Forum-theater of the Fund "Sukhumi" actively continues to work during the hot days of summer - new scenarios are created, rehearsals are held, personal videos and monologues are posted on the Facebook page.
And one more thing: a new rubric "Date with Rioni" (this is the name of the river in Kutaisi) has begun, which is still under development.
Forum theater is and still remains the most original activity.
Forum Theater is one of the most popular components in the project “Strengthening of Women's Rights in Western Georgia”.
In June, rehearsals in the office resumed, new scenes were prepared. It is still not possible to conduct performances in the open air, so activity on the social network was continued: personal videos, monologues, stories of victims of violence — 32 activities are presented on the Facebook page of the Fund “Sukhumi”.
The online work of the forum theater is active and creative. Instead of halls and open-air scenes, now its new space is the Facebook page of the Fund “Sukhumi”!
Interesting activities are being carried out: archived materials of the forum theater and shadow theater are being updated, photo collages, videos, slogans, and literary presentations are being made. Actors of the forum theater and director Magdana Chikhladze read poems and monologues of women victims of violence. Sometimes young people try to amuse readers and with their humorous videos show how they have fun at home!
30 online activities in May - is a pretty big job. Forum-theater gained a lot of experience during quarantine - teenagers did everything on their own.
Forum Theater has a long and interesting history. Now, in the period of quarantine, it has a new challenge - how to work without an audience?
But there was a solution - the audience is the Facebook page of the Fund “Sukhumi”, which has more than 3,000 subscribers - https://www.facebook.com/fsokhumi/.
The young actors have interesting initiatives. And with the help of director Magdana Chikhladze, April became a special month in the life of the forum theater: archive records, films, TV programs appeared on the Internet, it was added with actors’ video appeals regarding the pandemic, photo collages, dialogs from different scenes.
Also the video messages from the previous generation of forum theater actors and the first director Kote Revishvili was very interesting, now he works in France - these successful people openly talk about the role of the forum theater and its impact on their lives.
All this is very impressive and original. So the online mode of the forum-theater is very active.
The forum-theater performances were held in Khoni municipality: in public school No. 4 and in the school of the village Namashevi. The most active discussion was held regarding the scenes of Sweethearts, as well as mother and son.
The audience talked about the problems of domestic violence, migration, drug addiction and early marriage. The performances of the forum - theater showed them everyday reality and made them think about ways out.
Performances of the Fund “Sukhumi” Shadow Theater were held in kindergartens No. 10 and 11. Children watched the fairy tale "Turnip" with great interest and pleasure. They liked the characters, saw how they help each other...After completion of the performance, the children shared their emotions and impressions...
The Shadow Theater visited a private kindergarten in Kutaisi and held two performances for children of different groups. The kids watched the performance “turnip” with interest. It is a fairy tale set for them.
Children were actively involved in the process of “pulling” turnips. They really liked the performance, and the director of the kindergarten thanked the young actors and the editor for the interesting performance.
Forum-theater performances were held in Kutaisi and Tskaltubo - 9 performances were shown. Particularly interesting and emotional for the audience was a show on the topic of migration, which caused an active discussion. Also important was the discussion of the scene of the mother and child, where the emphasis was made on the mother who sacrificed herself for the sake of the children.
“These performances should be also presented to teenagers, young people, and the older generation. People will see their problems and start thinking how to solve the situation, how to find a way out. This will be the beginning of creation of a non-violent society, - said one of the spectators.
This is the mission of the forum theater.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt – Evangelischer Entwicklunsdienst (Germany)
Performances of the shadow theatre were held in the kindergartens No 1 and No 3. “Turnip” – is a performance, which was very impressive for the children. They liked the heroes, songs. Some children even got closer to the screen and tried to help to pull out the turnip.
The speech of the editor and further discussion was interesting. The teachers and the director were actively involved in the discussion. According to them it is a very good form of the work with children, they thanked the guests for this possibility.
Two performances of the Forum-theatre were held in May.
In Central Park of Lanchkhuti 5 performances were shown. It was unusual for the viewer to hear about problems in such format - mother’s and child’s attitude, conflicts in family, migration, violence...
The village Zeda Simoneti (Terjola municipality) was visited by young actors for the first time. The audience – students, teachers and especially active boys joined the discussion with interest. Both in Guria and Imereti it was clear how theatrical scenes act on the viewer and give information for reflection.