While browsing the web scouting for something that I wanted to share with all of you I went to see what a theatre artist I love, Aaron Jafferis, was up to. I had not seen what he was up to in a couple years and I was delighted to see that his piece Stuck Elevator was just asked to go to the Sundance Theatre Lab for work shopping! He is an amazing artist who works with hip-hop theatre he says that he writes to link his personal experience with what’s happening in the world. When looking at some of his other work a theatre company that he has deep roots in, Collective Consciousness Theatre, excited me.
I owe the passion I have for social change theatre to Aaron Jafferis. In high school I was lucky enough to work with him and learn about the concept of theatre for social change. Ever since then I have been very excited by the idea of bringing theatre to people who don’t have theatre or who are less likely to go see it, by creating new work pieces that really bring to life the issues they are struggling with as a community.
When reading about Collective Consciousness Theatre I got so exhilarated by the work that they are doing. Their slogan is to inspire, imagine, and ignite social change. They are all about creating new works and the collaborative process. They connect to the community by having members of that community help create their theatre with them. I was so excited by, “Sticks and Stones” and “Stories of A New America”, because these pieces are so extremely different in the ways they were created but are still so about the collaborative process. Its theatre companies like this one that make me want to stay in theatre! I recommend looking more into both Aaron and his company.
UPCOMING NEW HAVEN RESIDENCY:
“Sticks and Stones” is a new program that will work with 10-15 New Haven Area girls that range in age, race, religion, and socioeconomic status. They will explore the aspects of society that inform self esteem and decision making, and re-evaluate how language can simultaneously oppress and empower them. Over the course of 8 weeks Collective Consciousness artists will work with the participants to teach them how the media and society determine what they buy, how they look, how they speak to each other, and the decisions they make. They will apply this knowledge to their own personal experiences, good or bad, and use it as inspiration for a performance piece about their experience as young women in the United States. This performance will connect them as females and give the audience a window into the anxieties, frustrations, hopes, and dreams of young women today.
Stories of A New America
This project, a collaboration with IRIS (Immigrant Refugee and Integrated Services), has been ongoing for more than a year and a half. We interviewed more than 80 refugees and compiled over 100 hours of recorded materials in several different languages, including French, Spanish, Arabic and others. We have also hosted community meetings with families from Iraq, Afghanistan, the Congo and Cuba, in which we have done writing and acting exercises encompassing their cultures as well as our own. With support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the New Alliance Foundation, we have created a collection of these experiences in our newest work written by CCT, “Stories of a New America”, a production highlighting the spirit and energy of the refugee experience in our country.
