PORT TOWNSEND — A theater group that strives to promote social change and raise awareness about important issues is recruiting actors to perform this year’s season.

The Poetic Justice Theater Ensemble will begin a six-week workshop session Tuesday that includes theater games and interactive exercises that will serve as a lengthy audition period for the troupe.

“This goes two ways,” said Marc Weinblatt, who founded Poetic Justice 10 years ago. “After six weeks, we decide if we want you and whether you want us.”

The Poetic Justice Theatre Ensemble is a component of the Mandala Center for Change, which Weinblatt founded in 1999.

Weinblatt, 52, calls Mandala a way for “people to be more awake and alive as well as empowered to take action toward a more just and joyous world for all people.”

Poetic Justice generally doesn’t perform in a standard theater format.

It visits small and large groups in order to stimulate interest in such issues as poverty and racism.

These can be civic groups or senior centers, where the troupe creates an interactive learning environment.

Interactive play

“We put on a short play that portrays a social problem and then perform it a second time, stop the action and then allow people to come up, portray a character and improvise a solution,” Weinblatt said. “We use theater to create a dialogue and encourage people to ask questions and tell their own stories.”

After the “audition” process, the troupe will be created with about a dozen people.

Participants must commit themselves to being available every Tuesday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. through May and for performances through June.

Aside from availability, participants need to have a passion for social justice and the willingness for honesty and self-reflection in a group context, Weinblatt said, although acting experience is not required.

The group writes its own plays during the workshop sessions. Many of the actual performances are improvised.

The troupe does not use “invisible” theater techniques, which surprise people in public places, because the messages are more potent if the participants are voluntary, Weinblatt said.

All ages are invited. The concentration tends to be people younger than 20 and seniors, since it’s difficult for people in the workforce to be available every Tuesday afternoon, Weinblatt said.

“No matter when we hold it, we will exclude somebody,” Weinblatt said. “If we had it in the evening, anyone who was a parent wouldn’t be able to participate.”

The workshops are free, and there is no charge for performances, although Weinblatt said audiences “should pay what they can.”

Working for corporations isn’t completely out of the question.

“A few years ago, I got a feeler from Boeing about a workshop about understanding racism, “ Weinblatt said. “I was eager to do that job, but I wouldn’t do anything that would help them make more money.”

Occupy Wall Street ‘real thing’

On Friday, Weinblatt returned to Port Townsend after spending several days in New York City participating in the Occupy Wall Street movement, which he characterized as “the real thing.”

“There is a critical mass of people where the system isn’t working,” he said. “You can feel the energy, and it has captured the imagination of the world.”

Participation in the movement is not restricted to the unemployed or those who have the ability to spend the winter demonstrating, according to Weinblatt.

“You can show up for a short time, stay for one night, just popping in and out,” he said. “It’s a powerful movement, and it is here to stay.”

Participation in the workshop is open, but Weinblatt “doesn’t want people to just show up.”

Those interested in participating the workshop and performances can phone 360-344-3435 or write info@mandalaforchange.com.

For more information, visit www.mandalaforchange.com/poeticjust.htm.

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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.