboratively devised performance, which began with a dynamic land acknowledgment and historical context-setting for the city of Boston, focused on busting commonly-held myths about gun violence in our communities and how it impacts everyone in different ways. Through the performance, students, Learning Partners, and the event audience boarded a theatrical train journey toward an imagined future of collective healing, justice, and peace.

“For me, growing up, it was really hard to see everything that was happening in my community and being like, well it keeps happening and nobody’s doing anything about it. But people ARE doing things about it. And I’m grateful for not only the people who are out in the community, but also students and professors, teachers who are doing their part. I really wanted to make sure we were honoring the partners who were in the room with us every week.”

— Sydney Rice, student