What does it Mean to Do Theatre for Social Inclusion?
November 9, 2023
The ten-day Erasmus+ Youth Exchange project, "In the Shadows," brought thirty-five youngsters from Spain, Estonia, Germany, Romania, Greece, and Croatia together, challenging them to practice social inclusion through mime, forum theatre, and video making. Partly working as a whole and partly in smaller groups, our various trajectories in executing the assigned tasks confronted us with one pivotal question: what does it mean to use these tools for social inclusion? Or, how is social inclusion supposed to be addressed and positioned through mime, forum theatre, or videos?
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Illustrated participants, top row: Nechita Ioana Diana, Adela Pitforodeschi, Marilena Liapi, Laura Ginestar, Arantxa Muñoz, Alaa El-Greatly
bottom row: Rahel Heleen, Stavroula Alexandropoulou, Alexandra Drakoulaki
Some of us created videos about being left out, some provoked the audience's intervention while demonstrating an instance of homophobia via forum theatre, and others used mime to embody the inner thoughts and conflicted emotional condition of a person with anxiety disorder. Yet, the question of 'how are these tools supposed to be used in favor of social inclusion' did not stop reappearing throughout the different making processes. Would a simple presentation of an act of social exclusion be adequate? Should a solution, or a counter-act that promotes social inclusion be part of it? Should those tools be utilized in such a way that people would get somewhat educated or enlightened? This whirlwind of questions provoked several contradicting opinions to emerge, highlighting the diversity of perspectives on this topic and the plethora of expectations people hold when creating/attending a piece of spectacle.
What does it mean to do socially-inclusive theatre? And, how is it different from doing theatre about social inclusion? Or, from doing theatre in a socially inclusive manner? How can postcolonial/decolonial or queer performances also be socially inclusive? What about disability theatre? Or, theatre about migration and refugee crisis? What does protest theatre have to do with social inclusion? Is the presentation of an act of social exclusion necessary when talking about social inclusion?
Somewhat lost amidst our thoughts, sharings, and practices, an idea popped up to release us from our confusion: if we wish to utilise any tool or method (i.e. video, mime, forum theatre, painting, dance, music, poetry) in favour of an inclusive society, then bringing people in contact with a condition, situation, reality, or thought is enough to raise awareness. Because, if any form of spectacle is primarily an encounter and a point of contact between an audience and ‘the (re)presented,’ then this contact-ual moment should just do its job - no matter how many interpretations this 'job' is open to.
