Download Collaborative Theatre

Democracy Has Fallen!!!!
Big Brother is Watching You!
• And you live in central Texas. The government has complete control
over all citizens, or at least it thinks it does. With the global turmoil,
economic collapse and rise in terrorism in the early 2000s, faith in
political systems crumbled rapidly. Democracy has fallen, and the
totalitarian regime has taken root throughout the country. They
control every aspect of everyone’s lives. There is no freedom. The
“President” of the United States, who is simply called BIG BROTHER,
is always watching. Cameras have been placed everywhere.
Reminders on billboards, in classrooms, on your car stereo flatly
state, “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU”. You cannot date, you
cannot read, you cannot play sports, watch movies, you cannot
have friends. You can only do what BIG BROTHER tells you. He tells
you to go to school, and do all of the work. There are no A’s. There
are no F’s. There is only work, for BIG BROTHER’S CAUSE.
Welcome to a totalitarian nightmare. You are living in one.
What is totalitarianism?
First conceptually developed in the 1920's by Italian fascists, primarily
Giovanni Amendola, totalitarianism has been present in a variety of
movements throughout history.
Initially, the term was spun to be positive and refer to the positive
goals of states employing totalitarianism. However,
Western civilizations most often did not agree with the concept of
totalitarianism and a great deal of discourse regarding the topic
became prevalent from within governments, inside classrooms, and at
the dining room table.
Some governments and movements that Westerners have accused of
being totalitarian in nature include Nazi Germany, Soviets during
communism, and the Stalinist movement in particular.
Within totalitarian regimes, the leadership controls nearly all aspects of
the state from economic to political to social and cultural. Totalitarian
regimes control science, education, art and private lives of residents to
the degree of dictation proper morality. The reach of the government is
limitless.
Examples of totalitarian regime strategies to gain control of the nation
include: Having a dictatorship
• Employing only one ruling party
• Rule through fear
• Censorship of media
• Propaganda in media, government speeches and through education
• Criticism of the state is prohibited
• Mandatory military sign up
• Secret police forces
• Controlling reproduction of the population (either in hopes to
increase or to decrease)
• Targeting of specific religious or political populations
• Development of a nationalist party
An example of Big Brother in other
parts of the World!
• Theatre of South Africa
YOUR FINAL PERFORMANCE
• You will randomly draw an option of Propaganda,
Protest or Activism. You must create a final
performance piece being mindful of the oppressive
government that you exist under, but are secretly free
to pursue any topic of interest to you. Keep in mind
that BIG BROTHER would capture and torture you if he
was made aware of your artistic pursuits. THEATRE
AGAINST BIG BROTHER IS NOT ALLOWED. Many
theatrical artist have been imprisoned for acts such as
you are doing. Luckily, Mr. Peebles, a part of the
Resistance Against BB can be your guide through this
process--to be successful you must perform your work
so that your message gets out. If you randomly select
propaganda work, you must work for BIG BROTHER.
• Specifics:
• -Create a piece of Propaganda, Protest or Activist Art about a
subject that interests you (that can exist within our totalitarian
world) that is 10-12 minutes long.
• -Ensure that you have academically researched past instances of
the kind of social issue you are creating (min 3 resources in PJ)
• -Assign roles each group member will fulfill (writer, actor, director)
• -Keep excellent records of progress in PJ based on research and role
in the collaborative group. (Keep it hidden from BIG BROTHER)
• Each group will present their final performance piece to the class.
• -If your piece is historically inspired, stylistically it should
correspond to the time period you researched. If your piece is
inspired by culture or recent events, it should similarly correspond
(how are you communicating to your audience? Who is your
audience? Why?)
The Groups
• Activists- Those who want to draw attention
to and support for a particular social issue.
• Propagandist- Those who are in support of Big
Brother and a particular social issue.
• Protestor- Those who are fighting against Big
Brother and a particular social issue,
Your final performance:
• Can be modern, historical and/or cultural. It
needs to be reacting to/involved with something
tangibly realistic (something that actually
occurred). If you are creating a propaganda
performance, the need to understand a
totalitarian society is heightened, because you
will be promoting the Totalitarian society we live
in (in performance). If you are creating Protest or
Activist artwork, you will need to understand how
to operate around a society that is trying to
silence you, and really think about how to get
your message across the performance.
Roles within the Resistance
• Each role of the resistance group is to be assigned to a
group member. Each group member will create a
statement of intention as to how they will achieve and
support the intention of the group through their work.
• How can lights be used to support the dramatic
intentions or the scene?
• How can sound effects/multimedia or music be used to
support the dramatic intentions or the scene?
• How can set pieces be used to support the dramatic
intentions or the scene?
• How can costumes be used to support the dramatic
intentions or the scene?
Each Resistance Group
• This is what each group will look like in groups
of 3-4:
• writer (required)
director (required)
actor(s) (required)
• lights (to create mood or dramatic effect)
sound (optional)
multimedia (optional)
Influence needs value
The following components are to be handled collaboratively
by the group based on what the director’s vision is for the
piece. You may or may not utilize all components, but
consider and apply those components that will most
effectively support the intentions of you performance.
• How can lights be used to support the dramatic intentions
or the scene?
• How can sound effects/multimedia or music be used to
support the dramatic intentions or the scene?
• How can set pieces be used to support the dramatic
intentions or the scene?
• How can costumes be used to support the dramatic
intentions or the scene?
Secret Documents
• All members of the resistance must have the
following for their process journal. For
security reasons they may be submitted
digitally over a secured google doc.
1. A completed script
2. A completed identity concealment sheet for
each character in the performance
3. A competed directorial vision
This is the final test!!!
• In order to achieve victory for your group, you
piece must impact and influence the masses!!!
• Scripts due from writer due no later than May 5th.
• Identity concealment sheet due from each actor
no later than May 9th.
• Annotated script along with director vision sheet
due from director due no later than May 9th.
• Unless Big Brother finds out, all performances will
be done on May 20th!
The Rubric
Criterion A: Knowing and Understanding (appropriate social issue, world-ties in final
piece, with elements, principles and composition on back)
• i. demonstrates excellent knowledge and understanding of the art form studied,
including concepts, processes, and excellent use of subject-specific terminology
• iii. demonstrates excellent use of acquired knowledge to purposefully inform
artistic decisions in the process of creating artwork.
Criterion B: Developing Skills (application of research is competent, finished and
polished)
• i. demonstrates excellent acquisition and development of the skills and techniques
of the art form studied
• ii. demonstrates excellent application of skills and techniques to create, perform
and/or present art.
Criterion C: Thinking Creatively (One meeting with Mr. Peebles to approve ideas prior
to final draft, finished product)
• iii. demonstrates excellent exploration of ideas through the developmental process
to a point of realization.
Questions to consider
• In what ways have protests of the past
brought about radical changes in a society?
• To what extent is Independent thought a
myth in a modern society?
• In what ways is a person's thoughts and
opinions about social issues influenced by
the government and the media?
• The Speech