Geese Theatre Company was introduced to the United Kingdom in 1987 by Clark after its success in American prisons. The company have since created drama surrounding issue-based performances and group workshops for male, female and young offenders as well as individuals on probation. Their philosophy is that theatre and drama are highly effective tools in identifying an offender’s behaviour and the process of change. It addresses the factors that may influence one’s actions, analyse the responsibilities of offending and it encourages the individual to challenge the attitudes and beliefs which are the root causes of an offender’s behaviour. The performances stimulates the audience to ask questions and debate the issues surrounding each situation.
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By involving the audience and asking for their input as Ellie’s experts, Geese keep their engagement and invites them to intervene and pose an analysis on decisions Ellie has made. They are then invited to suggest alternative actions at that given point or decisions she can make to better her future. The method was taken from Boal’s Games for Actors and Non Actors which was originated in Brazil, where “he sought to create a ‘problem posing’ theatre where the public became actors active in presenting and solving the problems of their lives” (Thompson:2001:184). Communities in Brazil were given tools to create a series of short plays regarding collective ‘oppression’ that they were experiencing. In each scene, questions or demonstrations were posed about the problems that were faced, and at the end of each performance the audience would be encouraged to intervene and suggest a way to resolve the issue. Audiences would transition from ‘spectators’ to spect-actors’ (Johnson:2001:184) and they would collaboratively work together to face the problem. Boal’s intention, therefore, was not to give the audience the answers or to become didactic in his works, but to encourage the spectator to challenge and probe the issues surrounding the community. This framework could be adapted from Brazil to a prison setting, as Watson explains “the key is getting the model right, if it is true to life, and the audience invest in the characters and the world they inhabit because they recognise it, they will engage with what is being presented” (Watson in Prentki and Preston:2009:50). Scenes where Ellie is asked to remove her mask, Forum Theatre is presented when the audience intervene, analysing Ellie’s actions and proposing solutions to better her future. By observing scenes which closely resembles a world in which they live in, this technique acts a a catalyst to inspire participants to want to make changes in
By involving the audience and asking for their input as Ellie’s experts, Geese keep their engagement and invites them to intervene and pose an analysis on decisions Ellie has made. They are then invited to suggest alternative actions at that given point or decisions she can make to better her future. The method was taken from Boal’s Games for Actors and Non Actors which was originated in Brazil, where “he sought to create a ‘problem posing’ theatre where the public became actors active in presenting and solving the problems of their lives” (Thompson:2001:184). Communities in Brazil were given tools to create a series of short plays regarding collective ‘oppression’ that they were experiencing. In each scene, questions or demonstrations were posed about the problems that were faced, and at the end of each performance the audience would be encouraged to intervene and suggest a way to resolve the issue. Audiences would transition from ‘spectators’ to spect-actors’ (Johnson:2001:184) and they would collaboratively work together to face the problem. Boal’s intention, therefore, was not to give the audience the answers or to become didactic in his works, but to encourage the spectator to challenge and probe the issues surrounding the community. This framework could be adapted from Brazil to a prison setting, as Watson explains “the key is getting the model right, if it is true to life, and the audience invest in the characters and the world they inhabit because they recognise it, they will engage with what is being presented” (Watson in Prentki and Preston:2009:50). Scenes where Ellie is asked to remove her mask, Forum Theatre is presented when the audience intervene, analysing Ellie’s actions and proposing solutions to better her future. By observing scenes which closely resembles a world in which they live in, this technique acts a a catalyst to inspire participants to want to make changes in