Social Issues Theater

According to Bill English of San Francisco’s SF Playhouse, “Theater is like a gym for empathy. It’s where we can go to build up the muscles of compassion, to practice listening and understanding and engaging with people that are not just like ourselves.” The youth in CommUniverCity’s service area are often challenged by stressful situations related to larger social issues such as economic insecurity, gang pressure, or racial discrimination. There are limited opportunities for them to express concerns and fears to caring adults.

This past fall, students in Sarah McGaffey’s Communications 21 class offered a series of original performances titled “Oppression and Unseen Privileges in America.” Their work acknowledged the complexity of privilege, both seen and unseen, and depicted how students had personally experienced discrimination,

stereotyping, and oppression. The audience saw how college students struggled coming to terms with different aspects of their own identities. Topics covered included LGBTQ struggles, sexism and racial inequality. Afterwards, SJSU students led a discussion with the audience about the performance, challenging the fifth graders, their teachers, and chaperones to take action on what they learned. Through this experience, participating 5th graders learned that labels can be social burdens, so we, as people, shouldn’t define someone based on labels or other differences.

The performances creates opportunities for the 5th graders to explore their own unseen privileges, such as being “body-able.” It also helps them see their own struggles with discrimination in the SJSU student work and identify ways they can address them.

Project Impacts

96% of 5th graders felt more motivated to go to college because of the SJSU student performances

Learning points from the 5th graders included, “It’s okay to be different,” “You should always respect others” and, “race does not define you.”

95% of the audience learned about thought-provoking social issues relating to privilege

Students Engaged

Residents Engaged

Hours of Student Service

Value

$ 0

Faculty Lead

Sarah McGaffey (Communication Studies)

What people say?

I learned about women's safety. I never knew how careful they had to be.

Horace Mann 5th grade student

I didn't know skin color HAD to matter that much or that you get judged. I had no idea being an immigrant would be that hard.

Horace Mann 5th grade student

It's time to use our power to help others. We can't control other people, but we can control ourselves

Sarah McGaffey

SJSU Communication Instructor

“Sometimes the plays speak what everybody knows; sometimes they speak what nobody says. Sometimes they open paths or unveil truths; sometimes they challenge the way things are done or understood”

– Robet Leonard and Ann Kilkelly