5. Metamorphosis: How is life when in someone else’s shoes
Age Range or Target Group| This workshop is appropriate for all age groups, is advisable however that participants of the workshop are at similar developmental stages. Moreover, this workshop will be particularly interesting for children and youth. In regard to target group, as the projects depicts, both EU citizens/natives and immigrants/refuges/asylum seekers can participate in the workshop. The workshop is open to people from any socio-economic background.
Number of participants| 10-20 participants. If the workshop is happening with more than 20 participants, more time should be given for each activity and maybe the help of another facilitator will be needed.
Duration| 1h-1h30m
General Aim- Objectives| The general aim of the workshop is to address social issues and increase awareness through the mediation of drama techniques. During the workshop, participants are developing their social skills as well as self-esteem through being agents for delivering social messages while acting. The drama and performances disciplines can be used for a variety of issues. The particular aim in this context is to reduce the condition of marginalization, to contribute to the reinsertion in the social context, to improve the relationship with reality and the rules managing it.
Key words & phrases| drama techniques; social exclusion; social inclusion; diversity; acceptance
Instructions (Step by Step Process) |
A. Greeting and Introduction to the workshop (5-10 minutes)
B. Warm-up (5-10 minutes)
B1. Dancing on paper: Participants split into pairs. Each pair receives an equal sized sheet of newspaper. They dance while music is played. When music stops the pairs have to run and stand to their newspaper and both fit in it. For, the next rounds, the newspaper is being gradually folded. Pairs who do not manage to both stand on the newspaper (no body part should be touching the floor), are out of the game.
B2. A participant takes an item of clothing and wears it, then passes it to another group member, who, in turn, passes it to a third and so on: the exercise is to continuously change the function of the object. The activity can happen within subgroups of 5-6 people.
C. Main Activities (30–60 minutes)
C1. Participants come in a circle, they are given small papers that each of them writes on it a different sentence. They all start with the phrase “Imagine that one morning you wake up and you find out that …… “. Every paper has a different ending. In all papers, the person wakes up with a different characteristic compared to their real lives: different eyes or hair color, height, job, country of origin, skin color, religion, political ideologies, marital status etc. After everyone has read their paper they go into smaller groups of 5-6 people and each one in turns, share what their paper writes on it and they try to imagine how they would feel, think and how they will be behaving, how others will be behaving towards them if this happened. They share their thoughts with the group. Alternatively, they could avoid sharing what is written on their paper in the beginning and instead, share it only after everyone has said what they would feel, think, behave etc.
C2. When everyone has shared their imaginative stories, they are now asked to choose one scenario as a group and have a spontaneous small theater play where one person is facing the sudden change and another person (or more people) impersonates someone who is interacting with the changed character. For example, it could be that the person who wakes up and finds out they are now 60 kilos heavier, they go to the bakery to buy milk and bread. There, they meet apart from the baker, also their neighbor. What happens? The play is free, and the participants can improvise. If necessary, the facilitator can propose some scenarios for each group in order to guide them.
C3. Then ask them to start working on this play and try to create a bit of a structure for it. When they are ready, they come in a big circle again and each group performs their play in front of all the participants.
C4. Finally, they can be asked to perform their theater plays again but this time, the actors swap roles between them. Perform it without rehearsals.
D. Closure – Debriefing (10-15 minutes)
Suggested questions for initiating the debriefing section of the workshop: How did you feel during the workshop? Was there something challenging for you? How was the experience of swapping roles in the last activity? Can you relate any of your feelings and thoughts stemming from the workshop with your daily life? Anything else you would like to share?
Desirable Outcomes and Competences| Through these exercises participants would have the opportunity to be involved and speak out about social issues such as social exclusion and immigration. Skills such as public speech, articulation, creativity, improvisation and acting will be developed. Through this active process, participants’ self-esteem is expected to increase along with creativity and imagination. The workshop will further be an opportunity for reflection on social roles, social relationships, stereotypes and diversity.
Photos and Videos deriving from the workshop’s applied process
Materials| The facilitator could arrange for some music to be playing as a background during the workshop and for some items (clothing; bijou; daily objects etc) to exist in the room for the participants to use, if desirable during their plays. Facilitator should also prepare in advance the papers with the different imaginative scenarios for exercise 1 in the main part of the workshop.
Resources| Please refer to the general resources of ST workshops.
Media and Techniques| The workshop was based on improvisation and performing arts workshops, online videos, articles and books about theatre improvisation and story-telling.
Tips for the educator| Please refer to the general tips of the educator for the ST workshops.
Questions for Evaluation|
- How did you find the exercises of the workshop?
- Are there any suggestions/comments/questions you would like to make?
- Are the activities well explained?
- Do you think this workshop will be interesting for all age groups?
- What would you like to be done differently?