Back to: Jss3 Cultural and Creative Art (C.C.A)

Drama and Theatre for Development

The progression of civilization, and more specifically the rural villages, is the primary focus of this kind of theatrical production. It is not at all like the traditional kind of theatre that people attend, such as the theatre or other public locations, to see plays. Both its structure and its subject matter are quite different. In the program known as “Theatre for Development,” the actors and actresses go to rural towns to stage their shows. The actors, however, will not just accept roles in plays that cater to the communities’ interests that they belong to. Rather, they would have visited the villages in advance, interacted with the people there, and even lived with them for some time, all to become familiar with the challenges that the residents face and the aspects of their lives that need urgent attention. Problems of this kind include, but are not limited to, a lack of good roads, potable water, adequate medical facilities, and enough educational opportunities.

After receiving the necessary information, the actors and actresses will next proceed to develop plays that centre on the aforementioned topics and concerns. They could merely choose one out of several, or they might combine two ideas that are connected. As a result of having written the play, its performance, which must take place in the community, will address those difficulties and will primarily teach and educate the people about how they may fix the problems on their own. The actors would make use of the immediate language of the community as their method of communication to guarantee that the message of the play is conveyed to the audience members. Only when most of the individuals in the target community can communicate in English should the English language be employed. In the same vein, the outfit, along with every other aspect of the theatrical production, ought to be something that the audience can readily connect with. In addition to this, certain members of the community must be recruited by the performers to take part in the performances with them.

Because of this, people will easily be able to relate to the players and the performance, which will make it much simpler for them to comprehend the message that the play is trying to convey. After the performance, the audience members are allowed to provide feedback on the production and ask questions about how they may address the concerns that were brought up during the show. It is consequently expected of the people to go out and tackle the issues at hand via the efforts of the community, without any involvement from the government or any other outside source. “Theatre of the people, by the people, and for the people” is a phrase that has been used to define this kind of performance. This is because the issue(s) that are going to be focused on will originate with the people, and those same people are going to be urged to engage in them while the message is still to their advantage.