THEATRE VERSUS OPPRESSION

It’s very sad that most people spend their lives living as how other people see fit. As people we are controlled by the nearest opportune oppressor. For me, most of the time, societal norms control people’s lives but who is the society? It might be the question people want to ask themselves as a way of beginning to choose freedom.

My personal experience with theatre versus oppression left me with a completely different outlook to life. It is hard to remain the same person I was before after experiencing this kind of theatre. My personal opinion is that this kind of theatre was long overdue in Africa.

After this experience I found out that most people oppress themselves, sometimes without realising it, I found that I was oppressing myself too. However through the various stages of this kind of theatre I learnt to love myself, not selfishly, but in kind ways. I learnt not to be harsh with myself, not to judge myself severely. I truly found the whole process to be very therapeutic in many ways. For me it was quite meditative. I felt refreshed, I felt cleansed. I felt beautiful from the inside.

It’s so unbelievable how I now feel about myself, how I was emotionally in shreds, I always judged myself harshly and although I had tried talking about it with other people, nothing helped.

The first day of the workshop brought an amazing ray of self understanding. The way Jennifer took us through the workshops I felt like a whole block of ice in me was breaking and fast melting away. The most fundamental thing I learnt from Jen is being kind to myself. Jen’s visit here was perfectly timed – she touched my soul and I wish she could reach out to so many other souls out there. The experience with Jen was great – divine! Thank you so much for coming to Zimbabwe Jen, I look forward to your next visit.

When I did the first workshop I was scared because I thought oppression was only linked to politics, I didn’t want to be involved in any way but as we did more training in the workshops, the issue of oppression became clearer and clearer. I understood that oppression manifests itself in many different ways and it is found everywhere. I also understood that everyone is capable of being an oppressor, a fact that I didn’t want to accept personally but I later found out that I cant run away from the truth. When I did the first workshop at HIS, I felt very confident but at the end of the workshop I felt very exhausted physically, mentally and emotionally. I cant describe exactly what causes that fatigue but you can only learn about it when you experience it. In that workshop I played the Joker which was considered the most difficult role but I didn’t find it that much of a burden. I enjoyed it because the students came up with very interesting stories and we had to do it in a very limited space and time so everyone was willing to participate. However the trick that I learnt from playing this role is to remain calm. After this workshop I then realised how liberating theatre of the oppressed is. It actually helps you know who you are, recognise your problems and to deal with the problems you have. There is power in knowing your oppressor by name. Everything starts to change or you begin to see things in a different light. I have gained skills on how to scrutinise myself and at the same time be kind to myself. All I can say is theatre versus oppression/theatre of the oppressed brings a change to your life. If you experience it you will never be the same!!!

My first experience with the theatre of the oppressed was when I was doing my Bachelor of Arts honors degree in theatre arts at the University of Zimbabwe. Theatre of the oppressed was part of my theatre in education and theatre for development courses and meant nothing more than just grades I needed to attain my degree. This has since changed since I experienced another time with the theatre of the oppressed with Jennifer and the experience wasn’t an easy one to get to what I am feeling now about theatre of the oppressed. At first I thought it was a waste of my time since I never thought I would revisit it again in my life, but I gave it a chance. At first everything wasn’t certain and I had a lot of fears and saw myself getting into trouble by doing theatre of the oppressed. To me it sounded like politics and from my background I know how dirty politics are. We then talked about oppressors and it became worse. The relief came when Jen told us that we didn’t have to tell anyone about our oppressors. In no time what I knew about the theatre of the oppressed changed as I realized that it is a personal therapy that helps an individual deal with situations. In the forum what other people do is offer alternative solutions and the person chooses for themselves how the will deal with their problems. For the person conducting the workshop it was like watching a play in the beginning, the middle and not watching the conclusion. When we did the first workshop I was happy because it was exciting everything went well, but the mistake I made was that I though it went well because we were good as a group. To me it was like a performance but I was wrong. The second workshop was different and I thought we weren’t good and I was angry at myself. After talking to Jennifer I realized that it wasn’t about me but about the people we were conducting the workshop for. For my personal development the theatre of the oppressed helped me to discover ways of dealing with problems, and self oppressions. Now I know “praise doesn’t make me any better and criticism doesn’t make me any worse”. Thank you Jennifer, you proved me wrong. God bless you.

