Dramatic Problem Solving

Intense Fun Love with Patch Adams Clowning and Caring Trip in Costa Rica

2011-09-03T10:06:00.003-06:00

For the third year in a row I was honored to be part of the planning and execution of the Gesundheit Institute and School for Designing a Society's Clowning and Caring trip to Costa Rica in August. Patch Adams, Susan Parenti, Mark Ensler, Jacob Barton, and my dear love Melanie Hinojosa came with a group of 30 super people to clown, care, and think about and design change.
I was able to be more active with the group this year, due to scheduling changes in my life, so that was great. We clowned in La Carpio, at the Rehabilitation Hospital and the Children's Hospital. All vastly different experiences that each have vastly different rewards and levels of caring. The learning that comes from such variety of clown experiences is great. We learn so much when we play the clown, about how much we care, what unknown compassion we still possess and how we can help just by being a force of love. As Patch says, "The clown is a trick to get love close."
The DPS portion of the week was spread over two sessions. That was due to the fact that we had a very, very intense first session that saw a forum theatre production convert into a facilitated group listening and sharing circle on the issue of sexual abuse. It came out, as always in DPS, people taking risks and going real and deep in performance of a play. The play on child sexual exploitation was so hot that it got everyone rolling. But rather than forum the play, I saw that the actors were too raw, the emotions were too high, and the potential for overwhelm was too great. Instead we turned it into a storytelling/listening session that saw some major breakthroughs for people that both shared and listened. Stories of a very personal nature were shared by myself and others. Deep learning and change came, finally, from a place of honesty, trust, and acceptance of the individual as someone with the power to change their lives. We often talk about these terms and do little games to make the point, but when they are actually practiced and the results are so tangible, that is when we realize the value of those qualities and beliefs.

Addicted to Shame
One point that really came up for me was that what some people have developed, and I think this is true for myself, is an addiction to shame. So, why would we want to feel shame. Well, it is because in the end we are looking for love. And one of the best ways of finding the feeling of love is to have someone forgive you. So, if I want that forgiveness to make me think that someone loves me, I will consciously or unconsciously do things that bring me shame. Thereby having to say "I'm sorry" is really a cry for love. This is a major learning for me that came out of that unexpected forum circle.

Going with the flow of the group, listening to their needs was the key as a facilitator for me. Flows of energy allowed me to take risks and then as a facilitator people saw me taking risks, then they were more likely to open up. Of course, an important learning was also that this group had been together for five days before we did this. That really helped. This group was ripe for sharing and support in a trusting environment. I am glad that I could help facilitate that and also benefit from it.

Keep clowning and keep caring. Thank you to all who took part.

Ecuador Peace Project

2011-08-21T11:50:00.003-06:00

What started with a pop-up chat request on facebook with a former student less than a year ago finished with a week of workshops, presentations and interviews in Ecuador's Colombian border region. Santiago Guerrero was a student of mine in Peace and Conflict Studies at United World College Costa Rica. So, when he was imagining a project for working with Ecuadorean and Colombian refugee youth for peace building and conflict transformation, he invited me to be the guest facilitator. I told him, in a heartbeat, Yes! I would love to be a part of that effort.

The trip was packed. The first three days were in a remote, rural village right on the border with Colombia, where everyone kept pointing across the river and showing me the coca plantations. In this village we went through a series of ATV and DPS processes to look at conflict, communication, and ways that social grouping and stereotyping existed and could be transformed. The young people were wonderful and it was great to see the high level of integration within the group. By the end of the project, they were organizing their own gatherings and events, cross-culturally. So, peace is on the way, contact and positive peace building working again.

One of the strangest things for me was being in the role of "expert" and a bit of a celebrity. In the small city of Tulcan, I was invited to give talks to the provincial government and some rural communities on the nature of conflict transformation. I was also interviewed by two television stations, and five news paper reporters. It was a novelty for me to be walking in a march and have a microphone thrust into your face and asked for a comment or explanation of what was happening. I guess this is what happens to you when you get a PhD (just kidding). It was a nice experience but also showed me that people are actually hungry for information and understanding of how to transform conflicts and achieve peace.

Interest can be turned into action, lets hope that these seeds of peace planted there in northern Ecuador can continue to grow.

