Hearts and Souls

Last night's Theatre of Spontaneity brought to light the fact that when we are talking about refugees and boat people, we are talking about hearts and souls.

As a warm up to the evening I invited the group members to create a world map, asking "where do your ancestors come from?" No one came from Australia. All had migrated here, were sponsored or came as a refugee, most had come by boat, some by plane.

We explored through sociometry and axiodrama what was special or pertinent to each country.

A little later we explored through the Living Newspaper, the question, "Do Australians realize what is being done in their name?" There followed three very poignant sociodramatic vignettes. Using many techniques including multiple role holding (multiple doubles on the stage), role tagging, concretization and scene setting we created a strata of meaning from the stereotypical to the typical, atypical and archetypal.

Thanks to sociodrama new perspectives were gained, new realizations dawned and new relationships were formed.

As one person later wrote to me in an email, ..."and the group was awesome." It's true, they were. What a night!

Today I have even more energy, feel more loving and enabled. Silence is a killer, being able to share is a great release and brings about transformation. Even worldwide.

This morning I woke up and the first thing I heard when I turned on the wireless was the voice of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. Yes, on Sunday, the 25th of September he granted women the right to vote and run in future municipal elections, the biggest change in a decade for women in a kingdom that practices strict separation of the sexes that includes banning women from driving. He not only announced that the cabinet had decided that women would be able to vote but that they would be able to take part in the council business. Early in the twentieth century women won the right to vote in England, and now, relatively early in the 21st Century, women in Saudi Arabia have the right to vote. Here is hope and progress indeed.

Thanks to such a great turn up we were able to donate a whopping $200.00 to the Refugee Action Collective, Victoria. They were most grateful.

Sue Daniel

For Quinn

Liliana writes, "I ran a support group today at the Gippsland RSL. Browsing through some literature on World War 1, I bumped into a poem by a man named J. Quinn; an ANZAC in battle who recorded his experiences through poetry. I was very moved, and almost brought to tears. This is my tele, my connection with him."

For Quinn

I read a poem today,

Of a Man,

Surrounded by grey.

I read a poem today,

Of a Man, a life,

With Pain.

I read a poem today,

Of an ANZAC,

With life; with pain.

And the grey that you

Have shared,

It resonates in so many

Other ways,

And with hope,

Of Shields to come,

The grey once was,

Will dawn give Love,

Light.

For you, with love.

Liliana Melone.

Leadership Weekend with Sue Daniel

Saturday & Sunday, 8 & 9 October 2011 from 10 a.m - 5.30 p.m

There are several places left in the forthcoming leadership training weekend. With spring arriving, its time to refresh, air out the cupboards and throw open the windows. Time to get some new things going or to build on things already started.

This workshop is about group work, supervised directing and dramatic enactments. The major focus is on developing and refining group leadership abilities and the establishment of vital relationships.

There is a major training focus in three areas: 1) The knowledge and practical application of role theory, 2) Addressing practical problems encountered in work or life and, 3) Enhancement of your relationship with yourself and others.

Learning will be experiential, based on the interests and concerns of the participants, who can expect significant personal and professional progress. This workshop is designed for those people already in a training process or are leaders, and also those who want to use experiential methods in their work.

Fee: $350.00 ($300.00 for PIM trainees and MPS members) (Dep.$50.00 due by 26 Sept.)

A write; A process

Compelled to write – I, tell you!

Compelled!

Into,

The writing process.

That tumultuous, exhilarating,

Momentous moment.

The urge to write IS process.

Unfolding layers – Need.

To write; express a moment.

To capture it;

In all its magnificent story.

Glory.

The urge to write is enthralling.

To give the cosmos – Words.

To reach the incomprehensible:

To change the thorn,

And calm a storm.

Liliana Melone

Let's not miss the boat! Taking a look at society through the lens of Sociodrama.

Boat People: A Sociodrama for Our Time is the title for the September Theatre of Spontaneity.

Held at PIM, from 6.30-8.30 p.m this coming Sunday, 25 September we will be using sociodrama to explore questions such as what is a refugee and what is it to be Australian. This in light of the plight of the people who come to these shores in boats, and also through other means, in the hope of creating a new life for themselves and their families.

Why not just let them in? Give them a roof, a bed, food, make them comfortable, welcome them. According to Arnold Zable, a Melbourne writer, this is what sea and desert people do when faced with the stranger, the new comer.

But what of the method we are using at this coming Theatre of Spontaneity?

Sociodrama is a drama - a happening - of the people (in a society aka the socius). Unscripted, participants explore and create in action the themes, events or issues at hand. Sociodrama is the highest form of creativity and spontaneity, allowing new ideas, new perspectives, which can then pave the way for new action, new directions, relationships and new life.

The creative genius resides in all of us, no experts, no actors are necessary. The sociodrama is of the people, for the people and by the people.

Sue Daniel

RSVP by 23 September 2011 on 94163779

Gaza: Psychodrama without borders

Here is a video about 17 minutes from interviews and scenes from Ursula Hauser's video of the group of psychodramatists in training who just graduated from her program in Gaza, Palestine, if anyone is interested. It's in English with Spanish Subtitles (because she also trains in Central America) as well as living and working in Switzerland.
(Link to original video:http://vimeo.com/23181904 )