On Saturday 20th February, ‘Mark of Hope’ theatre group performed ‘I can’.
‘I can’ is a performance built upon the idea that each one of us has inside the ability and the strength to override the discouragement of others to finally do what they want to do and to show the world that they can, that they can contribute to make this world a more beautiful place by following their individual creative inspiration.
The group used this opportunity to allow every child in the group to create something they love… Bashir loves to work on the computer but rarely has the chance. In individual sessions with one of our skilled volunteers, Bashir learned how to use PhotoShop and created his own piece of work that was presented during the performance in the form of a film. Tasneem wants to own and run her own beauty salon; in the performance she dressed up Walaa to wear beautiful clothes, headdress and accessories, entering the stage like a bride!
Using flash-mob, freeze-mob, and mime techniques, this performance relied on the music and on its visual effects. Each child was called upon to act using only his/her face and body – some of those children whom were least expected to be able to do this, did so most convincingly. And together with the film clips, music recordings, recorded poetry registrations and photographs shown on the projector (all made by the children themselves), as well as the costumes and incredible props (piano, guitar – both made from cardboard by a young man in the camp), this was a visually beautiful performance!
The event was arranged in collaboration with War Child who invited us to perform the piece in front of 25 of the girls/young women that participate in their activities in District 2. As well as these girls, a number of siblings and cousins of the children in the theatre group came, and one international staff member from IRD, and one FPSC volunteer outside the theatre team.
The performance was a huge success! The pace, the visuals, the technical side were all brilliant and the audience loved it! Throughout there was enthusiastic applause, which the cast loved! The children themselves seemed to love the performance. In the performance, Bashir’s face lit up and stared as the audience applauded his PhotoShop work…He was so proud! Throughout the process of rehearsal and preparation, some children in particular have really grown in confidence and participation, and the cast as a whole have become more inclusive of each other especially given the group and pair-work used in this show. All are more ready to adapt to fit the different needs of each other.
This is a performance that the group have mastered and one that we can build on and perhaps perform again at different venues, for different audiences sharing this message, ‘I can’.