Interactive theatre

Interactive theatre is a powerful educational tool. One valuable tool for better understanding and dealing with unintended obstacles to career success is through interactive theater. Interactive theatre uses a solid foundation of research on faculty and student experiences to develop and present provocative vignettes that engage the audience in thinking and talking about issues of diversity, pedagogy, and inclusion. Sketches draw the audience into a scene with a mix of comedy and drama designed to portray the complexities and challenges of everyday academic situations. After each sketch, audience members engage in dialogue with the actors who continue to play their roles, answering questions and making comments to audience members. The actors are UM students and faculty, and a trained facilitator provides professional expertise and guides the dialogue. Theatre skits can facilitate the transformation of climate. Once developed, this resource will be expanded to address additional issues crucial to both faculty and students. Download article on Using Theatre to Stage Instructional and Organizational Transformation

SEEDS Interactive Theatre Ensemble:

burke
Jennifer Burke
Director
SEEDS Theater

website

Stephen Svobodo, Playwright
Website

Steiger

Jefferey Steiger, Consultant
Director CRLT players
Website

wilson

David Wilson,
Facilitator
website

Williams

Lowell Williams
website

vellenga

Jennifer Vellenga
website

McCain

Maha McCain
website

Soroko

Lee Soroko
website

Assessment of past events

Presentation of the SEEDS Interactive Theatre at the Annual Networking event Oct 19, 2009
This event drew 120 participants. Click here to see photos, evaluation and comments

Dress Rehearsal, SEEDS Interactive Theatre at the Annual Networking event Oct 15, 2009

Questions about the sketch and interactions	% agreeing
Overall, the sketch and interactions were effective	100%
The issues raised in the sketch were important	100%
The performance made me think about some familiar interactions and situations in new ways	33%
The issues raised reflected issues I have observed at UM	100%
The audience/actor interactive discussion enhanced my understanding of the issues	90%
What was the most significant thing you learned from the performance?
The review was an accurate representation of what actually happens The script writer did good research and the actors did a good job How general must be the issues we face in our department The complexity of what we do Subtle details – playing with phone at beginnings of meetings and comments like “she’s not around much”; these can direct attention away from core issues – productivity, papers, grants, teaching Such meetings can be disorganized and rife with personal, subjective perceptions, but no one is willing to call anyone on such things
What worked, and didn't work, about the presentation for you?
It was a very accurate reflection of such meetings in our department. They touched on behaviors I have seen in meetings. I actually tagged actors to individuals in our department. The notion of familiar, expected/predictable discussion by individuals was an important detail. Realism very well done, showed care, anger, and when needed confusion Realistic inclusion of these small events/mannerisms The thinly-veiled prejudices against young (and possibly female) faculty. A taboo subject, so incredibly difficult to combat. The issue of maternity leave and the expectations of people who are on family leave should be developed more. There are written and unwritten expectations on this. Text-a-holic chair was funny and disturbing

Presentation of the SEEDS Interactive Theatre at RSMAS. 12:00-1:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 5th in SLAB 130 The sketch presented is “The Mid-Term Review.” It portrays interactions during a faculty meeting that is evaluating an assistant professor’s progress toward tenure, followed by an interaction between the junior faculty member and the department chair. During the interactive period following the presentation, Dr. David Wilson of the Department of Biology acted as facilitator.
The Skits:
Chair & candidate faculty meeting

Candidate and Chair

faculty meeting

Some audience reactions:

