Preimere for new Clown Play: ”Yes Chief !” ( حاضريا باشا!)
Red Tomato premièred the new play "Yes Chief!" on World Refugee Day, for a 500 audience of fore mostly refugee children & adults from different communities. It was a great day. Big audience and high spirits. The children were very eager to participate, storming onto the stage when we invited to dance to our rhythm orchestra. Afterwards, when we left the stage with our "Samba" parade our small group of 4 was more like a sea of performers, the children drumming away on all kinds of objects they creatively found in the space.
The event was organised by UNHCR and CRS on Friday 17 June.
Place: Saqyat el-Sawi (Culturewheel), 26 of July Street, Zamalek.
"Yes Chief!" The basic idea:
It is a street theatre piece of clownish play with structures of authoritarian power.
Four clowns arrive in a drumming parade, engaging the audience to come see their circus / clown show. They are a group that enjoys playing together.
But suddenly one of the clowns starts to behave in an authoritarian way, commanding the others on what to do. The others’ reactions vary: there is the opportunist, the coward, and the critical one.
As the show goes on there are attempts at resistance, at negotiation, and … maybe even at staging a coup against the “chief”.
Towards the end, what happens?... To find out the conclusion of the events, come see the play yourself!
Technique:
It uses music, clown theatre, and circus techniques.
It is suitable for children and all audiences.
It is a Clown show of street theatre format – simple in technical requirements and can be performed in any place. (Performance space -- 9 x 7 metres. Audience space – a semi-circle around the performance space wide enough to host the required number. There is no maximum number. Several hundred can easily enjoy it, since it works mainly with visual story telling and not text.)
Drama Workshop for social workers:
Members of Red Tomato gave a Training of Trainers workshop called “Drama for self and group understanding and expression”. The work was conducted as a part of international NGO Ricerca e Cooperazione’s project: “Actions for Vulnerable Children Improving Capacities for Enhancing Intervention”.
Red Tomato wored with social workers from some 20 local NGO’s with the aim of enhancing their sensitivity for and ability to do creative work with children :
stimulating active listening and the interest in personal experience; providing group animation and creative workshop techniques; providing basic drama tools.
After conducting the basic training, the second phase of the project aims at supporting the participant NGOs to set up drama workshops with children in their own organizations.
Two groups of social workers have completed their training, and are implementing activities at their NGOs.
Red Tomato members are assisting them in their localities.
Workshop presentations: In October the first in a series of "open drama days" for and with the children being trained in the NGOs was held. These days serve the children to meet and share with others what they are learning, and what they want to perform. On October 9th some 100 children from different NGOs spent a day getting to know eachother in theatre games workshops. The next meeting will be in February.
