ASHTAR’s belief in the theatre’s role in developing and building
a civic society through delving into the daily concerns of life and
those which are not aired in the open, provided an impetus to its
choice of the “Forum Theatre” as a means to lay bare the concerns
and invite the implied questions but dwell deep down in society’s
behavioural attitudes.
Here the script, the form and the presentation change and the
relationship with the audience are changing. The entire work
will veer towards the normal and the current so wherever the
questions become relevant and complex, the script would be
tailored in its direction moulding characters and models.
A study and a field discussion evolve, here, around an existing social
problem. Its scenario would be constructed later as the presentation
proceeds on stage, characterized by its simplicity, clarity and direct
approach. It is a concise performance that, with intentional recital
gaps, allows the public to object, to halt the action and to intervene
at a point where it is felt there is need to bring about a change.
ASHTAR, through the “Abu Shaker” series presented in the
Forum Theatre, benefited from the great methodology suggested
by the Brazilian director, Augusto Boal, in his “Theatre of the
Oppressed” theory.
It seems that the ASHTAR experiment in this field complemented
the Institution’s philosophy, which is based on training, formation
and building theatrical knowledge in the midst of the diverse
social segments. The mission of this programme is fixed in
penetrating into where these oppressed and silent segments of
our societies are and into those areas connected to the daily in
peoples’ lives, and where society has introduced prohibitions and
taboos inducing heavy silence over matters. This is where
ASHTAR’s actors dig and unveil issues to the audience.
Through the proposed character of the popular “Abu Shaker”,
Edward Muallem and his group, move between different social
strata since 1997. They directly throw prohibited questions at
those who were the cause as much as at the victims, giving the
audience the opportunity to suggest a solution, stop the
presentation, remake the scene, alter roles and texts and develop
questions like in an active unconfined workshop.
Between “Abu Shaker 1997” and “Abu Shaker 2001” and
through the hundreds of presentations that toured the various
Palestinian regions, the ASHTAR work group continues its
study of the relationship with the audience and the proposed
role through developing the discussion, the presentation and
the form.
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