This Is Theatre: Deconstructed Repetition and Theatre-in-Education during Covid-19

Authors

Subbah Mir, Louisiana State University, Baton RougeFollow

Document Type

Article

Abstract

This project report is a practical application of deconstructed repetition model, I devised by merging Augusto Boal and Baz Kershaw, in an undergraduate Composition Writing class in Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, U.S. As the facilitator Deconstructed repetition means cost-effective repetition of personal and local stories for introspection in order to engage the community members, address the oppression, and celebrate the local culture. The four stipulations of the models are: avoiding the Western canon (or hegemonic voice), making the audience(s) see direct and indirect oppression, circumventing commodification while maintaining audience interest, and celebrating local culture instead of downright criticizing it. For this specific project I set two project goals i.e. exploring personal truth and undergoing ideational transaction. I define ideational transaction as participants self-teaching themselves about the issue, exploring their subjective experiences with objective angles, and finding solutions to their issues. Activist practitioners provide multiple deconstructed repetition techniques among which I selected Story Circle to implement the model. I taught my class the Composition Writing curriculum and as the joker I created an imaginary space for them to deconstruct their stories. In the fifteen-week-long Spring 2021 semester, the students participated in five story circles i.e. “Zoom/In Person Class Issues, Toxic Household, Effect of Social Media, Dealing with Loss,” and “Body Insecurity.” I measured successful ideational transaction through their two main assignments, i.e. “Observation Logbook” and “Final Essay.” The spect-actors explored their truth via analyzing their own stories through a series of assignments, self-learning about the same issue in society, and going through ideational transaction where they came up with suggestions to solve the issue in their Louisiana State University (LSU) community.

Recommended Citation

Mir, Subbah (2025) "This Is Theatre: Deconstructed Repetition and Theatre-in-Education during Covid-19," Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed Journal: Vol. 8, Article 9.
Available at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/ptoj/vol8/iss1/9