• POETIC JUSTICE THEATRE ENSEMBLE AUDITIONS
SEEKING ACTOR/ACTIVISTS -- TEENS, ADULTS AND ELDERS --

The Poetic Justice Theatre Ensemble is holding auditions to add several members to its core troupe. Group auditions will be held Thursday, October 12th @ 3:15 & 4:45 PM. at a Port Townsend location TBA. Wear loose clothes for movement. Callbacks are Thursday, October 19th from 4-6 PM.
Call Erica @ 360-385-9540 for details and to sign up for the audition and for directions to audition location.
Interested people are asked to call in advance in order for auditions to flow smoothly.
Acting experience is useful but not necessary to be part of Poetic Justice.

Requirements are:
• a passion for creating change in the world.
• the willingness to self-reflect honestly in a group context.
• the ability to make a consistent weekly commitment to rehearsals every Thursday 3-6 PM, from October thru mid-June 2007 plus a weekend intensive retreat Nov. 4-5. (Standard holidays off.)

The Poetic Justice Theatre Ensemble is a community service project of the Port Townsend based, Mandala Center for Change. Now in our 5th season, this long-term troupe's focus is on stimulating community dialogue and inviting positive action around burning social issues. In our improvisational performances, audience members are not spectators but spect-actors -- invited onstage to explore solutions to their own questions and struggles. Playful, empowering, inclusive of all opinions, and deeply effective, this work changes lives. Past season’s highlights included public performance/dialogues around substance abuse, poverty, disability, Eco-activism, the Iraq war, and nuclear munitions at Indian Island. We also have done more extensive projects such as “Paradise or Prison?” -- our interactive Forum Theatre play about how the community can better support its young people and last season’s “The Wisdom Keepers” with performances in local senior residences.

A deeply dedicated multi-generational (currently ages 19-78), multi-cultural team, we are particularly seeking and are committed to casting young people, elders, and People of Color. We hold weekly 3-hour rehearsals (Thursdays 3-6 PM) in Uptown PT. Our work together is physical, emotional, and a lot of fun.

Collectively run, the Ensemble specializes in the acclaimed performance and workshop techniques, Theatre of the Oppressed and Playback Theatre among others. Theatre of the Oppressed, as created by Brazilian visionary, Augusto Boal, is a form of popular community based education which uses theater as a tool for transformation. Originally developed out of Boal’s work with peasant and worker populations, it is now used all over the world for social and political activism, conflict resolution, community building, therapy, and government legislation. Playback Theatre, as developed by American, Jonathan Fox, very simply and exquisitely honors personal story.

• OTHER CURRENT PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS
Current and upcoming projects of the Mandala Center include:

1) Anti-racism workshop and Forum performance for City of Seattle / Alternate Dispute
Resolution program, Seattle, WA – October 19th, 2006.
Marc Weinblatt facilitates a 1/2-day T.O. based Anti-racism workshop for a group from the City of Seattle “Race and Social Justice” division plus Seattle area Mediators. This will be followed by a Forum Theatre performance focusing on race/gender conflict in the workplace. All City of Seattle employees are invited. Organized by Vivien Sharples - vivien.sharples@seattle.gov

2) Anti-Oppression “Train the Trainers” workshops for Global Visionaries, Seattle WA – October 7, 2006 through January 6th, 2007.
Cheryl Harrison and Marc Weinblatt facilitate a series of training sessions to prepare youth leaders to facilitate T.O. based Anti-Oppression workshops. These select youth will then lead retreats in January and March as part of Global Visionaries (GV) program for high school students who will participate in upcoming service trips to Guatemala. This expands our long-term relationship with GV, using T.O. and other participatory diversity education tools to generate dialogue around racism, sexism, classism, and imperialism as it relates to the students’ lives at home and as U.S. travelers in rural Central America. Organized by Andrew Green – andgreen@gmail.com

3) Community workshop w/ Forum Theatre performances for Lynnwood area High Schools and College groups. Lynnwood, WA -- early January 2007 -- Tentative.
Cheryl Harrison and Marc Weinblatt are scheduled to facilitate 2 @ 1-week long T.O. based community workshops – one with high school students, one with college students. The themes will likely be social justice on campus. More details coming soon…

• ANNUAL SUMMER T.O. TRAINING
We are currently taking registrations for our annual summer T.O. training intensive in Port Townsend, WA. It is always an amazing group of folks attending from all over the U.S. and abroad. Basic info follows; for more details, contact us at info@mandalaforchange.com or 360-344-3435.
THEATRE OF THE OPPRESSED FACILITATOR’S TRAINING:
WAGING PEACE - DESIGNING JUSTICE
Mon, June 25th – Sat, June 30th, 2007
Our 9th annual version of this 6-day training will focus on community building games, Image Theatre, Forum Theatre, some Rainbow of Desire techniques, and will culminate in an interactive public Forum Theatre performance / community dialogue around social justice issues on Friday night. For beginner as well as more experienced practitioners seeking to deepen their work.
Facilitated by Marc Weinblatt
US$400; $350 if registered before May 15th.
($$ arrangements available based on need; no one turned away.)

To register, send minimum $100 non-refundable deposit per person to:
Mandala Center
510 35th St.
Port Townsend, WA 98368

Click here for more details.