Gesundheit - Designing a Society

2011-07-27T15:06:00.002-06:00

Thanks to the wonderful people at Gesundheit Institute and the School for Designing a Society I was able to travel to West Virginia to share the DPS process and appreciative imagery work with a wonderful group of people.

What I did – I led the group of SDS students through an image theatre process to explore pertinent issues facing our world. They formed groups that created forum theatre plays on Patriarchy, Violence, and, a new one for any DPS workshop to date – False Scarcity.

False Scarcity is a belief system that drives people into cycles of believing that they don’t have enough – this includes time, money, love, care, attention. Therefore they deny themselves and others these things.

The play on False Scarcity was put through the forum and some amazing interventions were tried with a powerful dialogue following. One major learning point was that we often spend more time trying to explain why we can’t do things due to a false scarcity than actually doing things. If we simply stop and do the thing asked of us, give, love, care, usually amazing amounts of time and unexpected results appear.

I also was able to be part of workshops led by Patch Adams and Susan Parenti.

Patch taught me, again, how important it is to “jump into the ocean of gratitude!” We learned to say I Love You and talk about our Joy for inordinate amounts of time. Dancing and hugging ensued! Patch also revealed his opinions on many important issues. He is a great mentor for me and I thank him for being in my life.

Susan Parenti, leader of the School for Designing a Society, led a great talk on the idea of “Perturbation.” These are acts that are designed to elicit a response, not to guide and move towards a specific end, but to elicit a response. Then to perturb again when the response happens. This reminded me of the million little things that Pete Seeger always speaks about, millions of perturbations resulting in a big change. South Africa’s shift was a result of millions of perturbations, from inside and outside.

Great Stuff.

Then we had a final night of exercises with DPS and Appreciative Imagery techniques. This was combined with the technique of anticommunication as we gave many of the discovered personal strengths and traits neologisms to protect them from being seen as something old and tried. Very fun. I will definitely include that part of the exercise in the process from now on. That is one of the best parts of this work, for me, being able to add on to the exercises, learn new things and adapt, adopt, and improve the model. In that way it remains dynamic, alive and growing with each group that brings it to life.

Then I took on leading a Cops in the Head workshop in which the topic of race and racism reared its ugly head. I made the statement that if you don’t admit that you are a racist then you are lying to yourself. A strong opinion that is true for me. However, this called up a good deal of anger and emotions for people including some cognitive dissonance, “How can I be what I am against?” The dialogue was at times heated and difficult but people listened well and it led into the Cop in the Head work. A young man shared his cops of “you’re not as smart as them” as an immigrant in a US university. Some people were focused and wanted to use the exercise to deepen our understanding and I had to call on a few people to not “chucklefuck” (a new word I learned that applies to so many people’s attempts to be funny when confronting an opportunity to go deep into something real). In the end the discourse was important and I think that I learned a lot as a facilitator from this group. It definitely reinforced what Marc Weinblatt told me that some of the hardest work is to work on racism with “non-racists” no one wants to look at their shit and realize that they are somehow aligned with the devil. Remember the lesson of the tree, it is Luke’s face behind Vader’s mask. You are your enemy, so love him or her. Only love moves hate.

Three Main Things I learned –

1 – Have strong beliefs and speak them for yourself only – Leave others to decide if and when that will be true for them

2. – Create False Statements that put into language the world and future you long for. I have done this with images but putting the words to it is great.

3. Don’t ask people to do what they have not practiced. Give them time and a liminal space (between rules and no-rules) to try things out in safety.

Oh, and I love clowning (still)!!!

Educating for the 21st Century: Another Successful U Peace Short Workshop

2011-06-29T13:14:00.002-06:00

We had fun on Tuesday playing through the DPS model to look at some important issues. The 10 participants, wonderful people from all over the globe were in Costa Rica to take a course with the wonderful Mohit Mukhergee and his Center at U Peace. Thank you to Mohit for inviting me again.

The group worked on some very interesting issues, such as overpopulation, trust, greed, and addiction. We looked at trust in a forum and images of victimization and overpopulation all revealed new, sometimes surprising ways of thinking about these things. As always, the physical nature and the spontaneity of the play made people react in ways they maybe hadn't thought about.

One participant shared that he could use this work to apply to relations in his life that were in conflict.

