interACT Performance: Wednesday, 4/17, 6:30pm, LH-151

interACT is a nationally recognized sexual assault prevention program that uses dramatic techniques to engage audience members in “rehearsing” effective bystander interventions. interACT invites volunteer audience members on stage to actively try out their ideas about what they would do in a given scenario, make alterations in these strategies with feedback from the cast and audience members, and practice these behaviors in a safe, supportive environment.

The performance theory behind this effort is that empowerment to act is more likely to occur when there is an emphasis on social action (of “doing” and actual practice) rather than on passive knowledge acquisition. interACT performances are grounded in the broad research literature on sexual assault and relationship abuse, as well as social justice models of engaging men, women, and others across intersectional social positions and lived experiences.