Interactive Theater Performances for Displaced People in Blue Nile Camps

Interactive theater performances were held at the Al-Karama 10 and Al-Karama 3 displacement camps in the Blue Nile Region, presented by young people from the two camps with support from the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). The performances aimed to raise awareness of a range of rights-related, health, and social issues affecting the lives of displaced people.

Five groups of young people from the two camps took part in the performances. They received training in interactive theater and wrote the scenes themselves before presenting them to residents in open spaces between the shelters. The experience was designed to make the local community an essential part of the performance.

The performances rely on audience interaction with the events. A spectator can stop a scene, enter the performance area, change the course of events, or suggest a different response to the problem being presented. In this way, the open spaces become theater venues, while community members become both spectators and participants.

In this context, interactive theater trainer Ahmed Mustafa told Mashawir that “the performances address a range of issues related to the lives of displaced people, including identity documents and civil rights, awareness of cholera and dengue fever, personal hygiene, female genital mutilation, as well as violence against women.”

Mustafa explained that “the selection of these topics aims to deliver awareness messages in a way that allows audiences to participate in discussing problems and proposing solutions based on their everyday experiences, rather than simply receiving information directly.”