Make
Theatre, Make
a Difference.
a Difference.
The Winter/Summer Institute
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Make
Theatre, Make
a Difference. |
The Winter/Summer Institute
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| Launched in June 2006 by eight
colleagues from the
United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), the Republic of South Africa
(RSA), and Lesotho, WSI is a multicultural, collaborative
effort among
faculty facilitators and student performers from three continents as
well as community participants from the rural mountain villages of
Lesotho's Malealea Valley. Our biennial program challenges participants
to create issue-based, aesthetically provocative, entertaining
theatre.
Since its inception, the Theatre for Development (TfD) focus of WSI has been a response to the community health situation in Lesotho. Along with much of sub-Saharan Africa, Lesotho has a staggering HIV infection rate—currently estimated at over 23% ¹ (the 3rd highest in the world), and disproportionately affecting young women between 18 and 24. As part of addressing the pandemic, WSI examines the ways in which complex social issues impact the spread of the virus.
Our 2008 Residency video,"The Contamination Waltz," illustrates a concurrency network and shows the process of building a scene |
Click on either of the announcements above to register or find out more about upcoming events In 2006 we looked at how gossip and silence, in Lesotho and in each of the other cultures represented, could lead to disempowerment and danger in the face of the most significant challenges of modern life. The resulting theatre piece, Dance Me to the End of Love (Ntjeke Ho Isa Pheletsong ea Lerato) was performed at the National University of Lesotho, the capital city, Maseru, and in the Malealea Valley. In Malealea we collaborated with local villagers to improvise scenes based on their responses to the play and concerns about HIV. Together we created a new drama—the centerpiece for a valley-wide festival, drawing an audience of over 500 village residents. |
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In 2008, we explored the effects of stigma and denial
in regard to getting tested for HIV, along with the
potentially dynamic role played by "concurrency" —networks of simultaneous, ongoing, committed sexual relationships with a small number of people. Our 2008 performance, It's Just You and Me ... and My Wife and Your Boyfriend (Ke 'Na Le Uena Le Mosali oa Ka Le Mohlankana oa Hau Feela), also played the National University, the capital, and the Malealea Valley. In Malealea we collaborated once again with local villagers and performed in the festival for an even larger crowd. The collaborative creative process WSI has been developing, which begins months before the multinational group gathers in Lesotho, is discussed on The Communication Initiative Network, and will be featured on our Watch/Listen page so check back soon.
Procession
of WSI actors and Malealea villagers to the final Festival performance
(2008)
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WSI actors Katleho 'Moleli (Lesotho) and Rethabile Mokete (Lesotho) rehearse "concurrency" with Malealea villagers (2008) To date, WSI has included students and faculty from: the National University of Lesotho; the State University of New York, Empire State College, New York City (US); the University of Sunderland (UK); and the University of the Witwatersrand (RSA). The Institute's primary theatre work takes place
every two years in sub–Saharan Africa,
with residencies, research endeavors, fund raising, and performance
projects in participating countries during the intervening period. The
ultimate goal of the Institute is to empower both student and community
participants with the tools and resources necessary to create similar
theatre projects in their own communities and lives. |
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Thanks for your ongoing support!
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| Principal photography by Brooke Bassin, Eric Feinblatt, Margaret McGeorge, Rik Walton, Limpho Mokuku, and Jussara Santos-Raxlen | ||||||
