Theatre for Social Change | Shearwater Productions

A small girl at a water pump in Afghanistan

Afghanistan: a traveling player’s journey

January 20, 2013

I learned just a few days ago that will be going back to Afghanistan in the fall of 2013—eleven years after my first incredible visit. I have the honor of going over with the Afghan Friends Network, and have begun making the flurry of arrangement even as my mind and heart are in wind and fire. I have realized that it is hard for many people to understand why this part of the world is so very compelling for me, so I share below an interview I did with Lillie Marshall of Teaching Traveling. Journey in peace, friends. “When people

Doing arts-based learning in an mixed proficiency classroom

Theatre Workshops and Kids with Autism = AWESOME

July 21, 2012

In June, I had the amazing opportunity to work with 3 Tier Consulting (http://3-tier.org/home/ check out some of their amazing blogs and work) and some fabulous kids who are also kids with Autism or Asperger’s Syndrome. We were doing theatre/dramatic play/acting and playbuilding exercises and games, partly because yes, those skills are what those kids need to analyze and memorize social cues and responses, but also because it’s fun and develops social awareness for anyone! Were they scared at first? HECK yes. Another opportunity to not understand what is going on and feel out of place. Great. But once they

Holly poses in her clown makeup in front of a vehicle at the Abu Dhabi airport

Clowning: some what, some why, and a little history Part Two

July 13, 2012

To follow up on part one, a history of clowning, this little section looks at ‘what is clowning’ and how that was understood early in the history of Islam in the Silk Road countries. What is clowning? The exchange of styles, skills, characterizations and so forth was (and is) facilitated by the itinerant nature of performers. Three main reasons why performing clowns traveled were: *The search for new markets *As part of royal court retinue (they were expected to accompany various court members) *Self-preservation; as laws changed and social pressure increased, it became in the clowns best interest to keep

A clown meeting with women at an orphanage in Kabul

Clowning: some what, some why, and a little history Part One

July 6, 2012

As some of you may know, my Master’s Thesis was called “The Search for Indigenous Clown Forms in Afghanistan” (of course it was), stimulated in part by participation in a humanitarian mission to Afghanistan in February of 2002 with the the Italian military, an Italian film crew, and approximately two dozen clowns, mostly Italian. My passion for Silk Roads clowning continues unabated. Thus, this blog entry! This is an excerpt (sadly made slightly ‘rumpled’ in tone in my attempt to cut words) from a paper I presented at a Silk Roads Conference in Australia. It also provides a working definition/explanation

Performance as Protest

June 22, 2012

As I consider a recent production “The Pirates of Penzance” and the commedia masks I’ve made, I am reminded that the Performing Arts have been a form of protest since people gathered around a campfire and a storyteller wove critique into his or her tale, since the first time homo erectus cracked a joke at the expense of someone with more social power. Although the Performing Arts certainly include music (and I would count the haunting soundscape of the Casserole Protests, with their conscious ‘symphonizing’ of rhythm, volume, and melody, in this category), my emphasis here will be on protest

Blog

Afghanistan: a traveling player’s journey

Theatre Workshops and Kids with Autism = AWESOME

Clowning: some what, some why, and a little history Part Two

Clowning: some what, some why, and a little history Part One

Performance as Protest