“How to create spaces of liberty inside the walls of a prison? Prisoners have the freedom to analyse their past for sure; and to invent their distant future, why not? … But … what about the present? Here resides the greatest problem: their present is their confrontation with their powerful enemy, the guards, who also consider themselves to be oppressed.” (p. 5, Games for Actors & Non-Actors, Augusto Boal, 2002)

Monday 7th March saw our team descending upon KLPac (Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre) in Sentul to kickstart our Commonwealth Foundation partnered tour.

The scene, titled ‘Balik Penjara’ (Prison Return) details the daily routine of prison life in a Malaysian institution, something all of our cast members have intimate experience of. This largely physical piece was develoed using the tools of the theatre of the oppressed, in particular an exercise called the Hours of the Day. As well as producing a final performance piece, the process generated a significant amount of discussion within the community about prison systems and rehabilitation, in particular the effectiveness of incarceration as punishment.

The tour and development process will continue for the next six months, with more tour partners and dates being lined up. Watch this space for more infomation!

Monday saw new records broken for FLC’s Batu Arang community programme as we had nearly 30 kids from the local refugee centres attend to play games and hang out together as part of our social centre’s cohesion programme. The kids, ranging from 2 to 15 years old, live in seperate shelters scattered across the village and rarely had the chance to meet and interact before we began our pathway of bringing them together. The idea has been wholeheartedly supported by the French volunteer community based here.

Also, over the weekend the community theatre was zealously preparing their new scene for a showcase at KLPac on Monday night. Here are some sneak previews pictures of what’s been happening, with more to follow!

WELCOME TO THE YEAR OF THE RABBIT

In celebration of the Year of the Rabbit, and in typical ‘rubber time’ mode, we are a little late with the newsletter, but here’s what’s been happening!

PUPPETS!

As promised last month, February saw the arrival of Hong Kong based artists Grad Leung to facilitate an intensive week of puppet-making at the Ti-Ratana Children’s Home. 30 kids were whizzed through a week-long crash course in mask and puppetry making, culminating in a show for the rest of the home and a performance at Lifest at MAP in Solaris Dutamas. The performance consisted of some frenzied tribal drumming on upturned buckets at the giant puppets swayed and us likely lads danced in their colourful masks. It was most splendid!

Many thanks to Fallen Leaves Soon, Le-boi, Jade Ong and new volunteers Rachel Lee, Jean Hooi and Su Fong for all their help and assistance. Also, many many thanks to Lai Chee and the good people at Nyoba Kan for putting us in contact with the delightful Grad. We hope to see him again soon!

Thanks to Grad Leung!

UNHCR Vocational English Module

February also saw the completion of a 48-hour course in Vocational English, in collaboration between Fallen Leaves UK, the Harvest Training Centre and the UNHCR. 25 young adults from the stateless and refugee community, comprised of a diverse ethnic representation of Myanmar, Sri Lanka and beyond, took part in an innovative and groundbreaking pathway of English and vocational skills development. Featuring beatboxing, poetry, forum theatre and more traditional English teaching skills, this course was a huge success and very popular with the participants. It culminated in the Harvest Centre’s first ever beatboxing and rapping championship and a session of forum theatre exploring problems of communication in the workplace.

Check some more photos here. Watch this space for more detailed reportage and videos from the sessions!

WORD SOUND HAVE POWER RETURNS!

And from the overseas, we are thrilled by the turnout and the raucous, folk-punk vibe of our Word Sound Have Power benefit night in Elephant & Castle at the end of January. Many thanks to everyone who turned up and to all the performers. WSHP3 will be back in May, featuring the prodigal return of Furious George MC, currently in Malaysia exploring the possibilities of poetry and performance with the socially excluded communities there.

Leon Walker - Jail Guitar Doors graduate - performs

And in the coming months …

The Fallen Leaves Social Centre in Batu Arang is pleased to announce it has been rejoined by FL members Lokman and Ezekiel, and will be commencing its tour of Malaysia performing forums and workshops with different communities in March. We have a booking in Kluang coming up and a workshop with juvenile offenders in a centre near KL. We shall report as it develops!

