V-Day Annual Report 2018 | Page 31

THEATER AT CITY OF JOY City of Joy believes that theater has such an obvious connection to the emotions that it can awaken in people in a way that no other medium can. With theater, City of Joy eases and creates communication between its residents and has a unique key-in to the residents’ emotional selves. Residents meet weekly to act out their stories and transform their life with a vision for what they want it to be. Trainers spend a good deal of time building trust because women tell their stories of abuse, kidnapping, rape, discrimination through theater to help each woman discover the grandeur of not only being human but also the power of being a leader who is ready to release her past trauma and build a brilliant future. At graduation, women acted out how their lives shifted from Pain to Power.