PORT TOWNSEND –– On the anniversary of the independence of the United States, the Mandala Center for Change is staging an interactive night of short plays to focus on the connections between cultures it is calling “Inter-dependence Day.”
The performance is at 7 tonight, July 4, at the Masonic Hall, 1338 Jefferson St., uptown.
Admission is free, though donations will be accepted and given to the Boiler Room, Port Townsend’s youth-driven coffee house and community center.
A cast of some 30 people from around the world have been training for the past week in what facilitator Marc Weinblatt called “Theater of the Oppressed” techniques.
Audience members will select from several pre-scripted short plays depicting social issues, which will be then be performed twice, once straight and once with audience members able to stop the action and improvise solutions to the problems on the stage, Weinblatt said.
Themes from past year’s performances have included racism, sexism, homophobia, globalization, the education system, healthcare, disability and war.
Weinblatt said this will be the Mandala Center’s 19th annual version of this event.
“This unique approach to theater as community dialogue can be playful, intense, hilarious, deeply moving, and enlightening,” Weinblatt said.
“Audiences are frequently left with richer awareness as well as a greater belief in their ability to effect change in their own lives and the world around them.”
For more information, phone 360-344-3435 or email info@mandalaforchange.com
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Joe Smillie can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or at jsmillie@peninsuladailynews.com.
