Center For Civic Engagement and Community Service I CCECS
Theatre Workshops with
Underprivileged Children
By Randa Awada and Naya Salame – AUB Drama Club
In March 2015, CCECS and the Drama Club at AUB
launched the first series of theatre workshops with underprivileged children living in the Beirut area. The idea behind
this project began as a drama therapy initiative for underprivileged children of Lebanese and Syrian origin, of who
some were recently displaced from their homes and were
now enrolled in a public elementary school in Beirut. Since
we did not really know how they would react to our intervention, our only aim was to entertain the kids and introduce
them to the theatre. But what we really hoped would happen along the way was that the students would find a new
form of relief and emotional expression that, we later
learned, was a freedom that had not yet occurred to them.
Our initial sessions were admittedly a bit chaotic - the students, aged 10-15, were fascinated by the two
strange ladies who had come to their modest school to learn their names and ask about their hobbies
(one word: football). In reality, we were much more nervous than they were. After getting to know each
other, the process slowly unfolded; we started with some simple theatre exercises from our own childhood: mirroring, miming, cooperation exercises, etc. At this point, we
In an intimate circle on the
began to notice that while some of the kids had taken a liking to our
floor of West Hall’s Auditorium sessions at their school, others were not so eager to participate. So
B, they talked about bullying, we decided to hold the sessions in AUB itself, wherein only the stupeer pressure, displacement dents who wanted to join the theatre workshops were welcome to
come by afterschool twice a week for 2 hours. The change of locaand domestic violence tion made a huge difference; the kids were so excited that even
those who were once reluctant became team leaders in our later
exercises, and people who had hardly uttered a sentence were main characters in improv scenes. It was
in AUB where we finally got them to open up about their lives and share their personal stories. In an intimate circle on the floor of West Hall’s Auditorium B, they talked about bullying, peer pressure, displacement and domestic violence. They then used these experiences to create their own scenes and develop
their own complex characters; they became the actors, directors and playwrights on Bathish stage.
We had finally reached a level of profundity that went beyond what we had hoped for. All throughout the
process, we continually asked the students what they had learned that day and what they thought the
goal of these workshops were. While not all the students were fully aware of the purpose of the sessions
but gladly going along with them, others were happy to report that they had a newfound love for the art of
theatre.
Theatre Workshops
Supporting Service-Learning
May 2015