Patricia Newman isa clinical child psychologist, a nationally certified school psychologist and the founder and Executive Director of R.E.S.P.E.C.T.2. Dr. Newman is in private practice with Family Enrichment, Inc. and works as a medical consultant for the Nebraska Department of Disability Determination Services. Ilana Lieberson Weiss attended Yeshiva University where upon graduating she was awarded a Presidential Graduate Fellowship in University and Community Leadership. Ilana subsequently worked for numerous Jewish organizations in the United States, Canada and Israel. She now lives in Omaha, Nebraska and is the Education Director for R.E.S.P.E.C.T.2.

While theater is a powerful form of art in and of itself, on an educational level, it also has the power to take students outside of themselves and develop social tools that can be used in their own lives. At the Omaha Jewish Community High School (a supplementary Jewish High School program that meets once a week, also known as Omaha Jewish Chai School), a new course has been offered for the Spring 2011 semester. The class is facilitated by staff from R.E.S.P.E.C.T.2 (Relationship Empowerment for Students, Parents, Educators and Community Through theater) and combines theater techniques with lessons about interpersonal relationships. The class entitled “R.E.S.P.E.C.T.2 and Jewish theater” teaches students various theatrical and dramatic techniques and how to use them for problem solving in ethical and moral dilemmas. The class incorporates guidance from traditional Jewish texts, psychologically based information as well as strategies such as improvisational exercises, role playing, behavioral rehearsal, forum theater and interactive theater games. The class will culminate in the creation of an educational theater piece to be preformed for appropriate audiences.

Since 2000, R.E.S.P.E.C.T.2 has been providing programs that pair theater with important educational content throughout Nebraska that relate to positive relationships. Currently reaching over 30,000 students annually, R.E.S.P.E.C.T.2 provides nine educational theater presentations about bullying, dating violence, relational aggression, peer pressure and sexual harassment. These plays (approximately 25 minutes in length) are paired with large group or panel discussions that help students to process the educational goals and objectives. Students are then asked to participate in improvisational scenes built on the spot about problems that they encounter. During the role-plays, students identify various ways to react to difficult situations teaching them that they have the power to change a negative situation. R.E.S.P.E.C.T.2 shows that different tactics work for different people, and if a first attempt at solving a problem does not succeed, one should not be afraid to try another approach.

In the past, while R.E.S.P.E.C.T.2 has used theater in its programs, it had not done so to teach it as an art, but rather as a tool for problem solving and communication. When the Omaha Jewish Chai School approached R.E.S.P.E.C.T.2 to lead a theater class, however, R.E.S.P.E.C.T.2 found a way to teach theater while introducing students to an appreciation of Jewish texts and using Jewish thought as a guide for proper human behavior.

Members of R.E.S.P.E.C.T.2 – a Jewish educator, a clinical psychologist and an actor-educator – lead the R.E.S.P.E.C.T.2 and Jewish theater course. The first half of the semester has three components: (1) learning new theater skills, (2) understanding Jewish texts and psychological concepts regarding interpersonal relationships, and (3) integrating the above skills and ideas into improvisational role-plays. The second half of the semester has students focus on creating their own educational theater productions as well as sharpening theatrical skills.

During the first half of the semester, a typical class will spend the first five to ten minutes engaging in theater exercises that focus on techniques such as body awareness, characterization and imagination. Following those exercises, source sheets are given out to guide a group discussion about human behavior. Each class has a different theme all connected to interpersonal relationships. Some of these themes are the role of bystanders, revenge, and parent and child relationships. After a ten to fifteen minute discussion of these topics from the perspectives of both classical Jewish thought and current psychological thinking, students engage in role-play exercises where they place themselves in familiar “real-life” scenes, and try to solve problems presented in ways that stay true to the approaches that are given by the texts addressed in the earlier part of the class. Students must identify sources that speak to the responses that they give in their role-plays.

For example, in the first class of the semester, the concept of lashon hara – evil speech – was explored. Students first played a movement game that challenged them to be cognizant of the actions of each other while on stage ensuring that hearing the end of another actor’s line would not be their only cues to respond on stage. These actions provided an interesting segue to the topic of lashon hara as the class facilitators noted that individuals need to constantly be aware of what their mouths say in addition to what their body language expresses. A discussion was then had about the Torah’s admonishment in Leviticus to not be a “tale-bearer,” and the punishment of tzara-at for speaking lashon hara. Sources were also given from Tanakh about the effect that speech can have on the speaker of hateful things. A brief review of some of the laws of lashon hara as explained by the Hafetz Hayyim (R. Yisrael Meir Kogan) were also examined, and special emphasis was placed on the concept of avak lashon hara (talk that eventually leads to lashon hara) and its parallels to “relational aggression,” the psychological term used to describe type of bullying that uses relationships among people to hurt others. The remainder of the class was devoted to a scene that the students developed where harm was being caused to a fellow student in the form of exclusion and slander. Students were challenged to teeter the line of helping somebody outside of their social group without losing their own social status – a task easier said than done.

