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Rating: 
Summary: A "cannot-do without-it" book for youth and community worker
Review: I came across this book in February 1998 during a one-week training workshop given personally by Michael Rohd in Helsinki (Finland). I consider this material valuable and anyone who works with young people or youth workers should get it. I have used this book when giving training to youth and community workers. Needless to say, I had to adapt some of the exercises according to the local context. I would recommend this book to all those who want to be part of a revolution.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent source for Elementary drama & socialization skills
Review: I work as a Art Focus Drama teacher for K-7 students who come from various socio-economic backgrounds and home lives. I found this book a very valuable resource, especially for students who have a difficult time with issues of trust, language, and ensemble work. It is great to have a resource that contains detailed exercises within a logical framework, that not only works, but explains itself in a manner that even classroom teachers, with no drama experience whatsoever, can accomplish. A highly suggest this for teachers who want to use drama as a way to improve communication and explore problem solving in a new, creative, and very effective way.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent source for Elementary drama & socialization skills
Review: I work as a Art Focus Drama teacher for K-7 students who come from various socio-economic backgrounds and home lives. I found this book a very valuable resource, especially for students who have a difficult time with issues of trust, language, and ensemble work. It is great to have a resource that contains detailed exercises within a logical framework, that not only works, but explains itself in a manner that even classroom teachers, with no drama experience whatsoever, can accomplish. A highly suggest this for teachers who want to use drama as a way to improve communication and explore problem solving in a new, creative, and very effective way.
Rating: 
Summary: Making theatre for dialogue in community doable for all
Review: I'm thinking that if you have made your way to this book here at amazon.com, you must have an interest in one of four things (or possibly all 4): theatre, education, work with youth, or community- based activism. My book deals with all of these topics, and is basically a resource to help you work with theatre techniques (particuarily interactive theatre) in all sorts of settings to facilitate dialogue around social issues- issues that concern you, and those with whom you work. It is used to train teachers and by teachers; it is used by theatre professionals; it is used by peer-education group leaders, by health-educators, by counselors and therapists, by prevention coordinators, by artists who work with groups of adults and youths, by community facilitators dealing with issues of conflict... basically, it is tailored to aid your work with groups in the making of theatre that deals with trust building, problem-solving, and an exploration of how relationships, power, and perceptions affect our choices and the way we (especially youth) see ourselves in the world. Here is a brief version of the events that led to the creation of Hope Is Vital, the national organization whose techniques this book shares. I am a theatre artist and educator. I've worked as an actor, director, teacher, and community facilitator all over the United States, and in various parts of the world. In 1991, I was teaching at a school in Washington, DC when I was asked to give drama workshops at a Homeless Shelter in downtown DC called Health Care for the Homeless (a confidential clinic for men and women who lived on the streets and were living with HIV and/or AIDS). After working with no set agenda or timeline for several months, the clients at the shelter requested that I bring some of my teen students down to participate in the workshops. After negotiating school red tape, I took a group down. The experience was immediately powerful, and took on a life of its own. We told stories and we improvised; we used movement techniques to play together; we explored what we had in common, and what our differences were. After several months, we formed a group (or ensemble) and we began to take performance-workshops (our name for what we did) to sites all over DC. We went to schools, shelters, church groups, correctional facilities... Our mission was to use theatre to break the line between us (performers) and them (audience) and create interactive workshops where we had dialogues about issues that mattered to everyone in the room. We made theatre that posed questions, and we asked others to join our theatre for the duration of the workshop to explore answers. I facilitated. It was the most powerful theatre I had been a part of making. Ever. So I left that school and travelled around the country. I knocked on doors and persuaded communities to invite me in to conduct residencies with youth and adults where I would help develop and set up similar models: groups that would use theatre to address issues of concern specific to each community. That was 6 years ago, and since then, Hope Is Vital projects have been undertaken all over the US. They have occurred in urban and rural settings, through schools, universities, and community organizations, and in partnership with local, state, and federal