Good to know that in these short, 3 hour sessions we can work together to build skills and open paths to conflict transformation on a personal and societal level.

Thanks to everyone for their active and engaged participation.

U Peace Oklahoma City Group: Where do 3rd parties come from?

2011-05-16T21:06:00.003-06:00

Today I was invited by Mohit Mukhergee and the University for Peace's Center for Executive Education to give a short workshop on Dramatic Problem Solving. The session was very lively and the forum session brought up some interesting points about the nature of conflict resolution.

The conflict focused on intercultural ignorance that led to stereotyping and harmful accusations. The big question that came out of the forum, deeper than just trying to solve the specific conflict at hand, was where and how do we find viable, neutral, agreeable third parties to solve conflicts between mutually hostile and/or defensive parties? And, how do we get past the initial moments of aggression and defense to reach out to the third parties? What we saw in action was that there are some key necessities: one side remaining calm, asking about feelings, and looking for allies who are not aligned.

Later, we discussed what are the best ways to bridge these kind of divides long-term. I said that the only thing that I have seen work is sustained contact and joint projects between the groups with a mutual goal to achieve. This is what brings people together. It is the only thing that ever has.

I have seen this even in La Carpio where one might think that everyone is in the same boat of slum living. But, the reality is that some have nicer houses, better more stable situations and create in-group and out-group mentalities. Through our Coffee Dance theatre project we were able to create that sustained, goal oriented contact and now groups that were divided work together to make a business viable and grow out of poverty.

Thanks to Mohit for inviting me and thanks to the faculty and students from Oklahoma City University for sharing all their energy today.

Ritual Celebration

2011-05-10T10:01:00.002-06:00

The depth of trauma and its lingering scars reared ts ugly head recently. Images of people standing outside the White House cheering and chanting, "USA! USA!" in reverie over the killing of a human being. Many people saw hatred and a lust for blood. What I saw was a lack of joy and a search for meaning and a cause for celebration. People heal in the ritual sharing of deep emotion. That the only place people really get this is at sporting events demonstrates one of the true great emptinesses in our modern existence. That the cheering of the death of Osama bin Laden sounded like a football game is not surprising. Sport is the one place left for ritual celebration and reverie in our culture.
We need something to celebrate. We want joy. Cry for connection. Yearn for the healing power of ritual. Imagine if we had ritual celebrations - stadium rock/football type fests that ritualized the cheering of peace --- The great work of people who save lives, who change lives, who work to create positive peace in the world. I do not feel more peaceful in the world because some men killed Osama bin Laden. I would feel more peaceful if some men and women had, instead, been working on housing, feeding, and caring for every person in their own neighborhood. Let's chant about that!

Speak - April DPS workshop

2011-05-05T19:01:00.002-06:00

We had our 7th annual DPS workshop in Costa Rica this past April. We had another wonderful international group featuring folks from Denmark, Barbados, Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica and the United States.

The group worked on the issue of communication, specifically how we speak to the people we live with. It was a lively week that incorporated new energy I have been using in clowning, exercises in communication directly taken from Alternatives to Violence plus some Open-Space technology sharing by all of the participants.

The community Forum presentation was well received with several interventions, including more international involvement from some guests from Sweden.

We closed the whole process by delving into 1-3-2 image thinking, which got the group in a meaningful exploration of the directions their lives would take as they moved forward following this work.

DPS Workshop Date Change

2011-01-22T10:26:00.002-06:00

The 7th Annual Dramatic Problem Solving Workshop will still be taking place during the 3rd week in April, the Semana Santa in Costa Rica, but the start and end times for the workshop have changed. I hope this gives enough time to everyone planning to attend to make the change.

