Blog Archives
Bohemian Pursuits
Rajiv is torn between pleasing his parents and pursing his passion. Time is running out and he’s cornered into choosing a safe but dull career in the field of commerce or trying his luck as an artist. As the walls close in on him, Rajiv picks the latter; but at a dire cost of losing his family.
What would you suggest could improve the course of events and bring about a happy ending?
All those who’d come for the Galle Literary Festival had the chance to help Rajiv and his family, as the BB FT team staged ‘Bohemian Pursuits’. Enacting events from Rajiv’s life from making his decision to becoming a successful albeit uncaring artist- callously refusing to attend his father’s funeral.
The overall play highlighted many pertinent issues brought up by the youth in Galle. These include the influence of foreigners who seems to be taking over the fort, parent-child relationships, ambition, career guidance and the Sri Lankan mentality regarding ‘acceptable careers’.
The FT was performed twice at the Galle Literary Festival and here are some scenes from play.
And we present the FT team-
Hard work, sleepless nights and a bumpy ride to Galle- the team charged on and performed the first BB FT down south.
This is the first of many more FTs by BB that will be performed out of Colombo this year. Watch this blog for more updates.
Performing Virus
Member of the audience changing a scene in the play
No; not like a virus circus that can only be viewed through an electron microscope. This was a notch better. Our Forum Theatre group staged a play about HIV AIDS- how the disease is contracted, how to protect yourself and wrong notions about the disease.
It was back on 10 December at the Royal Skills Centre Auditorium. It went pretty well with several interventions during each scene, questions raised, answers delivered and a happier not-so-oppressed character in the end.
A big thank you out to all of you who attended the performance! Keep watch of the blog; we’ll be posting teaser trailers of the next Forum Theatre performance- ‘Bohemian Pursuits’ which we’ll be performing for the Galle Literary Festival. Here’s hoping we see you there!
Gearing up for the Galle Lit Fest
Preparing for the Focus Group discussion
In the run up to the 2012 Galle Literary Festival in which Beyond Borders will be participating in  two sessions, we decided to run down to Galle to gather some ideas for our dramas.
We didn’t get up early in the morning, as is customary when going our of Colombo, to catch a bus. Rather we decided to go a little late and well late we did become. However, we managed to have a lovely bus ride to Galle, chilled, well rested and ready for action!
We spoke to youth residing both within the Galle Fort and outside, and were enlightened to a variety of issues that were unique to that area.
The youth we spoke to, between the ages of 16 and 20, mostly felt that their parents were not giving them the freedom they sought. This was the key issue, resonating the discussion throughout the time we spent in discussion with them. This when questioned, boiled down to external problems like the Western influence within the Fort. According to the children, the parents felt that they were unable to give too much freedom to their children because they might run astray. We realised the locals were experiencing a certain reverse culture clash. The group we spoke to felt that their parents were not like the ‘cool’ Colombo folk who gave their children ample freedom to engage in youth activities and social work. However, most of the youth were rational, citing the pros and cons of their parents’ reasoning, but they wished that they had less restrictions on socialising.
Another problem that arose was on the topic of education. Like youth from most other places, the youth from Galle too felt that the education system does not allow them the best of opportunities to showcase their talents. They felt the current education system only made them ‘bookish’ and did not allow them the chance to engage in the sporting activities they are otherwise good at. We found that this is the same story everywhere. When the child comes to higher levels of education in school the parents want their children to prioritise on their education, keeping all other extra-curricular activities at bay.
Of course, the guys felt that they couldn’t talk to the girls and that they were shy; but that was besides the point during the interactive session we had with these energetic youth.
The Galle Literary Festival will be held from the 18th to the 22nd of January 2012 and beyond Borders will be performing on the 20th and 21st of January.
– Bhagya Senaratne
Bhagya is a board member of Beyond Borders. She is currently reading for her MA in International Relations and she’s our mole in the government. She blogs here. Her opinions are her own.
Virus
The good news– Sri Lanka is a ‘low prevalent country’ for HIV AIDS.
The bad news– With the country’s precipitant development, the risk of HIV AIDS spreading wildly is a burning problem.
What’s worse- The youth are highly vulnerable to contraction of the virus due to the “increase in migration internally, externally and internationally due to economic, leisure, [and] displacement”- according to the Family Planning Association.
So ask yourself- do you know all there is to know about HIV AIDS? Did you know that the virus can be contracted due to momentary carelessness?
One of the best methods of prevention is to keep yourself informed and Beyond Borders is inviting you to a Forum Theatre production on HIV AIDS. Bring your friends too and watch the enthralling interactive play and discussion.
The event is for free. All you need to do is register here- online form.
Real Men Do Not Harass Women
As most of my friends and I have had our fair share of encounters with perverts, mostly while travelling in public transport. Initially when a woman encounters such weird disturbing characters we become scared and even come to a point to be ashamed that maybe it was our fault for have invited such due to our dress code or so on. But due to the mentality of such perverts they actually tend to enjoy making a woman feel uncomfortable and vulnerable and probably assume we will not make a commotion and carry on with their pervert-ish acts.
