We have successfully launched the Creative Arts Prison Project in Herat. It has taken me some time to process the experience. There is a lot to share and it is difficult to distill it into a few fitting words. Here finally follow my observations and experiences of an intensive month spent together initiating this vital program. This is a collaboration between Bond Street Theatre and Simorgh Theatre. We first worked together in 2011 for the Theatre for Social Development project. Now, a new adventure awaits for us!
We begin with a happy reunion.
Together Again!
After four years I am back in Jabraeil, the village community outside Herat, and I'm so happy to see the girls (and boys) of Simorgh Theatre again! Four years is a long time... and yet it's like yesterday. But going from 13 to 17 or 16 to 20 makes a big difference. It's so interesting to see how different they appear now. From little girls to young women, all grown up. I hardly recognized some of them! And yet others look exactly the same.
Anna & Zahra in 2011 -- and -- Anna & Zahra in 2015. Together again!
I'm so glad that several of the girls have been able to continue with theater and to see them emerge as confident and capable leaders. Fariba and Zahra are at the forefront and so talented. We had a happy reunion and then we met the new girls who have joined the group. All in all we are working with six young women. And then the two young men who are helping out, and I'm so glad to see them again too. They are great guys. They are really just there to support and be part of the process, as this project is specifically for women by women.
Getting Ready for Action
All of us jumped headlong into our work together with great
excitement and energy. For the first nine days we did training to prepare the
group for the upcoming program. Workshops practicing various theatrical
exercises in the morning, and in the afternoon rehearsals to develop a
performance. In between we have lunch together. During the week I think to
myself, “We are having such a wonderful and fulfilling time together that if
this is all we do with the project I will be happy!”
Enjoying lunch the Afghan way
Goofing off with the gang
But we have much more to accomplish. The goal of our project
is to bring theater workshops to the women’s prison and the juvenile correction
center as a way to offer psychosocial support -- to give the women and girls a
safe, creative forum in which to express themselves and process their
experiences through play and physical action. Research and experience has shown
theater to be an effective tool in helping people heal trauma, build
self-confidence and manage daily challenges. Eventually the women will have the
opportunity to create their own plays. The aim is for this to be an ongoing
program throughout the year.
We are training the members of Simorgh Theatre to lead the
program and teach the workshops, as we are only here for a month and after we
leave, the project will continue. We are also preparing a play that we will
present first thing as an introduction to theater. That is, the Simorgh girls
will present it. Joanna and I are directing and they perform. Many in
Afghanistan have never seen a live theater performance and have no idea what it
is. We want to show them that they can create a play just like this with their
own stories.
Planning for the workshops in the prison
A Common Problem
The play is called The Backbiters and centers on two
gossiping women who make life difficult for a young woman, Nafisa, who wants to
go to university. They talk bad about her and spread rumors that worry her
family. Nafisa’s friend, a younger girl of thirteen named Fereshta, looks up to
her and dreams of herself becoming a doctor one day. But Fereshta’s father has
other ideas. He has decided she’s going to get married to an older, rich man
who will give the father lots of money. Fereshta is devastated. The mother can
do nothing to prevent it, but finds an ally in Nafisa’s mother and together
they speak to the mullah (similar to parish priest). This mullah is a wise,
learned man who talks to the father about the laws of Islam and that a girl
must agree to who she marries and that Fereshta is much too young and should get
an education. He points out what happened last year when the neighbor’s wife
almost died because they couldn’t find a female doctor to treat her. It’s good
that girls study to become doctors! The father struggles with the idea but
finally decides to forego the marriage and let his daughter study. Meanwhile,
the backbiters have had some backlash and decide they must mend their ways.
Our story has a happy ending, but unfortunately this is not
the case for many girls in Afghanistan. This is a common scenario – forced
early marriage. Even though Islam does say a woman must agree to marriage and
should be educated, many villages follow old tribal ways that have become
tradition and conflated with Muslim practice. The community listens to the
mullahs who often are corrupt or ignorant. And people are very concerned with
what the community thinks and says about them because honor is everything.
Gossiping old ladies is a common problem and families can be destroyed by bad
rumors.
Our talented actors in Simorgh made the play very compelling
and also added lots of humor to it. The two women playing the backbiters were
funny and forceful, and the woman playing the father (yes, women only-troupe
playing all characters) didn’t hold back in her portrayal of a gross, old man.
It’s exaggerated but all too real.
Showtime in the Prison
The day arrived for us to present our play at the women’s
prison! I wasn’t sure what to expect, or how the women would take to the show
or the idea of doing workshops.
How open and accessible will they be, or perhaps closed off, resistant,
even hostile? No telling what will happen, we’re breaking new ground. Here we
go – "hala hamagi hamabaham bedboard!" That is, "Now everybody all together, let’s go!"
(This has become the catchphrase of the group. In 2011 as I was trying to learn a few Dari words for my teaching, this turned into the daily mantra I would call out, and a running joke we continue to play with.)
Well, it went fantastically well. About ninety women in all
gathered to see the performance. They laughed and applauded and listened
intently, and a few cried. Afterwards we did a talkback where they had a chance
to speak about the show and go up on stage and engage with the characters. This
is where I wasn’t sure how it would work. But it worked very well. The women
didn’t hesitate to engage. Some stood up and talked about their own personal
circumstances. Others got up on stage to confront characters, especially the
father. They argued with the father for not letting his daughter go to school
and marrying her off so young. The woman playing the father stood her ground
and said “Everyone in my family married before the age of 13, it’s no problem.”
The prisoner countered, “And this is why we’re all in here!” Spontaneous
applause broke out in acknowledgement. Another woman wanted to speak with the
mullah and proceeded to rail against mullahs who are bad and want money and
don’t follow proper Islam. She was animated and passionate in her speaking. All
the women spoke with great passion. It was clear the play really resonated with
them. It reflected and acknowledged their situation and gave them a chance to
have a voice and speak out.
Afterwards, several women came up to me and exclaimed over
and over again, “I’m so happy, I’m so happy, thank you for being here, thank
you for presenting this play to us.” One woman seemed particularly taken and
keen to connect. She asked my name and where I was from, I said USA and Sweden,
and then she wanted to know which I liked better, Afghanistan or Sweden. I told
her they are very different, and that I really like the people of Afghanistan
-- they are so friendly and hospitable. She said, “We are friendly because you
are. We respond to you. You are so nice and friendly, and we want to be
friendly back.” At the end, she took a ring off her finger (a crocheted band
with black beads) and put it on mine and told me, “This is a memory from me.”
I wonder what happened to her, what she did that she is here
in prison. Did she run away from home? With her lover? From a threatened forced
marriage? Or was she forced into marriage? Did she run away from an abusive
husband? Was she raped? Did she kill somebody? These are many of the possible
scenarios and circumstances that land a woman in prison in Afghanistan. I did
not want to ask her right away, but Joanna and I have heard many stories since
that first day.
More to follow!
No photos beyond the barbed wire
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