What if the difficult scenarios that human beings deal with on a daily basis could be brought to light and acted out? What if there was an audience? What if people were more willing to confront societal tensions head-on?
That’s the mission of the Missouri State University student theater troupe, Giving Voice, which performs under the direction of Dr. Carol Maples.
The troupe has performed locally and nationally and offers workshops that tackle real-life examples of sexism, racism, classism and homophobia. They encourage participation from audiences to work through those scenarios. Audiences can ask questions and present solutions to everyday insults that communicate hostile, derogatory or negative messages.
The troupe lives the public affairs mission by promoting cultural competence, community engagement and ethical leadership to hundreds of people every year.