Questions about the sketch and interactions (n = 9 responding)	% agree
Overall, the sketch and interactions were effective	100%
The issues raised in the sketch were important	100%
The performance made me think about some familiar interactions and situations in new ways	100%
The issues raised reflected issues I have observed at UM	100%
The audience/actor interactive discussion enhanced my understanding of the issues	100%
What was the most significant thing you learned from the performance?
Importance of the interactions between chair and candidate. Importance of communication. The interactive nature- in character- after the discussion was interesting- but I am not sure if it got us closer to the goal (Assuming the goal was to understand the tenure & promotion process) Scenario was remarkably realistic & close to home Outspoken characters can dominate a discussion Damage that can be done when chair/candidate interaction are not handled well How much personal issues/human reactions is purely professional plus not in the tenure review process It was not necessarily about women being held to different standards but more about how social interactions/personalities can overwhelm the evaluation process.This is an issue for everyone. Also, communication: How thoughts can be inappropriately communicated or disguised as other statements and how miss- communication can be the underlying issue to many problems.
What worked best about the CRLT sketch presentation for you?
Inspired dialog among faculty Inclusion of intangibles such as social interactions as part of review process. We all like to think we are objective scientists but we are not always. It is very useful to have a facilitator The realism of Kathy’s reaction to the chair’s explanation. It was exceptional. Very impressed with the panelists sense of character. Realistic characters – very nuanced (usually). Good actors-very good at staying in character. The interaction with the audience
Do you have advice about how this presentation might be used in the future, particularly settings where it might be usefully presented?
To any and all faculty & administration Jr. faculty may benefit- but it should be presented, perhaps, with a “good” example as well I do like the idea of making this available to junior faculty. Maybe with some comments pertaining to context. Pre-tenure faculty: potentially even post docs and PhD students interested in academic careers. This particular pairing of skits seems more for the mentors than the junior faculty. Excellent to have a mix of tenured and non-tenured faculty in the audience. To tenured professors around the time that such meetings are being conducted (early on), to chairs separately to foster dialog on how to become a good chair, to young faculty so they know that there are other issues they need to focus on as they near tenure evaluation

Presentation of the SEEDS Interactive Theatre for CAS Chairs and Directors April 13, present were Michael Halleran, Dean, Kathryn Tosney, Biology, David Wilson, Biology, Ken Voss, Physics, Lise Drost, Art & Art History, Steve Sapp, Religious Studies, John Kirby, Classics, Vince Cardinal, Theatre Arts, Bryan Page, Anthropology, Will Drennan, Ecosystem Science & Policy, Edmund Abaka, Africana Studies, Perri Lee Roberts, Senior Associate Dean, Daniel Pals, Senior Associate Dean, Jackie Dixon, Senior Associate Dean, Traci Ardren, Women’s & Gender Studies, Robert Johnson, Sociology, V. Ramamurthy, Chemistry.

Questions about the sketch and interactions (n = 12 responding)	% agreeing	male: female
Overall, the sketch and interactions were effective	100%	100%: 100%
The issues raised in the sketch were important	100%	100% : 100%
The performance made me think about some familiar interactions and situations in new ways	83%	100% : 75%
The issues raised reflected issues I have observed at UM	67%	43% : 100%
The audience/actor interactive discussion enhanced my understanding of the issues	100%	100% : 100%
What was the most significant thing you learned from the performance?
That other departments have similar issues to mine Exposure to the technique and the power of learning about issues in this way Chairs need training on effective communication during reviews and during discussions with candidate Problem in general, continuous improvement needed Importance of communication I was not aware of how dysfunctional the PRT panels can be We have made a little progress over the years but not nearly enough Not to assume anything, perhaps especially that newly tenured faculty know “the process” their first time through on the tenured side. Blurring of issues—scenario/ collegiality, evaluation of outcomes vs. input (“she’s not here”)
Do you have advice about how this presentation might be used in the future, particularly settings where it might be usefully presented?
Could be useful at a promotion & tenure workshop or at a CAS Meeting In small settings like today, for chairs & tenured faculty Should be included in tenure workshops As suggested, to larger groups of faculty Faculty, especially junior will benefit All tenured faculty should see this presentation. More time afterwards scheduled for discussion (at least 60-90 min) For workshops, for deans & chairs, maybe even at meetings of large departments

Focus groups met to guide development of our SEEDS interactive theatre. In December, 2008, two focus groups met with the University of Michigan theatre director, Jeffery Steiger, originator of the landmark interactive theatre program at Michigan and our Director, Jennifer Burke, to learn about our academic culture and concerns. RSMAS met December 8th , see who came Coral Gables met December 9th, 2008, see who came. On April 3, 2009, focus groups at the Medical School and at the College of Engineering met with Jennifer Burke, our SEEDS playwright Stephen Svobodo and Kathryn Tosney to talk about their culture and develop material for an additional sketch.

The Initial reading of a SEEDS script developed through focus and theatre group efforts was December 11, 9AM in Cox 213. see who came

SEEDS: Scientists and Engineers Expanding Diversity and Success

Interactive theatre