Theatre and Performance skills with David Diamond

Our classes were lucky to have renown Director David Diamond a founding member of Vancouver’s Headlines Theatre join us and share some skills.

David has directed over 550 community-specific projects on issues such as racism, civic engagement, violence, addiction, street youth, intergenerational conflict and homelessness. He has worked throughout Canada, the USA and Europe, as well as in Namibia, New Zealand, Australia, Brazil, Rwanda, Palestine, India and Singapore, and has pioneered the development of live, interactive Forum television and web casting.

His work under the name Theatre for Living recognizes communities are complexly integrated living organisms and invites them to engage in constructive social change, moving from various forms of violence to respectful engagement.

David led our classes through a brief number of theatre skills activities that encouraged physical movement and explored tension, conflict and dialogue and how those emotions could look like in a physical form. David believes that Theatre allows us to examine conflict so as a society we can witness and create possible solutions. But not seeing the problem how can we solve it.

The students paired up and created a simple dramatic scene where two characters disagreed about what was to be included in a ‘grab and go bag’ which is disaster preparedness tactic. We discussed the root of competing individual priorities and what that could mean in a real emergency scenario. It is hoped by this experience the students can incorporate tension in a useful for as they develop their oewn stories.