http://actout.com.au/blog Blog and News Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:04:34 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I wanted to share the following article about community theatre and arts practitioners who died for their work and their communities. It was written by a colleague theatre practitioner and academic from Texas University who was very close to the people in the article.   Regarding the recent assassination of Maya ... http://actout.com.au/blog/2010/09/06/embodying-mayan-liberation-by-czarina-aggabao-thelen-university-of-texas/ Would you ever send out half a football team or half a baseball team in a competition? Would you ever choose to play a game of chess using only the knights and the pawns? Would you ever dream of sending out a resume with only half your experience and qualifications? Of ... http://actout.com.au/blog/2010/09/06/involve-the-whole-person-%e2%80%93-get-whole-results/ Boal theatre techniques have conventionally been used to work with people that are struggling with certain obstacles, blocked or disenfranchised in some way. This may be through an external influence or by an internalised belief that limits action. The aim is to bring the participants into a space where they can ... http://actout.com.au/blog/2010/09/06/working-with-those-who-hurt-others/ ... I cannot do it, I am too old, I don’t know enough, I don’t have a creative bone in my body, the man is the head of the family, drug addicts are weak, we must fight for democracy, I must own my home, this organisation does not value its ... http://actout.com.au/blog/2010/07/26/we-hold-these-truths-to-be-self-evident/ We get ideas all the time, sometimes they come out of the blue, but often, they have to be carefully and intentionally captured. There are many tools for generating ideas, one of my favourites is SCAMPER. I first came across SCAMPER in Michael Michalko’s, Thinkertoys, a ‘must-have’ book about innovation. You ... http://actout.com.au/blog/2010/07/23/capturing-ideas-%e2%80%93-out-of-the-blue-or-with-intent/ Forum Theatre is the creation and performance of a play dealing with particular issues pertinent to the audience and its community. The play does not have a conclusion; instead, scenes portray the various struggles faced by the protagonist. The play is performed once right through; then it is performed again, ... http://actout.com.au/blog/2010/06/07/forum-theatres-positive-impact-on-self-esteem-and-conflict-resolution/ The Harvard Business Review (HBR), Dec 2009, had a wonderful article exploring 5 qualities displayed by innovators; qualities that can be nurtured to promote innovative thinking. 1. Associating – this is when what appear to be unrelated ideas or problems from different disciplines are brought together to create something totally new. ... http://actout.com.au/blog/2010/05/26/theatre-techniques-for-fostering-innovators-in-business/ OK everyone, put the chairs up against the wall, we won’t really need them for the rest of the day.’ The participants looked around at each other a little confused.  ‘You can put your pens and paper away too.’ With a few mumbles, groans and raised eyebrows, people slowly stood up and ... http://actout.com.au/blog/2010/05/23/surprise-no-powerpoint/ Play and laughter: two magic ingredients. The right mix of these two and there is not much that cannot be resolved or created. Creativity at Work guru, Linda Naiman, (www.creativityatwork.com) lists some reasons to bring play into the office. Here are my top five: 1.Play = Fun = Profit: The more creative ... http://actout.com.au/blog/2010/05/17/the-closest-distance/ Let’s face it. Changing our behaviour does not generally happen in the intellect. Who does not know that to lose weight you need to take in less calories than you burn?  Or that the best way to stop wasting away hours in front of the TV is to turn it ... http://actout.com.au/blog/2010/03/28/from-left-brain-intellect-to-imagination-and-play/