In the following minutes I will take you on a short trip with me to the south of Portugal, where the sun reigns and the beautiful beaches lay as the waves flirt with the sand.
Concluding our Theater of the Oppressed training, this was a time of reunion and bonding with the group in a different time and space.
Our previous training took place in Jaroslawski in Poland. During an intensive week, trainers ensured providing us with the necessary material and knowledge of Theater of the Oppressed and to present a performance to conclude the training. In this training I had 2 main roles, a translator (French to English and vice versa) and a participant where I enjoyed learning a new form of theater that aligns with my priciples to live for the people and with the people away from pre-constructed ideas. This final training in Faro, however, and as the project has come to an end, i had to take the most out of it while enjoying Faro’s warmth at every chance. From Jaroslawki to Faro, some people are new to me but I was familiar with most. We summed up our learnings throughout the whole process and I used my time off the training to walk through Faro’s streets; streets that I have never been to yet felt so familiar. Locals explained about the Arab influence in Portugal, mainly in the south, and some of its history. Furthermore, The place was cheerful and so were the people.
Attending one Theater of the Oppressed play in „Universidade do Algarve” raised my awareness to social issues in the country. I could barely understand the words and had Laura, one of our wonderful people responsible for this project, translate the play for us. I was jumping before her because I could know exactly how things were, it’s the same in Tunisia, and hopefully changing. I would want to be part of such plays within different countries and cultures, as it is really eye-opening to the deepest structure of the daily life in a society.
Living in Poland, I missed the mediterranean feel, and Portugal gave me that! not only through its sunny weather, but everything from food to small interactions with locals.
To conclude, this trip was delightful to my heart and I look forward to many adventures to come and to many amazing places to visit in this beautiful earth. I believe there’s home wherever we are in the world, and that is mine. Learning about this form of theater in this way has been really interesting and I would hope that many people will have such an opportunity to explore it in the future as well. I believe that this could be an effective way to allow people to belong to a community they can relate to and express themselves freely yet have a form which guides them, while building empathy at the same time by including the audience to put themselves in the shoes of another. I see this as a humanitarian work through raising awareness and creating a safe space for discussion and reflection.