funding initiatives. Topics the projects have addressed include violence, racism, teen pregnancy, substance use, health, sexuality education, homophobia, and environmental vs. business conflicts in community. Soon after I began developing and implementing models in community, I was asked to share the techniques I was utilizing through a series of teacher and artist trainings in conjunction with my visits to communities. These trainings took on a life of their own. I would get invited to conferences and teacher training programs specifically for this purpose, and I began to hear a common refrain: Is this material written down? People were especially interested in the training I gave in facilitation. The answer was - yes...and no. There are a number of books written in the fields of theatre, education, and group process that share tools and clues to help non-arts professionals bring arts techniques into their work with groups (these are noted in the bibliography of my book). But, they are rarely accessible to individuals across disciplines; they are rarely useful for the theatre artist and the classroom teacher at the same time. I could not find a book that was process based, filled with tools, and written to be used, not just referred to. This is that book. "Theatre for Community, Conflict, and Dialogue" addresses that gap in the literature for theatre as a tool for dialogue. It is influenced by a number of sources, some of which I'll list here: Paulo Freire; Augusto Boal; Viola Spolin; Living Stage in Washington, DC; Story Theatre; Playback Theatre; Cornerstone Theatre in L.A., and others. The main accomplishment I share with my book is a process that combines known techniques and new techniques into a sequence, or structure, that you can apply in any group setting where you want to introduce the activity of making theatre. You will use it. If you are an educator or community worker interested in critical thinking, in asking questions within an active, creative, safe process, and in issues and ideas that matter to those you engage in conversation, this book will help you. If you are a theatre artist who is searching for ways to reach out into your community through the making of your art, and not just the sharing of your art, this book will help you. And if you make theatre in any group setting and are searching for new tools, this book will help you. If you choose to get it, enjoy. I hope it becomes a positive part of your good work. Regardless, best of luck in what you do. Thanks for reading.
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Summary: Improvisational Theatre as an Aid to Society
Review: Michael Rohd is currently doing exciting work across the country, using improvisational theater techniques to connect with young people and communities in ways that echo Paul Sills' original intention when he founded The Compass Players and Second City: to connect viscerally with the community to create a dialogue for social change. As Jeffrey Sweet documented in his book "Something Wonderful Right Away," the original members of Compass and Second City (Mike Nichols, Elaine May, Severn Darden, Shelley Berman, Barbara Harris, Alan Arkin, etc.) were quick to pick up on the disparity between Sills' goal and the reality of their set-up. Their audience tended to be the insulated academic populace connected to the University of Chicago, whereas Sills was hoping to connect with the community at large. They simply weren't playing to the people Sills wanted to reach, and the people Sills wanted to reach were not coming to this coffeehouse. In Michael Rohd's hands, Paul Sills' work is being perpetuated. He has been taking the practices of improvisational theatre on the road, working with students, adults and teachers to create an open forum for dealing with and discussing today's complex issues. His book is a clear, tightly written manual describing a catalogue of theater games that are fun, creative, joyful, instantly accessible, that take workshop members on a clear arc from learning to trust each other to sharing to creating improvised scenes, all in an amazingly brief time span. For those in the Theatre Industry, Rohd's book is the best description of what goes into the making of an ensemble company and the creation of the Group Mind since Del Close's book, "Truth in Comedy."
Rating:
Summary: Clear, detailed guide for joy filled work
Review: This book provided a guide for Becca Kirsch and I to work with a group of high school students. The activities described in the book build on each other and it was inspiring to watch the students' enthusiasm and discovery through the process. Michael Rohd is correct when he says that the activities help people to get to know each other in new ways. I think that the interaction that comes from participating in these theater games is crucial to help build new ways of communicating and problem solving.
Rating:
Summary: Clear, detailed guide for joy filled work
Review: This book provided a guide for Becca Kirsch and I to work with a group of high school students. The activities described in the book build on each other and it was inspiring to watch the students' enthusiasm and discovery through the process. Michael Rohd is correct when he says that the activities help people to get to know each other in new ways. I think that the interaction that comes from participating in these theater games is crucial to help build new ways of communicating and problem solving.
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