The new dates are to begin with participants arriving on Saturday April 16 and finishing on Thursday April 21. We will be doing are interactive performance for the community on Wed the 20th. Tell your friends to come and join us ;)

7th Annual DPS Workshop April 2011

2010-01-28T14:37:00.004-06:00

Join us for the 7th annual Dramatic Problem Solving Workshop, April 18-23, 2011. This is an experiential exploration of how to use interactive theatre for conflict transformation.
The full cost of the workshop is $450. Some financial arrangements can be made to lower the costs. Just write me at dramaticproblemsolving@gmail.com
The costs of the workshop include a DPS book, the workshop, food and lodging at Barking Horse Farm.
We play and learn, share and grow, image and imagine, present and interact in an amazing experience that combines the work of Augusto Boal, Paolo Freire, Improvisational Theatre, Conflict Resolution, Popular Education, Group Work and Community Building.
This year we will be exploring some new techniques involving clowning, singing, and the use of appreciative inquiry in TO.
Write me for more information. Steven Hawkins - dramaticproblemsolving@gmail.com

The Process

We come together and through the DPS process we identify, analyze, and create a piece of engaging, interactive theatre about a social issue of concern to everyone in the group. We present the piece to our community of friends and neighbors.

This Forum Theatre event is the culmination of the week´s work.

We work in the beauty of the Mountain Home Retreat Center

We hike through the Rainforest to a Peaceful Waterfall and Cleanse Ourselves in Natural White Clay from the River

Enjoying Great Company and Delicious Vegetarian Cuisine

Fiesta!!

Fall and Winter News: New Partnerships - Patch Adams, United World College and SOS Villages

2010-01-28T14:31:00.003-06:00

Since September Many things have been happening. I haven't been able to blog for being so busy.
From September 11 to September 16 DPS played guide and host to Patch Adams and a group of 40 clowns from around the world. We clowned and danced our way through La Carpio. Then all of the clowns paid a visit to Barking Horse Farm for a mini DPS workshop and a super fun time.

Also in Septemeber, I started working as the Peace and Conflict Studies teacher at United World College. This amazing program brings 16 to 19 year old from around the world together for two years of learning and growing. We are making peace worldwide through education. We are using clowning and theatre as ways of serving the needs of the community, outreaching and sharing the love and the hope.
We also have made a connection with SOS Villages in Nicaragua and a group of students and I will be going there to bring DPS and clowning, therefore laughter, love, and change, to the members of the village in Esteli. More details and photos when we get back.

DPS invited by AVP to work with Iraqi refugees in Jordan.

2009-05-31T21:21:00.002-06:00

Ann Ward, an amazing practitioner of peace in the world is organizing a major Alternatives to Violence Project in Jordan. The project will be working with young people living in Iraqi refugee camps. The project has invited Steven to come and share the DPS applications of theatre with AVP.
If you would like to help support this project, which needs funding to help get Steven and the other facilitators there, you can send contributions to my Paypal account at dramaticproblemsolving@gmail.com
Thank you.

Peace Garden Project

2009-05-31T20:54:00.004-06:00

Students from United World College cominbed efforts with Dramatic Problem Solving, Barking Horse Farm and the Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation for a project to help families living in La Carpio. The UWC students and their teacher Yaya worked on Barking Horse Farm to prepare a garden. When preparations were complete, families from La Carpio, a neighborhood where gardening is not a possibility, came out to the farm and planted seeds and starts. Everyone enjoyed the cultural sharing. The UWC students then went to La Carpio and helped in the installation of new bunk beds in houses where large families with little space live. This is an important project of the CRHF in the improvement of the standard of living of these families. The first harvests were collected from the garden this past weekend. The La Carpio families enjoyed a day in the river, making music, harvesting vegetables, some of which they had never tasted before, and making music.

La Carpio Project Update

2009-05-31T20:48:00.002-06:00

The women's group has bee awarded a grant to take their play about Breast Cancer, Health and Education to sites around the country. This is an amazing moment of empowerment for this group of women from one of the poorest, most defamed and marginalized neighborhoods in Costa Rica. Thanks to all the women and especially Gail Nystrom for making this happen and continue to happen.

DPS Workshop Upcoming

2009-02-16T16:53:00.002-06:00

The Fifth annual Semana Santa Dramatic Problem Solving workshop will be held this April. The dates are April 7 to 12. We will be gathering at the Bakring Horse Farm in the mountains of Puriscal, Costa Rica to play, explore, act, learn, grow, and make change in our internal and external worlds. Please join us for this interactive exploration of how we can use theatre and group facilitation to transform community conflicts. The workshop includes a DPS manual, five nights lodging, most meals, a guided hike to a waterfall, and participation in an exciting public forum theatre event. The cost is US $425 per person. Partial scholarships are available on an as need basis. Contact Steven at dramaticproblemsolving@gmail.com for more information.

