Flipping the Script : Interactive Theatre to Resist Bullying

Let's be real. The recent statistics on bullying, cyberbullying, and suicide are staggering. We at Looking for  Lilith Theatre Company (LFL) are aware of the need for robust bullying prevention programs for young audiences, and we bring these vitally important topics to the forefront through discussion, performance and interaction. Join us for a special weekend, April 30 & May 1, highlighting strategies for resisting bullying that allow the audience to safely think through and practice how to respond if they or someone they love is experiencing bullying.

LFL  programs focus on building empathy, recognizing signs, identifying resources and allies, exploring real world solutions, and developing awareness and communication about emotions, anger management, self esteem and self-care. Available for ALL grades, K-12. (CHOICES is especially appropriate for mixed adult/youth audiences, such as parent groups, community building groups, college students, and school faculty & staff.) All this programming is based on the highly interactive Forum Theatre model of Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed (TO) work. All 3 LFL co-founders trained in this work at NYU with preeminent TO professor Chris Vine 20 years ago, and have had broad experience applying TO techniques since then. For more on the Forum Theatre model, click here.

In addition to this special weekend, this powerful, provocative work is available for booking in your school, community center or library. Contact Jennifer Thalman Kepler at jennifer@lookingforlilith.org.

April 30, 2:00pm: In Even Puppets Have Problems: interactive drama for managing conflict (grades K-2), a puppeteer shares their show where puppet friends are fighting. The audience then helps out by offering them ways to express their anger safely, calm down and work through their conflicts, with a few audience members even getting the chance to take over the voice for one of the puppets. Addressing such “pre-bullying” behavior with our youngest audiences sets them up to have more tools to resist bullying as they mature.

April 30, 7:30pm: Mac’s World: an interactive play on resisting bullying and cyberbullying (grades 3-5) begins with seeing a 30 minute play about Mac, a young student who loves playing video games and spends a lot of time on their phone, but is grappling with an online and in-person bully. Audiences then have the opportunity to help Mac out, intervening at key moments to give Mac advice on how to cope, and then see how that plays out as the performers improvise scenes using the audience's suggestions,  with some even invited to come onstage and replace the main character to try out their ideas in real time.

May 1, 2:00pm: The long running award-winning CHOICES: an interactive play on cyberbullying and suicide (grades 6 and up).  follows the story of Hannah, a victim of cyberbullying. As with the other programs showcased this weekend, CHOICES empowers the audience to stop the action, talk about the problems, and explore solutions, strategies and choices, as they work to help Hannah resist sinking into a dangerous depression.The experience includes a 20-minute scripted performance followed by discussion and interactive participatory performance with the audience, even giving some the opportunity to “rehearse for life” in the shoes of the character.