"Oto Ja”. Semiotyka maski w pracy amerykańskiego zespołu Geese Theatre Company

• Authors: Bergman John

Title variants

EN

“This is me.” The semiotics of the mask in the work of the American Geese Theatre Company

Abstracts

EN

As the founder of the Geese Theatre Company USA and co-founder of the Geese Theatre Company UK John Bergman has conducted therapy for male, female and juvenile prison inmates in various places around the world, on many continents (North America, Europe, Australia), for nearly forty years, using transformative power of the theatre. The text traces his creative path, from artistic work in alternative theatres to dramatherapy and art activities in prisons. It reveals the story behind the birth of the original method of working with masks (Geese Theatre Company methods) and its great importance in theatre work with prisoners, both in the United States, on the British Isles (Geese Theatre Company UK), as well as in other countries. John Bergman explains that the method he and his teams used was born of a concrete experience: an interpersonal meeting in which the combination of previously unrecognized individual perspectives led to the discovery of surprising and effective solutions. The contribution of the inmates and their relatives to the birth of the mask, the Geese Theatre Company’s basic tool, is undisputed.

Keywords

EN

prison theatre; dramatherapy; dramatherapy techniques; theatrical mask

• Publisher: Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Sztuki PAN
• Journal: Pamiętnik Teatralny
• Year: 2019
• Issue: 2(270)
• Pages: 53-64

Contributors

author

Bergman John

• Hollins University

References

• J. Bergman, Life, the Life Event, and Theater: A Personal Narrative on the Use of Drama Therapy with Sex Offenders, [w:] The Sex Offender: Corrections, Treatment and Legal Practice, ed. by B. Schwartz, H. Cellini, Kingston 1995.
• J. Bergman, S. Hewish, The Violent Illusion: Dramatherapy and the Dangerous Voyage to the Heart of Change, [w:] Art Approaches to Conflict, ed. by M. Leibmann, London 1996.
• A. Boal, Games For Actors and Non-Actors, London 1992.
• E. Braun, Meyerhold On Theatre, New York 2016.
• J. Bush, D. Harris, R. Parker, Cognitive Self-Change: How Offenders Experience the World and What We Can Do About It, Chichester 2016.
• S. A. Eldredge, Mask Improvisation for Actor Training and Performance: The Compelling Image, Evanston 1996.
• P. Ekman, W.V. Friesen, Nonverbal Behavior, [w:] Communication and Social Interaction, ed. P. F. Ostwald, New York 1977.
• P. Ekman, W.V. Friesen, K.R. Scherer, Body Movement and Violence Pitch in Deceptive Interaction, „Semiotica” 1976 nr 1.
• J. Grotowski, Towards A Poor Theatre, New York 1968.
• K. Johnstone, Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre, London 1979.
• Oxford Companion to the Theatre, ed. P. Hartnoll, Oxford 1983.
• S. Samenow, S. Yochelson, The Criminal Personality, vol. 1: A Profile for Change, New York 1975.
• B. Schwartz, Characteristics and Typologies of Sex Offenders, [w:] The Sex Offender: Corrections, Treatment and Legal Practice, ed. by B. Schwartz, H. Cellini, Kingston 1995.
• Tréteaux Libres, Genève, [w:] Dictionnaire du théâtre en Suisse, ed. A. Kotte, vol. 3, Zurich 2005, s. 1966.