Festival (interactive theater) a new window to express people's issues

Damascus-SANA

Despite the few years of its spread in Syria, interactive theater constituted a distinct window for presenting people's issues by introducing the spectator into the theatrical game and devoting improvisation in the performance of the actors in a participatory manner that results in solutions to the issues raised.

In general, interactive theater is a relatively modern art, as it originated in the sixties of the last century

In his idea, he relied on getting out of the traditional mold and showing in different places. In Syria, he appeared in the form of separate shows and programs sponsored by civil institutions, until he had an annual festival dedicated to his shows, in which theater groups and amateur youth participated in this style.

And about the beginning of the idea of ​​the festival in Syria, Anas Al-Kateb, the general coordinator of the festival in its recently concluded fourth session, said in a statement to SANA Culture, “The idea of ​​dedicating a festival for interactive theater was launched at the initiative of the Young Peers Network in Syria in cooperation with the Syrian Youth Council and with the support of the United Nations Population Fund, with the aim of presenting Presentations addressing societal issues of concern to youth, such as gender-based violence, discrimination, migration, education, and job and employment opportunities.”

Considering that theater is the basis of societal change and an effective means of influencing people, the idea of ​​an interactive theater festival was adopted with the aim of educating, according to the author.

In turn, Maryam Al-Akal, one of the festival's organizers, drew attention to the participation of 11 teams from Damascus and its countryside, Homs, Aleppo, Hama, Deir Ezzor, As-Suwayda and Tartous, in shows that touch on various social issues.

Al-Akl considered that the festival had given the teams great encouragement, gave some of them the opportunity to participate for the first time, and generated enthusiasm and positive interaction among all participants.

The interactive theater is distinguished from others, according to Al-Akal, in that it presents a societal issue performed by a person called “the performer” who believes in an idea and performs it, but without finding solutions to the issue at hand, so that the audience becomes a partner in the theater and elicits solutions for it.

Among the participants in the festival, the young Abdel Aziz Al-Najm, whose theater group Star from Deir Ezzor won the first prize in the festival, explained that their show dealt with the crime of rape and the negative social view of women who are exposed to this crime, pointing to the difficulties they faced during the preparation, especially the short period of training. However, the team was able to deliver The idea presented to the audience in a correct and simple way.

The young woman, Yara Maryam, who wished that this experience would be repeated, indicated that she participated with a team of three in one from Hama governorate in a sketch talking about stigma and discrimination by stigmatizing a person as infected with the Corona virus.

The issue of immigration is the focus of the idea of ​​​​presenting the abuses presented by the Homs governorate team, where Fares Al-Droubi, one of the participants in the sketch, explained that it revolves around the migration of young people outside the homeland and the return of the elderly to it, to feel the negative effects of migration and the danger of the migration of brains abroad, stressing the importance of young people presenting their issues through interactive theater and expressing their their thoughts and their concerns.

Hadi Imran