Sarah K. Smith at Ca'Macana mask shop in Venice, Italy. (click to enlarge). Photo credit-Julienne Bilker.
A passion for theatre and social activism has a University of Arizona graduate student searching for people to share their personal stories in a theatre workshop and research study.
Sarah K. Smith, a second year master's student in theatre education and outreach, sees theatre as a social and political tool with the ability to empower.
She is recruiting Tucson community members to learn how to tell personal stories.
As part of her thesis work, Smith wants to measure how participants respond to the drama/theatre storytelling workshop. She will study the differences and similarities between the stories participants tell and what the stories may reveal about community in contemporary society.
Willing participants will take part in theatre exercises focusing on community building, voice, movement and the exploration of the nature of the personal stories.
"Stories," Smith said, "can be about your favorite pair of shoes, or how you or your family came to Tucson or about your most important meal. But in the end the stories are an opportunity for self reflection, self discovery and creating connections with other people."
The workshops will be held Wednesday, June 17 through Sunday, June 21, with a live performance on Saturday, June 20 at 7 p.m. The performance will take place on the UA campus in the Drama Building's Directing studio room 116.
Those interested in participating should contact Smith by Sunday, June 14.
Smith has been working on her thesis for two years and found "that though there is much discussion within the theatre world about personal storytelling performances and its empowering effect, there is very little research to prove that the process is empowering or has any effect."
Smith will be studying the types of stories people tell, their responses to storytelling and to the workshop and gather input on the ways storytelling and theatre contribute to creating a sense of community and personal empowerment.
"Bobbi McKean has been extremely helpful in helping me form the research basis for this effort and also in helping me find research to support the empowerment claims associated with storytelling," Smith said.
McKean is an associate professor of theatre education outreach and associate director of the School of Theatre and director of graduate studies.
Smith decided the workshop and study should include live performances by the storytellers who will share their work with family members and friends as well as Tucson community members interested in the project.
As an actor and a student of theatre, Smith has learned the value of personal storytelling while working with the Tucson group Odyssey Storytelling. "The differences between following a script and direction versus telling a personal story and following your own direction is exhilarating," Smith said.
Participants need to be available for the length of the project. The specific times for the workshop are:
Participants need to be 18 and over and no storytelling, theatre or performance skills or experience necessary.
Sarah K. Smith