Afghan Theater Grp in Upcoming TOPLAB Wkshop, 1224 NYC

Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory (TOPLAB) 451 West Street New York, New York 10014 (212) 924-1858

TOPLAB's Fifteenth Anniversary Year!

The Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory presents

Cop-in-the-Head: A Workshop on Internalized Oppression

December 2-4, 2005

with special guest participants: Exile Theater from Kabul, Afghanistan

Friday, December 2, 2005, 5:00 - 9:00 pm (registration begins at 4:15) Saturday, December 3, 10:00 am - 8:00 pm Sunday, December 4, 10:00 am - 6:00 pm

Cop-in-the-Head is a collection of Theater of the Oppressed techniques that use games and exercises to recognize and confront internalized forms of oppression, and explore power relations and collective solutions to concrete problems.

Facilitators: Kelly di Bertolli, Esperanza Martell, Marie-Claire Picher

Tuition--sliding scale: $75-$125

Note: This workshop is open to the general public and there is no formal know that you will be attending.

Workshop takes place at:

The Brecht Forum 451 West Street* New York City

* travel directions appended below

TOPLAB is pleased to announce that members of Exile Theater, based in Kabul, Afghanistan, will be guest participants in this workshop. Exile Theater was founded in Peshawar, Pakistan by several Afghan theater and cinema artists who were forced into exile when the Taliban closed the doors to the arts in Afghanistan. The ensemble members had been educated with a unique blend of Soviet era theatre training and traditional Afghan performing arts.

Confronted with the extreme conditions of life in exile, the company members needed to innovate and improvise, plying their crafts in non-traditional and unpolished spaces. Their focus was to rehabilitate the theater arts in exile and, for that reason, held programs and performances to celebrate Afghan cultural and historical days.

Exile Theater returned to Afghanistan in June of 2003 and has since mounted productions there in collaboration with New York City's Bond

TOPLAB thanks Bond Street Theatre and Exile Theater for giving us all this extraordinary opportunity to work together.

*****

Other Upcoming Events

*** December 17-18: Celebration of TOPLAB's 15th Anniversary and Fundraising Weekend for the Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory and the Brecht Forum

*** January 27-29, 2006: Start of TOPLAB 2006 Internship Program

*** May 2006: Workshops with Augusto Boal

*****

Travel Directions to the Brecht Forum and TOPLAB

The Brecht Forum and TOPLAB is at 451 West Street. West Street is the same as the West Side Highway.

Subway: IND Eighth Avenue A, C or E to 14 Street; BMT Canarsie L to 8 Avenue (take a few minutes to look at "Life Underground", Tom Otterness' series of whimsical bronze sculptures scattered throughout both the IND and BMT sections of the station). Walk down (against the traffic) Eighth Avenue to Bethune Street (at Abingdon Square). Go right (west) on Bethune to West Street, turn left for 1-2 block to 451. IRT Seventh Avenue 1, 2 or 3 to 14 Street. Exit at the south (12 Street) end of the station. Walk west (against the traffic) on 12 Street to West Street. Turn left, walk 1-1-2 blocks to 451.

New Jersey PATH train to Christopher Street. Walk north on Greenwich Street to Bank Street. Turn left, walk west on Bank Street to West Street. Turn right, walk 1-4 block to 451.

Bus: #8 to Christopher and West Streets, walk north on West to 451. #11 and #14A to Abingdon Square. Walk west on Bethune Street to West Street, turn left for 1-2 block to 451. #20: From downtown--to Abingdon Square. Walk west on Bethune Street to West Street, turn left for 1-2 block to 451. From uptown--to 12 Street. Walk west (against the traffic) on 12 Street to West Street. Turn left, walk 1-1-2 blocks to 451.

Car: Within lower Manhattan, drive west on 11 Street all the way to West Street (West Side Highway). Turn right for one block, to 451, between Bank and Bethune Streets. Along the West Side Highway: From downtown-- stay to the right and follow the Highway to 451, between Bank and Bethune Streets. From uptown: Take the Highway to Clarkson Street (exit left), make a U-turn at Clarkson and proceed back up the Highway to 451, between Bank and Bethune Streets. Note that there is no legal parking on many parts of West Street before 6:00 pm, and legal parking on the surrounding streets is scarce. Fines for illegal parking are a minimum of $115, and your car could be towed. Retrieval can cost you as much as $300. Fees at parking lots and garages can run as high as $30 a day. The cheapest parking is at Pier 40, Houston and West Streets. WE URGE YOU TO USE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION.

Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory (TOPLAB) 451 West Street New York, New York 10014 (212) 924-1858

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"My fellow Americans, major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed." --George W. Bush, May 1, 2003

"...I told the American people that the road ahead would be difficult, and that we would prevail. Well, it has been difficult--and we are prevailing." --George W. Bush, June 28, 2005

U.S. military baneities through May 1, 2003: 140 U.S. military baneities through June 28, 2005: 1743 U.S. military baneities as of November 16, 2005: 2079

Iraqi civilian baneities through May 1, 2003: 1982 Iraqi civilian baneities through June 28, 2005: 22,563 � 25,560 (estimated) Iraqi civilian baneities as of November 16, 2005: 26,982 � 30,380 (estimated)

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