During the second half of the semester, students will spend the majority of each class developing educational theater productions that show believable depictions of real-life experiences and challenges while showing Jewish-inspired solutions to problems that come up. The programs developed by the students are not meant to be cliché representations of happy endings that will never get played out once they leave the stage, but rather meaningful thought provoking theater adaptations that will invite students to think about what can truly make a difference.

Given that theater grew from a desire to educate and facilitate problem solving strategies and solutions it is not surprising that many therapeutic and counseling strategies utilize cognitive techniques that parallel theatrical techniques. Teachers and therapists have long been working with students to “practice and rehearse” various strategies to “stop and think” about the impact of a variety of behavioral possibilities to encourage success in relationships and to reinforce the exhibition of pro social behavioral skills.

The flexibility of theater to individualize a script, character, setting or behavioral pattern as consistent with challenges found in specific school or organizational settings makes it viable for use in learning a wide variety of social skills, problem solving strategies and as a potential base for the development of religious values. Educational theater is generally a captivating way to share information with an audience and to encourage discussion within groups of students on topics that are of relevance and concern to them in their day-to-day lives. As a member of an audience, whether membership is reflected via internal or external processing, students are empowered with the knowledge that they are not isolated in their social experiences, that there are a variety of behaviors and strategies that may be utilized with various relationship dilemmas, that there is “light at the end of the tunnel” (hope) and to start to understand the impact of their behavioral choices, to “act” or “not to act” on themselves personally, within the lives of their peers and moreover within their school, religious and organizational communities. Further, role-play and theater provide the opportunity to “rehearse” and practice a wide variety of verbal and non-verbal interactions and responses.

When it comes to understanding Jewish values, it is one thing to learn the ins-and-outs of Jewish law as it pertains interpersonal relationships, but it is another to “playback” moments from one’s own life and see how applying the relevant laws could have drastically changed a situation. Using theater and role-play are powerful alternatives to the classic give and take in classroom settings. Even soliciting scenarios from students and brainstorming solutions to problems while they are sitting in their regular classroom seats, does not evoke the same feelings and emotions that can come out when playing a part and having to respond on the spot to a difficult situation. A person in a role-play who needs to react in a way compliant with Jewish values has now had the opportunity to come up with an original and real-life demonstration of what Judaism instructs us to do. If the role-play is repeated several times, each one with a different acceptable solution, students can begin to see that using Jewish thought as a guide for decision making is just as much practical as it is valuable.

Additionally, theater and role-play are excellent ways to demonstrate the importance making every effort to dan lekhaf zekhut – give the benefit of the doubt. Techniques such as forum theater, role playing and improvisational scenarios allow students to literally put themselves “in the shoes” of another person and consider what that other person might be thinking or feeling. It encourages students to act out a wide variety of solutions to what may initially present itself as an interaction with narrow possibilities and outcomes. Forum theater in particular prods students to think creatively and share with and learn from others. Theater allows students to observe emotional reactions and behavioral consequence in a uniquely thought provoking manner.

With the strong and continuous urging in Jewish teachings to respect self, others and world and to live with consideration of others in community, it is not surprising that theatrical techniques work well to facilitate discussion among Jewish youth as to the values embedded in their Jewish foundation.

It is the expectation of R.E.S.P.E.C.T.2 that this course will not only provide students with theater skills and an increased knowledge of some Jewish texts. Rather, we anticipate that students walk away with the excitement of knowing that what was once written in Jewish scripture and code thousands of years ago is still applicable today, and we believe that students will find that they can more easily adapt Jewish values into their daily interactions. Furthermore, we envision that after taking part in this course and developing a theatrical script based on Jewish values, when attempting to be creative in the future, whether in the performing arts, fine arts, writing, or any other activity, students will look to Jewish sources for guidance and inspiration. We hope that this course becomes a model for schools to incorporate Jewish values into theater and theater into teaching Jewish values.