Theater for Humanity in Europe
Donation protected
Hi, my name is Michele Wells and I am the founder of Theater for Humanity (website ). I created Theater for Humanity in 2014 and launched the program in 2015. I am now in the Netherlands expanding my work and I created this GoFundMe campaign to raise the funds to support myself and my work for the duration of my time in Europe.
The purpose of my tour of the Netherlands is to bring Theater for Humanity to a country known for innovation and entrepreneurship. My aim is to create a new iteration of Theater for Humanity that specifically focuses on developing a theater toolbox that can be used to facilitate reconciliation in a global context.In both the Netherlands and the United States, conversations about race, religion, history, colonisation, gender, and politics have become increasingly polarised. For educators and artists practicing and teaching in today’s academic culture, whether in American or Dutch institutions, the need for a toolbox specifically designed to facilitate meaningful dialogue while cultivating learners who possess the curiosity and empathy to truly understand the problems facing our world is urgently needed. I propose to lead a group of Dutch arts educators through Theater for Humanity's process.
Theater for Humanity is a path to reconciliation. Originally designed to facilitate reconciliation between police officers and formerly incarcerated persons, the program includes lectures, workshops, theater performances, and community dialogues. The process is open to a smaller group (usually fourteen) and one of the major outcomes is an original stage play. The play is based upon narratives of the participants which is shared with the participants and project partners in a live-stage reading that leads to a performance.
This iteration of Theater for Humanity focuses on the design of a version of Theater for Humanity curriculum created for academic communities called the Reconciliation Series. The Reconciliation Series focuses on facilitating reconciliation in educational environments in response to conversations on race, religion, history, gender, colonisation, and politics with the aim of preserving and elevating our shared values of religious and intellectual freedom, diversity and inclusion, human rights, and democracy.
The program launched in early 2015 at East Bay Center for the Performing Arts with police officers from the Richmond Police Department and formerly incarcerated persons from the Bay Area Rescue Mission.
Project Outcomes 2021-22:
With your support, I will create a set of two workbooks for the Reconciliation series, as follows:
1. The Implementation Guide
The Implementation Guide is for theater artists, formerly incarcerated persons, and law enforcement agencies who want to implement Theater for Humanity.
2. Artist Workbook & Reader
The Artist Workbook & Reader is designed to guide theater artists & practitioners through the 12-week workshops including Personal Narrative Theater, Collective Narrative, Conflict Theater and Performing Solutions. As the medium of human reconciliation, the artist needs to be constantly evaluating their own bias, perspectives, and reactions to the process. This workbook and reader will help the artist to process the Theater for Humanity experience.
All donors will be named in the printed version of the workbook series (unless they request to be kept anonymous).
Thank you for your consideration.
Michele <3
For More Information About Theater for Humanity:
https://www.instagram.com/theaterforhumanity/
https://www.facebook.com/theaterforhumanity
https://www.theaterforhumanity.com/
The purpose of my tour of the Netherlands is to bring Theater for Humanity to a country known for innovation and entrepreneurship. My aim is to create a new iteration of Theater for Humanity that specifically focuses on developing a theater toolbox that can be used to facilitate reconciliation in a global context.In both the Netherlands and the United States, conversations about race, religion, history, colonisation, gender, and politics have become increasingly polarised. For educators and artists practicing and teaching in today’s academic culture, whether in American or Dutch institutions, the need for a toolbox specifically designed to facilitate meaningful dialogue while cultivating learners who possess the curiosity and empathy to truly understand the problems facing our world is urgently needed. I propose to lead a group of Dutch arts educators through Theater for Humanity's process.
Theater for Humanity is a path to reconciliation. Originally designed to facilitate reconciliation between police officers and formerly incarcerated persons, the program includes lectures, workshops, theater performances, and community dialogues. The process is open to a smaller group (usually fourteen) and one of the major outcomes is an original stage play. The play is based upon narratives of the participants which is shared with the participants and project partners in a live-stage reading that leads to a performance.
This iteration of Theater for Humanity focuses on the design of a version of Theater for Humanity curriculum created for academic communities called the Reconciliation Series. The Reconciliation Series focuses on facilitating reconciliation in educational environments in response to conversations on race, religion, history, gender, colonisation, and politics with the aim of preserving and elevating our shared values of religious and intellectual freedom, diversity and inclusion, human rights, and democracy.
The program launched in early 2015 at East Bay Center for the Performing Arts with police officers from the Richmond Police Department and formerly incarcerated persons from the Bay Area Rescue Mission.
Project Outcomes 2021-22:
With your support, I will create a set of two workbooks for the Reconciliation series, as follows:
1. The Implementation Guide
The Implementation Guide is for theater artists, formerly incarcerated persons, and law enforcement agencies who want to implement Theater for Humanity.
2. Artist Workbook & Reader
The Artist Workbook & Reader is designed to guide theater artists & practitioners through the 12-week workshops including Personal Narrative Theater, Collective Narrative, Conflict Theater and Performing Solutions. As the medium of human reconciliation, the artist needs to be constantly evaluating their own bias, perspectives, and reactions to the process. This workbook and reader will help the artist to process the Theater for Humanity experience.
All donors will be named in the printed version of the workbook series (unless they request to be kept anonymous).
Thank you for your consideration.
Michele <3
For More Information About Theater for Humanity:
https://www.instagram.com/theaterforhumanity/
https://www.facebook.com/theaterforhumanity
https://www.theaterforhumanity.com/
Organizer
Michele Wells
Organizer
Stanford, CA