By Kevin Cullen, Lafayette Journal & Courier, October 5, 2003

Americans know London and Paris, but not Tbilisi. It's the capital of the Republic of Georgia, a mountainous, impoverished land bordered by Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia and the Black Sea.

Georgia, once part of the Soviet Union, has its own language and its own alphabet. Its history features Bronze Age tribes, the spice trade, invading Greeks, Romans, Arabs and Mongols, and a porridge of cultures, faiths and traditions.

But to Lafayette's Katherine Burke, Georgians are lovely people, struggling to overcome a legacy of intolerance, injustice and hate.

Burke is a theater artist, director, and founder of InterPlay: Interactive Theatre for Dialogue. She recently returned from a 10-day mission spent teaching 20 Georgians how to use drama to spark dialogue and melt prejudices.

Before the trip, "I couldn't have pointed to Georgia on the map," she says, seated in the living room of her southside home. "I had a chance to be part of a culture that I had no idea of before I started."

She left, transformed by the experience.

"I got the sense that everything is very interconnected; the smallest little thing you do might have a ripple effect."

World Learning, a non-governmental organization, hired her, and the US Agency for International Development provided funding.

"They found me online," says Burke, 32. "...They asked me for a proposal. I submitted one, and I couldn't believe it when it was accepted."

Leading the group

Her students ranged in age from their 20s to 50s and included actors, arts administrators and representatives of non-governmental groups.

Burke, using a translator, divided them into four groups. Four topics were chosen: self-expression, religious/ethnic intolerance, corruption and free elections.

Then the magic of interactive theater began. She led games to make each group feel safe, trusting and bonded by shared experiences. Participants expressed their opinions about their issue and performed scenes related to it. Volunteers replaced protagonists and corrected problems.

"You don't have to be an actor," Burke explains, "just concerned about the issue you're dealing with. You can feel obligated to fix the problem, from a protagonist's point of view."

Such "performance workshops" have been proven to be powerful, revealing and engaging. They teach instead of preach.

"Wherever there is injustice, you can address it through the theatrical medium," Burke says.

In Georgia, conflict is never far away. The birthplace of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, it was under Communist rule until the breakup of the USSR in 1991. May of its people are jobless and live in shacks without electricity. Corruption is rampant, refugees spark resentments and ethnic frictions persist.

Despite all that, Burke was touched by the hospitality, wine and food that awaited her.

"They serve these giant, unending meals with a whole series of elaborate toasts," she says. "To Georgians, guests are from God."

She visited the hut where Stalin was born, the pebbled shore of the Black Sea and the ruins of a 3,000-year-old theater.

But most of the time was spent working.

"I was very nervous," she says. "Here were all these professional artists and I was afraid they would think I was a moron, (but) they didn't. I have a tendency to throw myself into situations when I don't know if I can handle them or not."

Ready for the role

In many ways, she was born for the assignment. Her father has long been active in community theater; her mother and sister sing.

Burke is a singer and musician who acted in high school and college. She earned a master's degree from Purdue University's theater division in 1999.

"Once I started (acting), it was almost like an addiction," she says. "For a long time, all I wanted to do was be an actor."

Her outlook shifted after Purdue. In New York, she tasted what she calls the "grueling life" of aspiring actors - the rejections, the focus on "me and only me."

She returned to teach at Purdue and has directed Civic Theater productions of "Barefoot in the Park," "State Fair," "Of Mice and Men," and "The Music Man." She covers Chicago theater for BackStage, a newspaper for the performing arts.

Dick Jaeger, Journal and Courier theater critic, calls Burke "a very valuable addition to what I call Civic's 'stable' of directors. She knows what she's doing and she can do it very, very well."

He was most impressed with her ability to place groups on stage and "get animation out of them in a believable manner."

"An inexperienced director can have people just standing around," Jaeger says. "When she puts people on stage, they know why they are there and that gives them motivation and direction. Her skills have been very well received."

Human relations theater

For two years, Burke led HumanRITE, Purdue's interactive human relations theater ensemble. The workshops addressed such issues as conflict resolution, diversity, body image and substance abuse.

For instance, HumanRITE was part of Purdue's "Celebrating EveryBODY Week" program early this year. Three workshops were staged to encourage body acceptance and positive self-esteem.

"I thought it was absolutely effective," says Sue Abney, a dietician and nutrition educator in Purdue's Wellness Office. "It was a method to start a dialogue, and we need to talk about these issues. There is so much same and secretiveness about body issues. They were really able to hit the trigger points.

"It's not a lecture; it's a total interaction with the audience. The scenarios were very real and the actors were wonderful. They made it fun."

HumanRITE's funding ended in May. Burke's own business, InterPlay, stages workshop for government agencies, schools, corporate gatherings and community organizations.

She recently was invited to do one at the Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities called "Addressing Local and Global Challenges through Interactive Theatre."

"Now the only problem is getting to Hawaii," she says. She is looking for local businesses to help sponsor the trip.

As she looks through the many photographs she took, it's clear that she still has Georgia on her mind.

"The people there are looking for opportunities to be part of the larger world and part of a democratic society," she says. "I had the opportunity to make some true friends that I would not have otherwise met, and to be part of a culture I had no idea of before I started.

"People are the same, all over the world," she says. "They have the same desires, the same needs, and the same problems. That's a comforting thought."