An all-ages cast of people from across the United States and as far away as Nepal, Singapore, Vietnam, Myanmar and South Africa is coming together July 7 to present the annual production of “Waging Peace – Designing Justice” in Port Townsend.

The public forum theater performance and community dialogue presented by the Mandala Center for Change takes place at 7 p.m., Friday, July 7 at the Masonic Hall at 1338 Jefferson St. at the corner of Van Buren Street.

Under the guidance of facilitator Marc Weinblatt, the audience is to be invited to choose from several pre-scripted short plays depicting social issues relevant to the community at large.

“Waging Peace – Designing Justice” has been performed 15 years annually in Port Townsend, following seven shows in Seattle. Themes from past year's performances have included racism, sexism, homophobia, globalization, the education system, health care, disability, war and environmental issues, said Weinblatt in a press release.

The selected plays will be performed twice.

During the second performance, the audience is invited to stop the action and improvise their solutions to the problems at hand.

The creative forum does not tell people what to think, but instead invites people to think, said Weinblatt, noting that all opinions are welcome and valued.

Admission is free with any donations going to The Boiler Room, Port Townsend's youth-driven coffeehouse and community center.

The performance is the culmination of a weeklong intensive training in “Theater of the Oppressed” techniques and is created and performed by the participants who include several members of the Mandala Center's local Poetic Justice Theatre Ensemble.

No advance reservations are necessary: however, chairs are limited so early arrival is recommended. For more info, contact: 360-344-3435 or info@mandalaforchange.com.

This is the 22nd annual version of this special international event.

Based in Port Townsend, the Mandala Center is a multidisciplinary education organization dedicated to community dialogue, social justice and societal transformation. Through experiential workshops, theater performances, and other creative events, the Mandala Center invites people to take action. The center is also an active international hub for the training and grassroots practice of Theatre of the Oppressed and the home of the Poetic Justice Theatre Ensemble. As created by Brazilian visionary and recent Nobel Peace prize nominee Augusto Boal, Theatre of the Oppressed is a form of community-based education that uses theater as a tool for transformation. Originally developed out of Boal’s work with peasant and worker populations, it is now used for social and political activism, conflict resolution, community building, therapy and government legislation.