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Everybody Needs to Be the Actor of His Life
by Theatre for Everybody, Gaza, Palestine
Theatre for Everybody
is the outcome of years of work toward creating an alternative
theatre in Gaza Strip. For too long theatre in Gaza has been prerogative
of Jerusalem and West Bank. Cut off from the world during the
long years of occupation, theatre in Gaza was dormant. But within
the silence there were yet murmurs.
History
With strong desire and conviction, ten young people got together
to share and learn the art of acting, directing and performing.
They invited qualified artists and colleagues from Jerusalem to
conduct workshops, training programs and organize productions
for the group. They established "Al-Janoup theatre troupe".
They started in 1994 a fructuous cooperation with Ashtar Theatre
School and with Theatre Day Production: both offered them intensive
training sessions. With Ashtar theatre school, they made one play
while the liaison with Theatre Day Production lasted for two years
during which two plays were produced. In 1996, six of the original
group of ten branched out to establish "Gaza Theatre Lab".
Then, step by step, some differences appeared
between Theatre Day Production and members of Gaza Theatre Lab.
It was a question of way of working but more deeply, a question
of philosophy. In 1997, "Theatre for Everybody" is born.
The founders (Jamal El-Rozzi, Hossam El-Madhoun and Marianne Blume)
wanted before all to keep their independence and decided, in spite
of all the difficulties, to find cooperation and financial aid
for their projects.
What are we?
We are theatre makers and we want to take part in the society
through art. We believe in theatre as an artistical production
as well as a way to bring awareness in the society toward all
the main problems. We believe that through plays, we can contribute
to change the attitudes, to shake the preconceived ideas or at
least to bring out the problems (social, psychological…)
Through entertainment, through shows, we don't lecture people,
we just stimulate them, we question them about themselves, about
their believes, their behaviors. Our theatre is committed with
the life but not directly political: we don't deliver messages.
Theatre As a Tool
The artistical quality of our work is constantly our goal: the
challenge for the coming years remains to create an audience and
to make from theatre a daily cultural need as well as a usual
event. Theatre considered as a tool to build the society is our
concern but we would like to reach the point that a play could
be chosen only because of its artistical value.
How Do We Work?
To create a play on a specific subject,
Theater for Everybody Group goes through the following process:
- Collect stories and information, and opinions
about the subject from the people related to the subject and
different opinions of ordinary people.
- Write down and compile the stories and information.
- Improvisation stage: Building the frame work
of a story and improvise scenes from the collected stories.
- Once the story is clear and defined, start
the rehearsal, arrange a "mise en scene", set theatrical
effects.
- Prepare all the actors to be able to answer
to audience with awareness and to prepare the Joker to take
his part.
Theatre of the Oppressed performance
With this technique "the theatre of
the oppressed", we perform the play a first time (1/2 hour),
and as is usual in this kind of theatre, the play ends with an
unsolved or mis-solved problem. Then we show it a second time
and each spectator has the possibility to come on the stage, to
stop the action and to replace one of the actors in order to express
his way of dealing, to try his solution. One actor (called the
Joker), who gives the rules of the intervention conducts this
phase (For example: the one who is coming has to ameliorate the
situation not the contrary).
By this way we give the
people a space of expression and in the same time it is not only
speech but also mainly an attempt to behave newly.
By experience, we know that even women are sharing. We don't lecture
the audience, we refuse to deliver messages.
Even our theatre is involved in the life, we don't believe we
have the solution, we just put the focus on the issue.
Contact: jhtheater@hotmail.com
Under Pressure 7,
August 2001
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