Before and After Improv Scenes
- Explain to students that they are going to be working in groups to interpret and use the primary sources, which include both classic Jewish texts and a modern-day responsum written by Conservative Rabbi Jill Jacobs to create improv scenes about current labor conditions and how they are being addressed or might be addressed by Jews.
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Create four groups of students, each with a minimum of two and a maximum of six students. Suggest the following roles to students as examples of whom they may choose to include in their scenes: domestic worker, janitor, home health aide, food service worker, Jewish organization personnel, employers of domestic workers, employer of shul cleaning staff, rabbis and synagogue leaders, and innocent bystanders like the students themselves who witness or benefit from the work being done. Explain that they will have 10 minutes to plan their scenes, and assign each group one of the following scenes:
- Domestic laborers before the establishment of a Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights
- Domestic laborers who have achieved a Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights
- Workers paid below a living wage
- Workers after their employer adopts the recommendations in the living wage teshuvah
- Read through the primary sources as a class and answer students’ questions about the sources to ensure their comprehension. Explain to students that each group must use examples in their scenes from at least two of the primary source excerpts on their sheets. They can quote directly or paraphrase.
- Go over the Improv Acting Guidelines. You can give an example or two to demonstrate such concepts as being aware of and using props in the space, working with scene partners versus stopping the action or making a joke that makes the scene partner look bad, etc. There’s no need to spend a whole lot of time on this, as students will likely have some experience with improv. Give students ten minutes to plan their scenes, reminding them to keep it simple and not to over direct it ahead of time.
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Have students perform their scenes in the order suggested in the scene list above. Be sure that the groups watching do so respectfully and applaud those performing when they are done. After the scenes are over, lead a discussion about the concepts and values concerning Jews and modern-day labor issues that you and the students noticed in the scenes. Questions to pose to students can include the following:
- What does Jewish tradition teach about why we should we be concerned about unfair working conditions, even if it is not a problem we experience personally?
- In what ways do unfair labor practices violate basic human rights? What approaches are currently being used to abolish unfair labor practices?
- Why do you think formal guidance and rules about working conditions and payment (such as a teshuvah about living wage, or a Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights) might be necessary?
- In what ways can we act in solidarity with oppressed workers in our midst?
