Rhythm of the Machine: Theater, Prison Community, and Social Change

Martin Mitchell

doi:10.59236/rjv4i1pp136-146

Reflections: A Journal of Community-Engaged Writing and Rhetoric Dec 2004 Open Access

Rhythm of the Machine: Theater, Prison Community, and Social Change

Martin Mitchell

Abstract

This article reflects upon four years of exploring Augusto Boal’s Image and Forum Theatre techniques in prisons for youth in upstate New York with young men aged 1420. These practices work for prisoners by respecting the “literacy” of survival inside prison and by putting prisoners in control of making meaning with their bodies. Examples show the “embodied knowledge” of prisoners as the basis for collaborative, critical deliberations by prisoner communities who use it to re-envision conflict. The “well-contested” site of the body and the definition of “respect” by prisoners are keynotes to this work.

Journal: Reflections: A Journal of Community-Engaged Writing and Rhetoric
Published: 2004-12-01
DOI: 10.59236/rjv4i1pp136-146
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Topics: collaborative writing literacy studies
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References (6)

Boal (1985)

Theatre of the Oppressed
Boal (1995)

The Rainbow of Desire
Boal (1992)

Games for Actors and Non-Actors
Diamond (1997)

Unmaking Mimesis
Gilligan (1997)

Violence: Reflections on a National Epidemic

Show all 6 →

Mitchell (2001)

Notes from Inside

Theater ↗

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Rhythm of the Machine: Theater, Prison Community, and Social Change

Abstract

Citation Context

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References (6)

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