Who We Are

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Artist: Luba Lukova, 2010
“A collective is a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together on a specific project(s) to achieve a common objective. Collectives are also characterised by attempts to share and exercise political and social power and to make decisions on a consensus-driven and egalitarian basis. Collectives differ from cooperatives in that they are not necessarily focused upon an economic benefit or saving (but can be that as well).” – Wikipedia entry

Current New England Members

Larraine Brown is a writer, activist and community organizer.  She is one of few women to train and work with the innovator of American community organizing Saul Alinsky.  She is a member of the Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory at the Brecht Forum, in NYC; and is supporting the development and implementation of the collective’s multiplication project, Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory New England (TOPLAB New England).  

She created The Performance Project to showcase fresh perspectives and The Fifteen Minute Festival, an international playwriting competition, with the aim of showcasing original voices and visions for those communities that are underrepresented in the theater; Solo Mentor which focuses on mentoring individuals, writer-performers and their one and two person shows.  Larraine uses a wide variety of arts and organizing techniques to promote action and social change. 


Gail A. Burton grew up in East Harlem NYC and graduated from Radcliffe College, Harvard University. She was trained by and is a member of the facilitation collective, Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory at the Brecht Forum, in NYC; and currently serves as the coordinator of the collective’s multiplication project, TOPLAB New England.   She has studied Image, Forum, and Rainbow of Desire theater techniques under the guidance of Marie-Claire Picher, Julian and Augusto Boal; as well as other members of the collective. Burton has been a member of the Medea Project Theater for Incarcerated Women in San Francisco, CA. and coordinator and workshop leader for her New Freedwoman Project, in MA. 

In 2007, she received the Black Butterfly Leadership Award in the category of WARRIOR, from Sister Summit and the Boston Black Pride Committee.  She received the Cambridge Peace Award in honor of Muses, her first play, and the community building and organizing activities surrounding the production which celebrated and created positive visibility for LGBTQA communities of African descent in Massachusetts. She is currently on faculty at Emerson College and Roxbury Community College in Boston, MA.