‘Theater of the people. What is your solution?’

‘Theater of the people. What is your solution?’ was a play produced by Instituto Buena Bista (IBB) that was presented on the 26th of April 2018 at F.E.L.I.S. in Otrobanda. The play, together with the children attending F.E.L.I.S.; their family; and the neighbors of F.E.L.I.S., focused on the social injustices that affect their daily lives in a direct or indirect manner. The play allowed them to think together in a playful way about possible solutions to the situations.

Guest artist in the Mondriaan Fund Artist in Residence program Elke Uitentuis developed the idea for the play together with the students of IBB. F.E.L.I.S. foundation is an idealistic after-school care facility in Otrobanda. It opened its doors for the incidental IBB-collective so that we could further develop the play together with the kids attending F.E.L.I.S. and later present it to their parents, family members and neighbors.

‘Theater of the people. What is your solution?’ is an interactive play inspired by one of the techniques of ‘Theater of the Oppressed’. The technique aims to give the public the tools to collectively think about social injustices that it confronts directly or indirectly on a daily basis. The public is expected to actively participate in the play and to collectively come with solutions for the injustices that the play confronts them with.

The IBB-collective gave a workshop at F.E.L.I.S. in preparation for the play. Through this the children were made capable of thinking of solutions for the following problems: hunger, social exclusion, violence and crime, and exploitation. The children were presented with living sculptures (tableau vivants) that depict these situations. They were then allowed the chance to reflect on what they see and then change the situation how they see fit. They could move around actors and set pieces to create a beter situation. Based on the results of this workshop the IBB-collective worked towards a presentation for the parents, family, and neighbors. This final presentation was also interactive. The adult viewer was also challenged to bring a third layer to the proceedings bij also reflecting on what they see and hear and adapt the situation to what they think is better.