It is well known that in society there exists people with diverse mentalities but harassment is not something any woman should face in order to satisfy anyone idiosyncrasies. Any person found to have caused harassment is possible to be faced with penal sanctions and no woman should stay quiet about it, speak up and stand up for all women! since no one should tolerate harassment.
One project that interested me was one carried out by Reach Out with the help of Beyond Borders that creates awareness through forum theatre relating to harassment of women in Sri Lanka. Unfortunately I could not commit to this project due to busy work schedules, but something anyone should be a part of, since it speaks of a social issue that needs to be addressed by all.
Recently I came across a post by this site called Hollaback, which is a global movement to end street harassment and HollabackMumbai is where Indian women can share their experiences of such harassment and create awareness. One article that caught my eye was the following, and thought of sharing it with everyone.
Original post by Radhi de Silva.
‘Who turned the lights off?’
Beyond Borders is doing another Forum Theatre for the Rotaract District 3220 ‘HIV & YOUth’ campaign (which targeted the urban and suburban youth through workshops, movie screenings and the forum theatre performances from October to December this year) on Friday, December 10th at 6.30pm at Punchi Theatre.
The forum theatre for this campaign is called ‘Who turned the lights off?’ This Forum Theater tackles the subjects in relation to the topics discussed at the ‘HIV & YOUth’ campaign workshops and movie screenings. It touches on topics such as information needs and level of awareness about HIV and Sexual Reproductive Health amongst youth, misconceptions, stigma and discrimination in relation to HIV. It takes you through the decisions, dilemmas and downfalls of our protagonist Ishanka, a Young girl who is challenged and disgraced by her peers, family and the society after being found HIV+. It will be an evening of exciting infotainment and learning.
The Forum Theatre which is also the closing ceremony for the ‘HIV & YOUth’ campaign and is open for all Youth, Activists or anyone who is interested in such topics/issues.
Entrance is on invitation only. For invitations for the FT on the 10th December please write to us at hivandyouth@gmail.com or call us on 077-1952257.
Jerked
At school; everyone very friendly after the play.
Jerk? went well. The turn out was good and the cast was in top form. Many intervened and came up with their views and we are grateful to everyone who was present for helping us make it a success.
We are in the process of preparing a report on our findings and will share it as soon as it is complete. Also, optimistic plans are underway to do a few more performances to raise awareness of ADHD in the near future (fingers crossed). Pictures of the play will be up soon on flickr 🙂
Forum theater is one of Beyond Borders’ most eloquent modes of communication. If you’d like to do theater with us, well you’re in luck because we’re recruiting.
Our thanks go out to the following blogs which highlighted Jerk? before and after its screening; ASOB NQIM, The Abyss, The Ultimate Change, The Whackter’s Lair and to everyone who tweeted about it as well. Don’t think we missed anyone, but apologies if we did.
Jerk?
A Forum Theater Performance on Learning Disabilities
- Date: 29th August 2009
- Time: 10.00am to 12.00pm
- Venue: Punchi Theatre, Borella
Entrance by invitation only, if you want one email us to info[at]beyondborders.lk with a couple of lines explaining your interest in attending the play.
What is Forum Theatre?
Forum theater began when Augusto Boal had the brilliant idea of allowing the audience to stop, modify and change the course of his drama performances; enhancing the overall experience of everyone involved in a novel manner. Today, this particular branch of theatre is known as Forum Theater.
FT is useful in bringing out complex issues attached to sensitive social topics and has been used by Beyond Borders to highlight a range of social issues during the last few years.
What is ‘Jerk?’
This time around the Forum Theater tackles the tricky subject of the misconceptions and issues facing youngsters with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). It takes you through the roller coaster ride of our protagonist Rajeev, as he copes with the effects of ADHD and society’s often antagonistic reactions to it. It will be a morning of exciting infotainment and learning.
For invites call
0777 491 718 or 0777 335 320 (limited invites)
or email us info[at]beyondborders.lk
6 Reviews on Censored
The forum theatre we did couple of weeks ago seems to have generated some discussion both from the blogs and couple of pieces in the mainstream media.
and from the blogs:
- Censored, uncensored — Sanjana Hattotuwa.
- How the hypocrites change the coast of life — Deco
- Freedom of expression at a time of war — Dhanushka Bandara
- Censored; an insider’s view of an outsider’s sentiments — Halik Azeez, BB-ite.
Update : the 7th Review on the DailyMirror
We thank everyone for the reviews: the positive, negative and the in between. Some Pictures of the performance are here.
CENSORED — A Forum Theatre on Freedom of Expression
Beyond Borders, along with the British Council presents : Censored.
A forum theatre looking at issues related to freedom of expression at a time of war. The event would take place Thursday, 20th of November 6.30 pm at the British Council Hall.
The tickets Priced at Rs.100/- is available at the British Council “Help desk”. We have 10 free passes to give away to our blog readers, if you like to have a free pass just drop us an email to info[at]beyondborders.lk with your name, age and contact details. Limited places are available, so hurry up.
More information here and here and at the facebook event page.
Beyond Borders Sri Lanka 