Where is My Sweet Potato? Creating Change through Forum Theatre with Street Children in Burundi

Cooper, Karin; Munyerere, Bienvenu; Yannick, Mubakilay; Omari, Leah

Abstract

This paper examines the innovative use of Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed (Forum Theatre) with a group of 30 street children and young people in East Africa. Drawing upon a project in Burundi, this paper reveals how participants utilized the process of performance making through Forum Theatre as a platform to make visible problems in their lives, and a vehicle to challenge inequalities, abuse and violence. The authors demonstrate how the adoption of this methodology raised questions about interactive theatre as creative activism and a tool for opening up possibilities for dialogue with a community-based audience. This paper illuminates ways in which street children, explored, examined and problematized their lived experience, through the creative lens of Forum Theatre. It argues that this methodology generated a sense of collective consciousness, through which the children and young people created personal and social change, which extended beyond the life of the project.

Citation

Cooper, K., Munyerere, B., Yannick, M., & Omari, L. (2020). Where is My Sweet Potato? Creating Change through Forum Theatre with Street Children in Burundi. Studies on Home and Community Science, 14(1-2), 57-63. https://doi.org/10.31901/24566780.2020/14.1-2.348

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 23, 2020
• Publication Date: 2020-12
• Deposit Date: Dec 18, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: May 9, 2022
• Journal: Studies on Home and Community Science
• Print ISSN: 0973-7189
• Publisher: Kamla-Raj Enterprises
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 14
• Issue: 1-2
• Pages: 57-63
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.31901/24566780.2020/14.1-2.348
• Keywords: Forum Theatre; Street children; Burundi
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/3667421
• Publisher URL: http://krepublishers.com/02-Journals/S-HCS/HCS-14-0-000-20-Web/HCS-14-0-20-Contents/HCS-14-0-000-20-Contents.htm