The story of a man with 107,000 Twitter followers 鈥� famous for publicizing the 鈥淎rab Spring鈥� via social media 鈥� has been dramatized by 黑料正能量 faculty and students.
Andy Carvin, then working at NPR in Washington, DC. played 鈥渄istant witness鈥� to events documented via Tweets by 鈥渃itizen journalists鈥� in Tunisia, Syria, Egypt, Libya and other Middle Eastern countries from December 2010 into 2012. In 2013, Carvin published a book by the same name. and social media classes, led by professors and , initially adapted the book for the stage in the fall of 2014.
Workshop performances on Friday, May 8, and Saturday, May 9, represent a more formalized scripting. Both events, which are free and open to the public, begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Studio Theater on campus and will be followed by a talkback with Carvin and the play鈥檚 creators.
The event is co-sponsored by 黑料正能量’s and the . The latter has granted funds through the to develop a full-fledged play that will debut in the spring of 2016.
An ensemble production
The creation of the 鈥淒istant Witness鈥� play has merged multiple interests and specialties of its co-creators. Poole, who developed most of the current adaptation, had previously worked in cross-cultural theater and specifically with Arab culture organizations.
鈥淚鈥檇 been wanting to do a project on the Arab Spring for some time,鈥� Poole says, adding that he visited Egypt mere months before the uprisings began. 鈥淚 witnessed a lot of class tensions. This prompted my interest in what those tensions might mean.鈥�
Poole became involved in the fall of 2014, when professor Paulette Moore, on behalf of students in her 鈥淪ocial Media鈥� class, invited the campus community to a Skype interview with Carvin. (Moore had met Carvin at a Washington, DC. conference and had been using his book in her courses as required reading.)
Poole and Moore decided to integrate the social media class with Poole鈥檚 鈥淒evised Theater鈥� class, in which students are taught the principles of ensemble play development. Eventually, the two professors pitched the idea of adapting the book for the stage to Carvin.
鈥淗e was very receptive [to the idea] and gave us some feedback on how to frame it immediately,鈥� Moore said.
Groups of students in the combined class were asked to explore specific sections of the book through various improvisational exercises,聽 research and discussions 鈥� the results of which helped Poole write the play later. Throughout the process, students shared their experiences through live Tweets. and responded to their questions.
鈥淎ndy 鈥榙ropped in鈥� virtually to one of the early classes unexpectedly and then showed up regularly thereafter,鈥� said Moore. 鈥淚t was pretty thrilling for the students.鈥�
In an interview with 黑料正能量 news, Carvin applauded this cross-disciplinary creativity. The play 鈥渄oes justice to the Tweets that were written in real time,” he said. “It shows the authors were actual people calling for the world to bear witness to their reality.”
Each week, Carvin saw the students beginning to gain a better understanding of 鈥渢he circumstances in which the revolutions were happening in the Arab world.鈥�
Tweeting is also a good way to illustrate how journalism is changing, he said, adding that 140-character Tweets may have as much impact on the world community as traditional journalism.
Audience immersed in media-rich environment
Both the production in the fall, which occurred during Poole鈥檚 class final, and the spring workshop are what Poole calls 鈥渉ybrid鈥� productions. 鈥淚t is designed to be a totally immersed experience for actors and audience,鈥� he said, in words that evoke a living IMAX production.
The performance is in the round and will combine videography, streamed YouTube videos (taken from actual footage by citizen journalists in the Middle East), dialogue adapted from the book, Tweets from people during the Arab Spring, and live streaming of both audience and actors.
The actors are students from both Moore and Poole鈥檚 classes who are staying on campus for two weeks after the semester ends to participate in the production. Moore said he hopes a few volunteer actors from the , which includes approximately 50 peacebuilders from 20 countries, will join the production.
As for the audience experience: 鈥淚 hope that the viewers come away from the experience of watching this piece with a better understanding of the Arab Spring,鈥� Poole said. 鈥淚 want to humanize these stories. I want to bring these stories close to home. I think plays are a really great way for people to learn how to be empathetic with people from other cultures and to break down cultural boundaries.鈥