What is the Skits Program?
After completing a 38 hour training, youth who volunteer in this program spend about 24 hours per month writing, rehearsing and presenting educational skits for junior high students.
The presenters come from a variety of backgrounds, ages and grades. The youth are passionate about delivering youth-friendly prevention education to other youth...plus they enjoy having plenty of fun doing it!
We’ve redeveloped Skitz by transposing beloved characters and creating new ones to explore themes of alcohol and decision making, anti-violence and sexual decision making. The difference lies in the delivery of the information. We’ve adopted the medium of Forum Theatre with a spin.
Forum theatre was developed by the Brazillian director Augusto Boal and has been used in a variety of settings internationally to promote healthy decision making, encourage social change and inspire behavior modification.
Forum theatre empowers the audience to make choices and see the consequences of those choices acted out by the characters “on stage”. The parameters are defined by three words that allow the audience to know when they can interact with the character and when they resume being spectators. The first word is “ Freeze ” which is used by the actor to freeze the scene and indicates to the audience that they will be invited to dialogue with the actor. The actor who has frozen time will offer a choice which allows the audience to direct the story.
Once the character and the audience have decided the course of action they will hear the word: “ Unfreeze ” which will indicatethat they can now sit back and watch their choice be played out. Each mini skit has 3 – 7 choices made with the help of the spectators and thus has a variety of outcomes. The skit begins with small simple choices that increase in complexity as we progress through the scene. To indicate the scene is over both actors will call out: “ Scene ” which will initiate a short debrief about choices made and encourage students to negotiate safer alternatives while providing information about consent, teen pregnancy, STI, mental health, homophobia, cyber bullying, violence, drugs and alcohol.
We have three skitz to our beautiful collection:
D3 is about drinking, drugs and desicion making
For Real : looks at body image, toxic friendships, coercion and gender scripts
Whattheflip.com: explores the real world of cyber bullying and online communities
Click here for more information on each of the skitz
I would love the opportunity to discuss this program with you in depth and answer any questions. If you need more information and are interested in booking please contact me at 784-4010
Lindsay Stevenson ; Peer Support Facilitator
Klinic on Broadway
545 Broadway
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 0W3
Phone: 784-4010 Fax: 784-4204 e-mail: teentalk@klinic.mb.ca
Check us out at our myspace.
Would you like to join this silly fun group?
Click on the
pic to find out when our next training is