You are invited to a free performance of provocative, interactive theater which will engage the audience in a discussion of classroom diversity and inclusive teaching. The play will take place on May 25th at 7:30 P.M. in the Wisconsin Union Theater, Memorial Union.Free? Really?
The actors are members of the CRLT Players of the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching at the University of Michigan. Their sketches are a combination of comedy and drama. After each sketch, the actors emerge in character to converse with the audience. A trained facilitator leads the discussion and presents educational research relating to classroom diversity. The actors often perform the scenario again after the audience suggests changes to the characters' actions.
Is there any sort of theatrical production worse than one designed to instruct you in proper behavior? Yes. It would be a theatrical production designed to instruct you in proper behavior where the actors, after performing their scenario, emerge in character, and, aided by a trained facilitator, engage the audience in a discussion of proper behavior, then redo the scenario. And keep in mind that this audience will be composed of people who would voluntarily attend this production.
I realize this would be ripe blogging material, but, seriously, you'd have to pay me at least $1,000 to attend.
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12 comments:
Argh- this sounds even worse than all those RA training sensitivity sessions I have to attend each fall...
They ought to pay you $1000 to blog about it; if they did they would receive wider coverage than by any other means.
Wouldn't it be just great to go with a couple of friends willing to be ringers and stage your own audience-based counter-performance? Scare the living hell out of the facilitator, have everyone say fake evil things to each other, stage a fake race riot/gender insurrection/differently-abled beatdown!
Now THAT would be tasty!
Can't you get a NEA grant to attend? ;-)
Hahaha ... we should take up a collection and get Prof. Althouse to go. A simulblog of this could be devastating.
Robert: Well, you see the Amazon and Paypal buttons. For a combined new infusion of $1,000 in donations, I will blog the event. It will be like that time readers sent Josh Marshall to the New Hampshire primary. Except he was trying to cover his expenses. I will just be trying to cover my pain.
Alternatively, some local bloggers can attend, write it up, and send me their URLs to link. (But, please, don't be disrespectful while you're there.)
Ann: Good Idea! Rent-a-blogger! Maybe you can put a price on each item on your list of things you haven't done, and when the contributions hit that level, you do it and blog it!
(except maybe the smack...)
Now that alone is an idea for a blog..."will do X and post it as a video file. and blog it."
For $1,000 I think anyone in this conversation could blog it sight unseen, and it would be more entertaining and instructive than the actual event.
Nice idea, Ron. Okay, for a mere $500, I'll eat an egg salad sandwich and write up an account of it. With photos!
Ann: Though I lack the funds to be such a ...person...I suspect there are enough egg salad voyeurs out there that they may yet pony up the coin!
C'mon Interweb! Don't let me down!
And if this happens...I, too, will partake of the egg salad...
George: I'm willing to believe this group does a reasonably good job at what it sets out to do, but I loathe didactic theater. As I said in my original post, I'm perfectly willing to sit through the ordeal so that I can be perfectly fair to it -- for $1000.
Wha???? I'm "prejudiced" against bad theater? Damn right!
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