DPS in Africa

2008-10-13T13:26:00.003-06:00

Steven was invited to come to the International Gathering of the Alternatives to Violence Project in Kenya. 125 people from 24 countries were gatehred together for a week of sharing, compassion, and growth. AVP, which started in prisons and has since spread worldwide with its mission of nonviolence as a way of life, of expecting the best in everyone, is powerful work. The DPS model was presented as a workshop. I showed ways theatre coudl be used in the context of community conflict. I have used it in prisons, as have many others, including my good friend Hector Aristizabal.
About 15 people made four short plays on topics they defined in the workshop on Wednesday. The plays were about social exclusion, racism, communication breakdown, and family problems. Then we went with them to the whole gathering on Thursday night. The actors really went for it. Amazing performances. Then the audience decided they wanted to see the racism play in the forum. We had a great response, about 8 people got out of their seats and into the action. 8 interventions for a 5 minute play, that is pretty powerful and pretty real. Here we see workshop participants making a machine. The Machine that Makes Hope.
In 2010 the IG of AVP will be in Nepal. We hope to be going and sharing more great work with more good people. For more information on AVP, check out http://www.avpinternational.org/

Breast Cancer Education Focus of new DPS project

2008-07-09T18:25:00.002-06:00

July 2008The La Carpio women's group has been hard at work developing a piece of interactive theatre to bring to coffee workers in Naranjo, Costa Rica. The focus is on education and health care, especially education about breast cancer. The Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation will be bringing a health fair to the plantation in September and December. 12 performances are scheduled. through the play, which comes from the stories and experiences of the group members we will create actions to better the lives of the coffee workers through long-term health and education projects. If you would like more information on the project or to support our work, please write to dramaticproblemsolving@gmail.com or send your donation to Steven Hawkins, 5800 Fernley Dr. West 14, West Palm Beach, FL 33415.

March Workshop an International and Intercultural Success

2008-03-27T13:01:00.002-06:00

From March 17 to March 22 the Mountain Home Retreat Center at Barking Horse Farm in Puriscal, Costa Rica was transformed into a mini-United Nations. Except here the members were not giving speeches and calling for the creation of committees, instead they were using Dramatic Problem Solving to address the issue of Tolerance to Cultural and Social Diversity.

The group of DPS Workshop participants featured members from Egypt, Benin, Brazil, Germany, Canada, the United States, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Japan.

We worked through the DPS process and created a lively, engaging, and real Forum theatre play that was presented to the local community. The community responded with imaginative, important, and realistic interventions that got everyone thinking, talking, and changing.

This March's workshop was one of the best ever, both for its international component and for the quality of the work produced.

I wish everyone who participated in it all the best. And I hope that we all get the chance to work together again.

The Process

2008-01-18T18:19:00.000-06:00

This Forum Theatre event is the culmination of the week´s work.

2008-01-18T18:17:00.000-06:00

We work in the beauty of the Mountain Home Retreat Center

2008-01-18T18:13:00.000-06:00

We hike through the Rainforest to a Peaceful Waterfall and Cleanse Ourselves in Natural White Clay from the River

2008-01-18T18:11:00.000-06:00

Enjoying Great Company and Delicious Vegetarian Cuisine

2008-01-18T18:10:00.000-06:00

Fiesta!!

2008-01-18T18:08:00.000-06:00

Celebrating at the Bonfire

2008-01-18T18:05:00.000-06:00

Making a bonfire during the after show celebration

2008-01-18T17:52:00.000-06:00

2008-01-18T17:29:00.000-06:00

DPS workshop participants having fun doing "Machines"

Workshop Announcement

2008-01-18T17:12:00.000-06:00

Dramatic Problem Solving
Invites you to join us for
the 4 th Annual
Interactive Theatre for Social Change Workshop Puriscal, Costa Rica. March 18-22, 2008.
This is a five day, experiential exploration of the use of Theatre of the Oppressed and Facilitation Techniques to create Peaceful, Positive change in your world.
The cost for the workshop is US$425 per person which includes the workshop, materials, lodging, and meals. (financial aid available for students)
For more information contact Steven Hawkins at dramaticproblemsolving@gmail.com tel. 506-416-3869 or 506-397-3668