In this section, my goal is to attempt to show the
different stages of a theatrical peer education program, from a
person's first stage of attempting to enter the program, the
training that may go on in these programs, the types of scenes,
and the impact the scenes or plays have on the participants.
There are examples of some of the forms, contracts, and
other paperwork used by selected groups in the appendix.
Scripts will not be included in the appendix, although some
descriptions and excerpts will be used in this section.
The primary method of recruitment into any peer educational
program is through the programs themselves. If the programs are
good, they will generate interest for people to want to join
them. But there are variations. The P.E.N. Players, based at
Boston University, have information about the program, and
joining it, in the Wellness Guidebook, put out by the campus
Wellness Center, as well as performing as part of a high school
outreach program.
Catalyst Theatre Company is a course at Towson State
Univeristy, so has recruiting methods of, first, being known on
campus, and second, a desire for credits toward graduation.
The PG-13 Players have information about joining at
performances (usually people will ask them after a
performance), as well as flyers at participating area High
Schools.
When first starting their programs, both the team that
formed "every 5 minutes" and "Beecher's Peer Educators" both
looked to the drama areas of their schools to start their
projects.
So we started a drama club, because we saw a lot of them liked to read poetry, liked to perform, dance, rap, and all of that... We had about 60 kids in the drama club. And we would... do things to entertain ourselves, and go out into the community and do presentations. But from that, we got about 15 kids who were serious about becoming trained and getting a knowledge base for becoming peer educators. (Flippen)
Over time, "every 5 minutes" began moving away from drama
actors (for the first semester, everyone but one person was
either in the Drama Department at Syracuse University, or had
been involved in it) to a 60-40 non-drama advantage(1).
Auditions and acceptance vary between groups. Some group,
like PG-13 Players, have formal auditions in the spring,
others, like Beecher, have a set amount of members, and fill in
vacancies as they come along.
Over time, rules about performers have evolved to cover
legal and personal problems that may develop. They range from
the very simple and straight forward, such as the Teen Life
Company's policies:
€No more than two absences from rehearsal without a phone call to the Coordinator€Never miss a performance with out (sic) sufficient notice to Coordinator
€Always Act Out Of Respect for one another, and yourself
€Bring notebook to every rehearsal
€Never come to rehearsal or a performance under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs. This calls for automatic dismissal.
€Always present yourself in a professional manner when representing yourself as a TLC member to the public.
Failure to meet these ground rules will result in either: 1. Verbal discussion 2. Pay deducted from stipend or 3. Dismissal from troupe (voted on rest of troupe).(2)
to the four page contract that covers both "Professional
Conduct Policies" and "Grievance Policies" by PG-13 (see
Appendix).
The types of people who enter these programs are very
important. Where the groups tour to other schools and
districts, personal reputation doesn't play as much of a factor
with audience interaction, as much as the on-the-spot
appearance and social interation. But many of these programs,
especially on college campuses, performing in front of a high
number of on-campus peers (Robin Small-McCarthy gives an
estimate of 1,300 students for one year's programming, on p.
18). Beecher's Peer Educators are unique because they are based
within a High School, as opposed to an outside organization(3).
High Schools, smaller than most college campuses, people will
know you, if only by face, reputation, or popularity which
places a greater imporntance on who is working in the group.
Talking about the types of people she wanted as Peer Educators,
Yvette Flippen gave a wonderful example of an electronically
monitored teen mother who became involved:
I was coming to the point, [thinking] we can't have all these little cupcakes in here that [say], "Oh, I never do anything wrong, and I study real hard, and get all A's" because the kids go, "nyaa." And we gave her [the monitored woman] a shot and she was beautiful. We would go places and talk about teen sexuality, she could be the peer educator that would stand up and say, "I know 'cause I got a baby at home. I know 'cause I've got to visit my parole officer every week." (Flippen)
In the absence of people with first-hand experience within
the troupe, outside resources or people who are familiar with
the situations are often brought in during training. During
PG-13's five days-a-week, three-week intensive training
sessions, thirteen different outside resources were brought in
for the troupe (see Appendix). In other groups this would vary
by geographic location, and number of topics covered. Beecher,
which is a year-round program, features ongoing education
sessions. Catalyst, as a graded three-credit college course,
has traditional reinforcers (grades) to have informed
educators.
