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June 25, 2021\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013 Recently, the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative (WPDI) helped conduct a virtual theater performance influenced by an innovative restorative justice-based approach to conflict resolution with students at Stephen White Middle School. Conducted under a partnership between the University of Southern California School of Dramatic Arts\u2019 Institute for Theatre & Social Change (ITSC) and WPDI\u2019s Domestic Harmonizer Program (DHP), the performance allowed the students to grapple with prominent issues they have encountered both at school and at home in a positive way.<\/p>\n The performance came about from WPDI\u2019s new partnership with the ITSC, which began earlier this year. Using the medium of theatre, WPDI and the ITSC worked together to recruit middle school students interested in drama\u00a0and social justice\u00a0at Stephen White Middle School in Carson, California.\u00a0Lead by Dr. Brent Blair and USC alumni Kimiko Warren and Sarah Peters,\u00a0the youths were invited to participate in this online program after school club.\u00a0\u00a0The selected students chose the themes, drawing\u00a0from their lives and current events\u00a0they wanted to explore, in a\u00a0play that they also designed. The process allowed them to learn about and engage their fellow students, teachers, and audience members in a meaningful way.\u00a0\u00a0This format of authoring and acting, informed by the methodology of Theatre of the Oppressed, brought students into simulations that required them to unpack the complexity of the chosen social justice issues, with a significant psychosocial impact.<\/p>\n After extensive practice throughout the spring, the students performed their play \u2013 virtually, because of the COVID-19 pandemic \u2013 to an audience including teachers, administrators, and the public. Themes and issues addressed during the performance included bullying, cultural differences and acceptance, and confronting challenging situations at home. After each scene, the students and Dr. Blair engaged with the audience in an interactive dialogue to constructively address key points, challenges, and results raised, resulting in a highly dynamic and thought-provoking shared theatrical experience.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was moving to see the students\u2019 commitment to share challenging issues and to create dramatic scenes despite the occasional limitations of internet service and familiar distractions common to the \u2018Zoom from home\u2019 experience,\u201d Dr. Blair said. \u201cThe students were courageous, the scenes were brave, and the audience engagements were illuminating. This process helped everyone to see the world from the eyes of the students through direct participation in their world. ITSC cannot wait to work with WPDI and the students from Stephen White Middle School again.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0Karen DeVoogd, the Domestic Harmonizer Program\u2019s Conflict Resolution Education Trainer, had a similar sentiment:\u00a0\u201cthe process of the audience being invited into the performance, after discussing the featured issue from multiple perspectives, brought forth deep understanding and empathy.\u00a0\u00a0These are key outcomes of the DHP and make this ITSC partnership an ideal addition to the scope of our work.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n With this first performance now concluded, WPDI and ITSC will\u00a0continue to work together in the 2021-22 school year to involve more students from our DHP partner schools.\u00a0\u00a0There is great anticipation in bringing this theater experience to a live audience of students in our schools, once schools are back to in person instruction.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.wpdi.org\/app\/uploads\/e336f6cc-c547-4773-905b-7b2ce564592f-250x188.jpg\")
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