Silhouettes: Cut to Black - The Kara Walker project

Methodological Approach(es):  Exploring the thematic elements of :

•  Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed: Image Theater work

• Specific thematic/physical elements of Kara Walker's  artistic exploration of black bodies in distress and liberation through narrative.

Silhouettes: Cut to Black continues my creative research agenda of identifying narratives of resilience and resistance within BIPOC communities. This project will serve as an active dialogue not only for the performers but for the audience as well. Her works causes you seek beyond the image, invoking some internal inventory that truthful as a very visceral reaction…and embodiment. This interactive piece will call for scene-to-scene participation, leaving each performance purely unique and undefined. 

Theatre of the Oppressed: Image Theater

Theatre of the Oppressed, which can be seen as a theatrical/performative form of activism, uses theatre as the means of promoting social and political change:

“Theatre is a language through which human beings can engage in active dialogue on what is important to them and allows individuals to create a safe space that they may inhabit in groups and use to explore the interactions which make up their lives. It is a lab for problem-solving, for seeking options, and for practicing solutions.” (1)

Practical Application

This project will not only serve as an active dialogue for the performers but for the audience as well. This interactive piece will call for scene-to-scene participation leaving each night of performance purely unique and undefined. While the rehearsal process is dedicated to the development of the prose, poetry, scenes, and/or choreography focused on various issues, the second major component of the production is the implementation of the Boalian exercise of the Image Theatre.

This unique method uses still images are used to explore abstract concepts, such as relationships and emotions, as well as realistic situations. These images are then placed together and ‘dynamized’ or brought to life. The method is often used to explore internal or external oppression, unconscious thoughts, and feelings. 

(1) Augusto Boal and Adrian Jackson, The Aesthetics of the Oppressed (London: Routledge, 2006).