Theater of the oppressed evening club
It has been already two weeks that an evening club called Theater of the Oppressed is being organized at Peace Dialogue NGO. The club is held in the evening because the participants either work or study during the day. The club, a part of theSafe Soldiers for a Safe Armenia project, aims at organizing Forum-Theater performances related to the issues in the army which will be presented in the schools of Lori Region. With a group of young people, the participants of the club study the methods of the theater of oppressed methodology and gain skills in forum theaters and invisible theater (when a performance is made in the street and the people passing by do not realize that it is a performance). At the same time, they work on the scenarios of upcoming performances.
Two forum theaters have already been designed and developed that touch upon the issues of corruption and improper medical treatment in the army. The participants of the club are interested in the method and in the issues of the army. They have heard about both of them but have not been much informed. That is why they decided to take part in the activities of the club.
Photo: © 2013, Peace Dialogue, Theater of the Oppressed Evening Club
One of the participants, Artur Manukyan, says the following:“One day me or my friends will serve in the army. So I will try to have as many people watch the performances as possible and it does not matter whether I know these people or not. I want inform them about the issues in the army without denying that, at the same time, next to those issues there are also good things in the army.”
Some of the participants came because they love theater. One of the participants, Vanuhi Malkhasyan, says:
It has been two weeks since I started to take part in the club. There is a performance to be prepared. That is why I am taking part in it. I think the founder of this method, Augusto Boal, was a director or a theater expert. Even though I was told that forum theater is not quite a theatrical performance and does not have anything to do with the theater or professional actors, still I think that the basis of it is the theater, which I love. Through this method, I study the interpersonal relations and the possible solutions to certain problems. This also helps me to know myself better in a way.
Another participant, David Mkhitaryan, simply wanted to know what the Theater of the Oppressed is and to learn more deeply about the method and its application, as soon as he had heard about it. However, after taking part in the activities, he gradually got interested also in one of the main goals of the club: raising awareness. “Since I know what kind of issues there are in the army, I decided to take part in the sessions and, through my acting, inform more people and point out these issues so that everybody knows what is going on in the Armenian army,” says Mkhitartyan.
The project Safe Soldiers for a Safe Armenia is supported by IKV Pax Christi.
IKV Pax Christi is a Dutch civil society organisation that works with its partners for peace, reconciliation and justice worldwide. The organisation supports local peace efforts in conflict areas and builds bridges, nurture mutual understanding and improve disrupted relations between groups. IKV Pax Christi‘s aim is to prevent conflict and to build a peaceful, democratic and just society.
Posted 01 November, 2013
