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 )

What does it mean to be a refugee? What does it mean to be an Australian?

Julian Burnside QC, wrote an article recently about the plight of refugees coming into Australia by boat ("Australians don't fully understand what is being done in their name" - The Age, 26 August 2011 p.13).

Referred to as 'boat people' by many, surely those who are escaping from intolerable conditions are first of all, 'people', people who are escaping by any means possible.

This article of Julian's touched me quite deeply. I began to think of what it means to migrate to another country, to leave a home and come to another place. What does it mean to be locked up with your baby, children or loved ones, for over a decade in some cases? Can you imagine that? What is it like to be homeless? What is it like not to have a voice?

At this next Theatre of Spontaneity we will concretize and explore on our stage, create through a sociometric and sociodramatic exploration and enable through action and movement our views to come to light, with the views of others, what it means to be a refugee, what it means to be an Australian, and see whether we fully understand what is being done in our name.

When? Sunday, 25 September from 6.30 - 8.30 p.m
Where? Psychodrama Institute of Melbourne
Fee: $20.00 ($15.00 for MPS members)
RSVP (03) 94163779 by Friday 23 September 2011

All welcome!

Please feel free to post any responses, comments or email me at MorenoSociety@netspace.net.au with any suggestions, pictures or thoughts.

Sue Daniel

At the Theatre of Spontaneity, Sunday 28 August...

Let's have more of what's good...

Holidays
nice food
sleep
rest
friends
relationships
good work teams
gardening
dreaming
going to the footy
thinking about the cricket and more....

And blow away the winter chills

How do we bring these things about?

Come to the Theatre of Spontaneity this Sunday night..

Presenter: Sue Daniel

Where: Psychodrama Institute of Melbourne
155 Langridge St
Collingwood

Time: 6.30 - 8.30 p.m.

RSVP 0417 586 791

Cost: $20.00 ($15.00 MPS members)

Supper provided by the Moreno Psychodrama Society

Fishing in the Outback - A Sociometric Approach

Yogita Thompson is a psychodramatist and family & relationship counsellor, living and working in Kununurra, Western Australia. This article and the next reflect her experience in working with indigenous people. The following is about her work co-creating a woman's group and the second is a poem which she wrote after attending a funeral.

The Women's Fishing Group that I facilitate has been put up for an Anglicare National award for Innovative Program. So Thelma (85 yr old elder) who I've co-jointly developed the group with is happy to have the recognition. Developing this group has been a cultural journey for us both. We started by talking about women in the community and about developing a women's group. First year we had little attendance. Second year we got feed back they wanted to be able to go fishing. So that was the starting point for the group. After 2½ years the group has developed an indigenous culture and the women have a sense of ownership of the group while new women continue to attend.

Yogita

A young man took his life by Yogita

A young man took his life.

A knot in a rope strangled the last breathe from him. The rope tied to the tree held strong. It did not snap.
The knot was the right one for what he chose to do. It all worked so well.
But now he’s gone.
But why had he tied the rope to the tree?

No-one was saying,
They gathered around his grave.
A somber mood was felt
Some kids stood still while others expressed their preference for play.

The knot took the young man’s life,
The knot at the end of the rope
That was tied to the tree.
But why was the rope tied to the tree?

Wailing expressed the grief in the hearts of the mourners.
Olgawoman sat still
memories of past loss and grief stirred within them.
Sorrow’s net cast over them.

The knot took the young man’s life,
The knot at the end of the rope
That was tied to the tree.
But why was the rope tied to the tree?

The family sat at the head of the grave,
A cold stiff lifeless body of one who was so young lay before them.
One by one mourners’ threw a hand full of sand onto the coffin.
The ritual continued.

The knot took the life of the young man.
The knot at the end of the rope
That was tied to the tree.
But why was the rope tied to the tree?

Emotions were stirring but were not expressed.
This was not the first time.
It had happened before.
More sand was thrown onto the grave.

The knot took the life of the young man.
The knot at the end of the rope,
That was tied to the tree.
But why was the rope tied to the tree?

No-one spoke of it
The faces of the family appeared blank and dazed.
What emotions lay behind their blankness
Grief was obvious.

The knot took the life of the young man.
The knot at the end of the rope,
That was tied to the tree.
But why was the rope tied to the tree?

A man built solid, tall and strong picked up some sand and stood at the head of the grave.
With bold words and a cracked voice he broke the silence.
He said,
I was like a father to this lad.
He’d got a job and was doing well.
I was proud of him and wanted him to stay with me
But he was worried about his family so he came back here.
And now today I’ve come from Karada to bury him.
The grog’s killin your kids
Your putting grog before your kids.
You gotta look after your kids and lovem
They’re your future
I loved this boy with all my heart ,
Now he’s gone.
I’ve come all the way from Karada to bury him.

A shiver past over,
All knew he spoke the truth
The tall solid man from Karada with tears in his eyes expressed why the rope had been tied to a tree.