La Casita presents free workshop on theater and social change

The La Casita Cultural Center, 109 Otisco St., Syracuse, will present an introductory workshop on the use of theater as a means for social change on Saturday, Jan. 21, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. The workshop is free and open to adults as well as college and high-school students. No theatre experience is necessary. To register, e-mail La Casita at lacasita@syr.edu.

Stephen Cross, assistant professor of theater in Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts, will facilitate the workshop, which will emphasize the work of Augusto Boal, creator of the Theatre of the Oppressed.

“The full-day workshop will engage people in the practice and theory of theater as a catalyst for social reform and community development,” Cross says. “The work is energizing, analytical and creative. No theater background is needed for people to participate.”

Cross says one of the goals of the workshop is to empower community organizers to incorporate theater processes into their programs. “This kind of theater is about cultural democracy,” he says. “I am confident people working in any kind of program—education, health, employment, literacy, children, youth, seniors, recreation—will discover how theater can support their daily work.”

Cross holds an M.F.A. from Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre and is a member of the Actors’ Equity Association. He is the founder and artistic director of the Irondale Ensemble Project in Canada, where he initiated the Irondale School for Ensemble Theatre. He has worked as an actor and director in regional theaters in Canada and the United States, off-Broadway and at the Stratford Festival in Canada. He has an extensive background in ensemble-theater and community-based arts practice.

La Casita is a vibrant cultural, artistic and educational center supported by The College of Arts and Sciences and the Office of the Chancellor.  The Center is committed to promoting and documenting the arts and culture of Central New York’s Latino/Latin American community through collaborative programming in the visual and expressive arts, education, and community activism.