As ever, if you want to get involved, email to info@fallenleaves.org.uk (UK)

or

fallenleavestc@gmail.com (Malaysia)

All enquiries, responses, dialogues and criticism happily accepted.

DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES
In January 2003 ITO, International organization of TO, has been founded by Boal, his son Julian, Luc Opdebeeckfrom Belgium and Ronald Matthijssen from Holland. We have here the TO principles they worked out. We’d like to share with you and to get suggestions, observations, criticisms. It seems to us an important step in TO development that needs the everybody’s participation, from all people who recognize themselves in these principles. Whether you want to know more please visit the Web site of ITO (www.theatreoftheoppressed.org) and of Formaat ( www.formaat.org – in English and Dutch).

International Theatre of the Oppressed Organization (ITO)
Declaration of principles

Preamble

1. The basic aim of the Theatre of the Oppressed is to humanize Humanity.

2. The Theatre of the Oppressed is a system of Exercises, Games and Techniques based on the Essential Theatre, to help men and women to develop what they already have inside themselves: theatre.

Essential Theatre

3. Every human being is theatre!

4. Theatre is defined as the simultaneous existence – in the same space and context – of actors and spectators.
Every human being is capable of seeing the situation and seeing him/herself in the situation.

5. Essential theatre consists of three elements: Subjective Theatre, Objective Theatre and the Theatrical Language.

6. Every human being is capable of acting: to survive, we necessarily have to produce actions and observe those actions and their effects on the environment. To be Human is to be Theatre: the co-existence of actor and spectator in the same individual. This is the Subjective Theatre.

7. When human beings limit themselves to observing an object, a person or a space, renouncing momentarily
to their capacity and necessity of acting, the energy and their desire to act is transferred to that space,
person or object, creating a space inside a space: an Aesthetic Space. This is the Objective Theatre.

8. All human beings use, in their daily lives, the same language that actors use on the stage: their voices,
their bodies, their movements and their expressions; they translate their emotions and desires into the Theatrical Language.

Theatre of the Oppressed

9. The Theatre of the Oppressed offers everyone the aesthetic means to analyze their past, in the context of their present, and subsequently to invent their future, without waiting for it. The Theatre of the Oppressed helps human beings to recover a language they already possess – we learn how to live in society by playing theatre. We learn how to feel by feeling; how to think by thinking; how to act by acting. Theatre of the Oppressed is rehearsal for reality.

10. The oppressed are those individuals or groups who are socially, culturally, politically, economically, racially, sexually, or in any other way deprived of their right to Dialogue or in any way impaired to exercise this right.

11. Dialogue is defined as to freely exchange with others, as a person and as a group, to participate in human
society as equal, to respect differences and to be respected.

12. The Theatre of the Oppressed is based upon the principle that all human relationships should be of a
dialogic nature: among men and women, races, families, groups and nations, dialogue should prevail. In reality,
all dialogues have the tendency to become monologues, which creates the relationship oppressors – oppressed.

Acknowledging this reality, the main principle of Theatre of the Oppressed is to help restore dialogue among human beings.

Principles and Objectives

13. The Theatre of the Oppressed is a worldwide non-violent aesthetic movement which seeks peace, not passivity.

14. The Theatre of the Oppressed tries to activate people in a humanistic endeavor expressed by its very name:
theatre of, by, and for the oppressed. A system that enables people to act in the fiction of theatre to become
protagonists, i.e. acting subjects, of their own lives.

15. The Theatre of the Oppressed is neither an ideology nor a political party, neither dogmatic nor coercive and
is respectful of all cultures. It is a method of analysis and a means to develop happier societies. Because of
its humanistic and democratic nature, it is widely used all over the world, in all fields of social activities
such as: education, culture, arts, politics, social work, psychotherapy, literacy programs and health. In the
annex to this Declaration of Principles, a number of exemplary projects are listed to illustrate the nature and the scope of its use.