Volunteers versus paid performers is also an issue when
dealing with training and commitment within a troupe. Teen Life
Company and PG-13 Players both pay for the services of the
actors. Catalyst is a class, AIDS Community Resources(4) vary
from school to school. Many charge the recipients for the
performance, and Teen Life Company has a budget in excess of
$23,000 (see Appendix). Trying to find time to have the actors
avoid schedule conflicts was a common problem among the
coordinators.
Descriptions of scene formation is best left to those
within the genre of drama. However, there are two main methods
of creating a scene (as opposed to a full-length play, which I
am not prepared to discuss): creating a dialogue directly, or
by using improvisational techniques to build off a rough
framework. Using the latter requires actors familiar enough
with the topic to make it realistic. The former offers the
oppourtunity to have steady performances and pre-fabricated
scripts.
Due to this country's political climate(s), scenes are
often precariously balanced to not advocate their sponsors, but
to focus on the issues at hand. But anywhere, people, in an
attempt to distract from the subject matter, can, and do,
attempt to ban productions. Jay Handelman, columnist for the
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, wrote about "The First Time Club", a
full-length, award-winning, play performed by The Source, in
Sarasota, Florida:
There are no subliminal messages promoting Planned Parenthood that I could see, hear or sense in seeing a recent performance... Rather than bashing Planned Parenthood, we should be praising the organization for sponsoring the play. (Handelman, 4G)
Small-McCarthy, from a director's standpoint:
We have agreed to avoid blatant didacticism, preaching, and stereotyping. There are no unwarranted plugs or advertisements for R.A.P.E. Center services, no monologues expounding on the evils of premarital sex and heavy drinking, no sweet virginal victims, and no dark strangers stalking young co-eds at the local beer joint. (Small-McCarthy, 13)
The scenes themselves vary among the different groups who
perform them. The Source, as shown above, will perform
full-length plays, while most of the others run one or two
scenes and have audience interaction with the characters at a
later point. "At various points, students are invited to
interview the characters in order to uncover their motives,
opinions, and beliefs." (Power Plays, 1)
Scenes also differ because of the focuses of the group. A
group that focuses specifically on gender issues and
acquaintance rape will have more time to work on and develop
complex scenes than a group covering five or six issues. This
usually is determined by sponsorships and funding. Power Plays,
run from the Women's Center, near Bloomsburg University,
repertoire of programs feature gender issues, sexual
harassment, and rape. The P.E.N. Players, from the Boston
University Wellness Center has a broader range: Adult children
of alcoholics, AIDS, love addiction, body image, condom use,
dating violence, and stereotyping.
Among high school groups, done primarily through outside
resources (Planned Parenthood and health centers), have a
tendency to travel more, and require more extensive budgets for
organizing and promotion than the on-campus college groups.
Often, because of school-board politics, issues must be edited,
for there may be issues people of certain ages are not ready
for, "or the person who organizes it is not ready for"
(Flippen).
The candor of scenes vary, as well. Sue Rochman, the
original instigator of "every 5 minutes" desired a group to
create scenes that were "disturbingly close to home"
(Small-McCarthy, 8) in order to make very clear the violence in
rape. This also allows great flexibility in stressing
particular issues within a performance, such as alcohol,
gender, and the "rape culture." Scenes can also go surreal,
avoiding "the lecture" so common with sex education. Here, we
have the common, but popular, Angel-Devil dialogue with a
confused individual(5):
Angel
Children, children. Excuse me young lady! Stop what you're doing. Those activities might lead to... unwise consequences.
Devil
Yo, Miss High and Mighty, why don't you leave them alone. And even if it does lead to -- sex -- they know exactly what they're doing.
Angel
What did you say? Did you say the s-word?
Devil
You heard me, I said sex. Boning! Tagging! Doing the nasty! Humping!
This type of scene allows issues to be marked that may otherwise be ignored, such as terminology and gender-related responsibility.
1. Actors must have a background in drama, through they may not have actually acted in the past. This allows "e5m" to not be a drama class, and focus on the work they need to do. Othes have no such requirement. 2. Courtesty Teen Life Company. 3. While the Educators are all from Beecher High School, Beecher 103, the teen health center, is open to everyone from the ages of 10-19 in Genessee County, and is funded by Mott Children's Hospitals. 4. AIDS Community Resources is an umbrella organization that works on a chapter-by-chapter basis. Somer schools use theatre, some do not. 5. Courtesy PG-13 Players. Sexual decision-making script for 1992-93 season.