Public Project
FORUM THEATRE
Forum Theatre is not based on a preconceived idea of change. It is not “sensitization” of the audience on what they should do to change their situation. It is rather a tool for individual and community empowerment. It builds a space of re-appropriation of physical and symbolic powers for those who are suffering because of unfair power structures within and outside the community. This re-appropriation of powers taps into the motivational and material resources that individuals and communities can mobilize within and around themselves.
The facilitator and the actors do not support a “proposed solution” to the conflict, they present on stage a conflict or a problem the community is experiencing and ask the audience: “Is this situation real for you?”, “did it happen to someone of you?”, “do you like it?”, “who is unfairly suffering because of the situation?”, “what could this person do to change her situation?”
In 2018 I have documented a Forum Theater project in the Grand Anse Department in Haiti in the framework of the “M ap bati kay mwen pi byen” initiative. The young people you see in the photos have acted out stories from their own lives or those of people they know, relating to the consequences or causes of natural disasters. The themes represented include difficulties in accessing healthcare, deforestation, problems accessing drinking water, life in temporary shelters, and poor house construction. The themes were discussed and decided collectively during training workshops on Forum Theater techniques.
The “M ap bati kay mwen pi byen” initiative is being implemented in the Grande Anse department by the association Festival Quatre Chemins in partnership with IOM Haiti and Groupe de Travail Abris Haiti with the support of European Civil Protection & Humanitarian Aid Operations - ECHO.
The actors of the Festival Quatre Chemins association (4C) , with technical support from a Forum Theater expert Angelo Miramonti, prepared and staged three stories about the dramatic consequences of a cyclone for three households, including the death of family members as a result of poor construction of their homes and failure to adopt risk mitigation measures. In one of the stories, one of the victims is a young girl who is raped while going to the toilet in a temporary shelter. With the help of a “joker” who interacts with the audience, members of the audience reinterpret the characters, change the course of the stories, and save lives. The solutions they come up with are shared with the audience.
The photo gallery progresses from rearsals sessions by the (4C) actors; representations in the streets, markets ans school yards and intervention of the audience; Forum Theatre workshops with young women and men form the local community.
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