16. Theatre of the Oppressed is now being used in approx. half the nations around the world, listed in the annex, as a tool for the making of discoveries about oneself and about the Other, of clarifying and expressing our desires; a tool for the changing of circumstances which produce unhappiness and pain and for the enhancement of what brings peace; for respecting differences between individuals and groups and for the inclusion of all human beings in Dialogue; and finally a tool for the achievement of economical and social justice, which is the foundation of true democracy.

Summarizing, the general objective of the Theatre of the Oppressed is the development of essential Human Rights.

The International Theatre of the Oppressed Organization (ITO)

17. The ITO is an organization that coordinates and enhances the development of Theatre of the Oppressed
all over the world, according to the principles and objectives of this Declaration.

18. The ITO does so by connecting Theatre of the Oppressed practitioners into a global network, fostering
exchange and methodical development; by facilitating training and multiplication of the existing techniques;
by conceiving projects on a global scale; by the stimulation of the creation of local Centers for Theatre of
the Oppressed (CTO’s); by promoting and creating conditions for the work of CTO’s and practitioners and by
creating an international meeting point on the internet.

19. The ITO is of the same humanistic and democratic nature as its principles and objectives; it will
incorporate any contributions from those who are working under this Declaration of Principles.

20. The ITO will assume that anyone using the various techniques of Theatre of the Oppressed subscribes
to this Declaration of Principles.

Our UK branch throws its second fundraiser in honour of the Fallen leaves Community … if you know anyone in London, get them along to witness some truly fantastic acts!

Following our smashing launch night in August, we’re thrilled to announce that on Friday 28th January (pay day!), our Word Sound Have Power event will return to London!

Expect a night jam-packed with acoustic jams, stand-up comedy, an art exhibition and a smattering of spoken word – all accompanied by some great drinks promotions to ease the pain of those post-Christmas bank balance blues.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=154298291286598

Some fallen leaves
Yellow and rusted
Made differently
All of them

Creations adventure
No two things are alike
And so are the leaves
Yellow and rusted

They had started as small buds
With hopes to give sustenance
To life
They did
And the great cycle of life
But now fallen

They come together
My body cracking
Under the weight of leaves
So many youths
We have lost

My body covering
Roots follow
Some tendrils
Still green on the trunk
Of the large tree

Green we were
The leaves
And my youth

Fruit and fresh air
Life and beauty
The leaves have done
What they were meant for

They ask me
What have been you doing
In your youth
Except destroying and burning us

If we are nature
You are nature too
We are one color
How many colors are you

Sadiqullah Khan

Why should I be the first to fall
Of all the leaves on this old tree?
Though sadly soon I know that all
Will lose their hold and follow me.
While my birth-brothers bravely blow,
Why should I be first to go?

Why should I be the last to cling
Of all the leaves on this bleak bough?
I’ve fluttered since the fire of Spring
And I am worn and withered now.
I would escape the Winter gale
And sleep soft-silvered by a snail.

When swoop the legions of the snow
To pitch their tents in roaring weather
We fallen leaves will lie below
And rot rejoicingly together;
And from our rich and dark decay
Will laugh our brothers of the May.

Robert William Service

2010 has been a spectacular year for the Fallen Leaves community, closing with our FORUM festival at MAP where we played, discussed and innovated with our eclectic group of spectactors. The final day featured a mixture of image theatre, chopstick orchestra, stick-waltzing and of course two forum theatre plays – one on dealing with unwanted attention on public transport and the other designed by workshop participants looking at the treatment of refugees in Malaysia.

Many thanks to everyone who attended over the five weeks, all the Fallen Leaves community facilitators and all our new friends.

Watch this space in 2011 for our upcoming SEEDS OF CHANGE Arts festival to be held in March, and also the Commonwealth Foundation National Forum Theatre Tour commencing in January.