IF YOU EVER IN YOUR LIFE FELT USELESS, OR SOMEONE TOLD YOU THAT YOU ARE USELESS ,STAND AND DEFY THAT. WAKAKOSHA (YOU ARE SPECIAL). GOD BLESS YOU. TAKE CARE

THEATRE VERSUS OPPRESSION REGISTERED CHARITY - SC039092
HOME PLAYS PUBLICATIONS BIOGRAPHIES FOCUS ON PROJECTS UPCOMING PROJECTS CONTACT US PHOTOS TALKS EDUCATIONAL Zimbabwe: Theory X theatre Project YOUR COMMENTS		THOUGHTS FROM ZIMBABWE PROJECT Tendai (Zimbabwe May - 2007) It’s very sad that most people spend their lives living as how other people see fit. As people we are controlled by the nearest opportune oppressor. For me, most of the time, societal norms control people’s lives but who is the society? It might be the question people want to ask themselves as a way of beginning to choose freedom. My personal experience with theatre versus oppression left me with a completely different outlook to life. It is hard to remain the same person I was before after experiencing this kind of theatre. My personal opinion is that this kind of theatre was long overdue in Africa. After this experience I found out that most people oppress themselves, sometimes without realising it, I found that I was oppressing myself too. However through the various stages of this kind of theatre I learnt to love myself, not selfishly, but in kind ways. I learnt not to be harsh with myself, not to judge myself severely. I truly found the whole process to be very therapeutic in many ways. For me it was quite meditative. I felt refreshed, I felt cleansed. I felt beautiful from the inside. Kudsai (Zimbabwe May - 2007) It’s so unbelievable how I now feel about myself, how I was emotionally in shreds, I always judged myself harshly and although I had tried talking about it with other people, nothing helped. The first day of the workshop brought an amazing ray of self understanding. The way Jennifer took us through the workshops I felt like a whole block of ice in me was breaking and fast melting away. The most fundamental thing I learnt from Jen is being kind to myself. Jen’s visit here was perfectly timed – she touched my soul and I wish she could reach out to so many other souls out there. The experience with Jen was great – divine! Thank you so much for coming to Zimbabwe Jen, I look forward to your next visit. Rumbidzai (Zimbabwe May - 2007) When I did the first workshop I was scared because I thought oppression was only linked to politics, I didn’t want to be involved in any way but as we did more training in the workshops, the issue of oppression became clearer and clearer. I understood that oppression manifests itself in many different ways and it is found everywhere. I also understood that everyone is capable of being an oppressor, a fact that I didn’t want to accept personally but I later found out that I cant run away from the truth. When I did the first workshop at HIS, I felt very confident but at the end of the workshop I felt very exhausted physically, mentally and emotionally. I cant describe exactly what causes that fatigue but you can only learn about it when you experience it. In that workshop I played the Joker which was considered the most difficult role but I didn’t find it that much of a burden. I enjoyed it because the students came up with very interesting stories and we had to do it in a very limited space and time so everyone was willing to participate. However the trick that I learnt from playing this role is to remain calm. After this workshop I then realised how liberating theatre of the oppressed is. It actually helps you know who you are, recognise your problems and to deal with the problems you have. There is power in knowing your oppressor by name. Everything starts to change or you begin to see things in a different light. I have gained skills on how to scrutinise myself and at the same time be kind to myself. All I can say is theatre versus oppression/theatre of the oppressed brings a change to your life. If you experience it you will never be the same!!! Remo (Zimbabwe - May 2007) My first experience with the theatre of the oppressed was when I was doing my Bachelor of Arts honors degree in theatre arts at the University of Zimbabwe. Theatre of the oppressed was part of my theatre in education and theatre for development courses and meant nothing more than just grades I needed to attain my degree. This has since changed since I experienced another time with the theatre of the oppressed with Jennifer and the experience wasn’t an easy one to get to what I am feeling now about theatre of the oppressed. At first I thought it was a waste of my time since I never thought I would revisit it again in my life, but I gave it a chance. At first everything wasn’t certain and I had a lot of fears and saw myself getting into trouble by doing theatre of the oppressed. To me it sounded like politics and from my background I know how dirty politics are. We then talked about oppressors and it became worse. The relief came when Jen told us that we didn’t have to tell anyone about our oppressors. In no time what I knew about the theatre of the oppressed changed as I realized that it is a personal therapy that helps an individual deal with situations. In the forum what other people do is offer alternative solutions and the person chooses for themselves how the will deal with their problems. For the person conducting the workshop it was like watching a play in the beginning, the middle and not watching the conclusion. When we did the first workshop I was happy because it was exciting everything went well, but the mistake I made was that I though it went well because we were good as a group. To me it was like a performance but I was wrong. The second workshop was different and I thought we weren’t good and I was angry at myself. After talking to Jennifer I realized that it wasn’t about me but about the people we were conducting the workshop for. For my personal development the theatre of the oppressed helped me to discover ways of dealing with problems, and self oppressions. Now I know “praise doesn’t make me any better and criticism doesn’t make me any worse”. Thank you Jennifer, you proved me wrong. God bless you. IF YOU EVER IN YOUR LIFE FELT USELESS, OR SOMEONE TOLD YOU THAT YOU ARE USELESS ,STAND AND DEFY THAT. WAKAKOSHA (YOU ARE SPECIAL). GOD BLESS YOU. TAKE CARE