Working with children for us in theatre is very
similar to offering children a white page for them
to create on it whatever they want. The main thing
that differentiates these two practices is the action.
In drawing the focus is on the drawing itself, the
result. In theatre the focus is in the process, the action
in that sense. Working with traumatized people is
very sensitive and important where the white space
of expression is a place to face and deal with your
trauma within. When you face such space you have
several contradictory thoughts and feelings of what to
say and what not and of what to express and what not,
it is a space that put you face to face with yourself. A
deep mirror of the thoughts. You see it on that page
and you ask yourself hundred questions about what to
put there and what not. Within this process, the role of
the facilitator is important is to secure the process and
keep the white page clean and clear without any other
interference but the participant him/herself.
them?
Worked with people who suffered post war situations
as traumas and loss... also with school children,
prisoners, and women subjected to domestic
violence, refugees, villages youth subjected to sexual
harassment.... and many other cases
Theatre and drama therapy is not a way of “curing”
but it is therapeutic , it does not pretend that it will
solve the problem, but it will help the individual to
deal with his/her own problems. The technique will
put you in front of your thoughts, feelings, choices,
and actions and makes you think about it within a
group and in a secured place and time
q) So, are you trying to bring people to theatre
than going for war?
No, also you can’t pretend to do that, because if
people decide to go to war theatre cannot stop them.
q) How did you come to such an idea of drama
therapy?
q) So, what is the major idea behind your attempt?
Drama therapy started with one of Zoukak members,
Lamia, she studied clinical psychology and studied
also theatre and worked on different interventions
joining the two fields... with Zoukak Lamia elaborated
the technique that she started to use few years before
finding Zoukak, and was practiced and applied in
different contexts in Lebanon and abroad.
In the sense of opening different dimensions on
dealing with your own choices and strengthening the
relation between your thoughts and your actions and
make you aware of your responsibilities behind your
own choices.
q) Is there any new experiments than therapy and
work for children as you told before?
q) On your experiences how did u feel about the
trauma and with the help of theatre changing We do also social theatre technique
Theyyam 29