Our Workshops
An UNESCO-recognized educational tool for implementing social change, Forum Theatre is a community-focused, facilitated style of theatre designed to address social issues and inspire action for change.
Forum Theatre gives communities the agency to develop their own grassroots solutions and the ability to envision the positive outcomes of creating social change.
The techniques of Forum Theatre creation are transferable to a wide range of community engagement and educational initiatives. Workshop participants will receive the skills to become better facilitators, artists, community leaders, and more socially-aware educators.
We are so glad to be receiving multiple requests for workshops throughout the year. And in response, we are now holding workshops every 3-4 months!
Upcoming Workshops
Creation & Performance for Social Change
A Forum Theatre Intensive Workshop
Dates + Time: July 18th to July 22nd (5 days), 10AM to 4PM (with an hour break)
Location: In Toronto in person. A specific location will be announced closer to the date.
Facilitated by Simon Malbogat
Cost of Workshop*
General Admission: $678
CAEA Members, Students, & Underwaged Arts Workers: $508.50
PWYC – Pricing available for limited number of participants
*All prices include HST
Creation and Performance for Social Change is a five-day, Forum theatre intensive facilitated by Simon Malbogat. Forum Theatre is an interactive approach that involves the audience in developing real-time strategies for dealing with social and personal issues. In a Mixed Company production, a story representing an issue is created with community members, rehearsed, and performed.
Over the course of the week, Simon will take participants through the steps involved in shaping and refining a Forum play as distinct from other forms of theatrical presentation. By the end of the week, attendees will have hands on experience with the process of Forum Theatre creation, performance, and direction.
While this workshop is for artists of all mediums, actors will have a chance to perform in productions in order to learn the technicalities of Forum Theatre acting, performance, and improv. Directors will have the opportunity to direct a typical Forum Theatre play to learn how it’s different from other forms of theatre or production.
Learning objectives for this workshop include:
- Introducing participants to the basics of Forum Theatre (FT)
- Identifying key differences between performance, script, and character arcs in FT vs other forms of theatre
- Learn key process and ideas behind scene creation and conflict escalation
- Learn and practice character development as oppressors, oppressed, bystanders, and other common FT roles
- Learn steps for directing FT and how Masks can be used to develop oppressors & bystanders
- Identify differences between FT intervention and improv; learn to respond to community interventions
- Use sample script excerpt to workshop direction & performance
This workshop will not be covering how to facilitate/take on the Joker role in Forum Theatre, as those are skills that require their own separate workshop that MCT will be offering at a later date!
This workshop is an opportunity for artists to JOIN the Forum Theatre community both in Toronto and abroad, in order to start practicing and participating in Forum events and productions. Forum Theatre is a practice that exists at the intersection of artistic creation and social change. As a company, we seek to Educate, Engage, and Empower our audiences, our participants, and our artists, and equip them with the tools they need to create meaningful change in their communities and in the world. To these ends, we encourage individuals from all walks of life to sign up for our workshops, or get in touch with us to find out how else you can be involved!
To register for this workshop, please visit http://ow.ly/uBK050JoAgg
If you have any questions, please reach out to communications@mixedcompanytheatre.com
Workshop Topics
Our workshops have covered topics such as…
- An introduction to the key principles, exercises, and effective practices to use when creating Forum Theatre with communities
- Important considerations and practices to follow when scripting Forum Theatre plays
- The “Masks of Manipulation” – an invaluable character development and conflict resolution tool we often use in our Forum Theatre practice
- How to be an effective “Joker”/Facilitator in Forum Theatre projects and performances
Payment Details
Payment Methods
- Please make all cheques payable to “Mixed Company Theatre.” Cheques can be mailed to 540 Dawes Road, Apt 407, East York ON. M4B2E9.
- For payments through Interac e-transfer, and to ask any questions about fees, please email us info@mixedcompanytheatre.com
- Cash payments are not permitted.
- Payment must be made on or before the start date of your workshop in order to receive the Zoom link.
PWYC Options
- In the spirit of removing financial barriers to access, Mixed Company Theatre is able to offer a limited number of “Pay What You Can” payment options to those who require financial assistance in order to attend our workshops.
- Please indicate your need for this option through the registration form for the workshop(s) you wish to attend.