Village Soapbox - Speaking out is healthy! January 5, 2006
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Many Denmarkians do not feel they have a voice or a venue for publicly airing their opinions. Hence the idea of a Village Soapbox, much like those in Hyde Park or Crier’s corner in London and the Domain in Sydney has surfaced and Denmark will have its own version in early February 2006.
The idea is to give one and all an opportunity to ‘have their say’ on any issue as long as they respect other’s rights and opinions in a climate of free speech! There will be a 2 minute time limit and some basic rules to make sure things run smoothly.
Frank Freitag (FFF Sound Productions) is sponsoring and constructing the ‘box’ and it will have a ramped access so that disabled and senior folks wishing to speak can access the platform without much trouble.
Denmark Arts and Hypertheatre have offered to be part of getting the Soapbox up and running and have suggested some constructive ideas e.g. Have an MC (e.g. Paul Doquile or/and Iain Marshall) to facilitate/officiate, structure the event for the launch of the Soapbox where invited guests get up and speak on various topics for a couple of minutes each with some spots for open audience participation. Emphasis will be on diversity and tolerance with timed slots for speakers and education of the audience and speakers about what constitues abusive, villification or offensive behaviour as part of the Soapbox sessions.
Denmark Arts already have a solid public laibilty insurance in place, which would cover the Soapbox as a community event and thus solve any public liability concerns. Already David Nile and Josephine Lebbing have offered their time and skills and others will be invited to participate as part of the planning group. We want to get some young people involved in both organising and presenting, perhaps in a Youth section of the ‘Box’ and perhaps have specific segments for community group reps etc………..
The initial location will be Berridge Park under the trees in summer/autumn on every second Saturday morning 11 -12:30 and a location with cover for winter is being considered.The Soapbox group will also be responsible for the Saturday agendas each fortnight and organising the placement and management of the actual soapbox.
Any comments or suggestions are welcome so please send them to gillian.sellar {at} health.wa.gov(.)au or call 98483514 for more information.