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Our History
In 1993, Headlines produced FLESH AND BLOOD(12), Colin Thomas' award-winning play about AIDS in the Vancouver East Cultural Centre, produced in association with the Vancouver Persons With AIDS Society, AIDS Vancouver and the Positive Women's Network. In addition, the company developed an unusual piece based on Augusto Boal's Rainbow of Desire work entitled THE CREATIVE AUDIENCE prepares for the holidays. This one-man show featured David Diamond in an audience interactive exploration of the tensions and anxieties of the Christmas holiday season. It used a Theatre of the Oppressed technique called Rainbow of Desire -- the first time this work has been done as theatrical performance outside of Brasil. The technique involved David drawing stories out of the audience members' lives and using the audience as the actors, creating an evening of theatre that explored their issues. Audience and critical response was tremendous. For many people (including theatre critics and Canada Council officers), the production redefined what theatre could be. In 1993, David and Jacquie George (a part-time Facilitator) also attended the 7th International Festival of the Theatre of the Oppressed in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, as guests of the Brasilian Government and the Centre for the Theatre of the Oppressed. David accepted, on behalf of Headlines, official recognition of the Company as a centre of the Theatre of the Oppressed in BC. In 1994 Headlines started recognizing a need in the Latino Community for a theatre group. Carmen Aguirre, one of Headlines facilitators got on the phone and started making calls. The result was the formation of the Latino Theatre Group in September of 1995(13). To date they have created four short plays. Each one looks at an issue: family violence, racism, deportation, and safe sex. They are performing throughout the Lower Mainland on an ongoing basis, providing a dialogue in the Latino Community (and the general community) on issues relevant to the Latino Community. The Group meets every Sunday to rehearse. Mamu: the Currency of Life(14) (1994) was the most ambitious production in Headlines' history. It is a play about the interconnectedness of life that uses the forestry controversy in BC as a window into biodiversity issues. The play is a strong mix of theatre, dance, slides and music with actors playing birds, beetles and a variety of human characters. Mamu performed at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre from May 13 to June 4 to rave audience and critical acclaim. Every performance was followed by a focused discussion session featuring resource people from Industry, First Nations and the Environmental Movement. There is now discussion of a national tour in 1997. Mamu was nominated for Vancouver Jessie Richardson Awards in the following categories:
In 1996, Headlines was honoured to receive the Canadian Healthy Environment Award for Mamu. In 1995 , the Company's workshop work headed in a new direction with the birth of THEATRE FOR LIVING. Headlines work had been based on Augusto Boal's "Theatre of the Oppressed," which investigates the relationships between "Oppressor" and "Oppressed." Through a series of exercises and games, people created a drama and then invite the greater community and audience to participate in a performance which works towards stopping something from happening that they didn't want to happen. This was a problem solving approach. THEATRE FOR LIVING shifts this focus. People and communities can create dramas that invite audience members to work towards finding realities that they do want -- positive, creative solutions. THEATRE FOR LIVING contains several tools: Rainbow of Desire, Cops in the Head, Image Theatre and POWER PLAYS.
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