Forum theatre - Break the taboo on domestic abuse

Today I am thankful for being part of this incredible project titled "Break the taboo on domestic abuse", via a forum theatre, facilitated by Pavla Uppal. She is the founder and facilitator of "Your Story Matters". This project funded by Ontario Arts Council and community partners is Your story matters, Flemingdon Community Support Services (FCSS) and The Neighbourhood Office (TNO). Pavla had been striving and monitoring the theme for the last 10 weeks. The final characters and theme evolved due to every team member's persistent and untiring efforts, including myself. I discovered this project captivating and inspiring as I can sense a variety of strategies used by Pavla to explore every single possible act of violence against women in the community.  I recognize and appreciate the project for a variety of reasons, for instance:

• Break the taboo on domestic abuse through forum theatre supports to unfold the layers of domestic abuse, its origin, approaches, strategies, survival and the point where a change is possible in the community or society. Somehow, this project reached the goal

• Pavla invariably monitored the theme and assisted all team members to be on track and be with the theme of domestic abuse or violence

• Pavla initiated and inaugurated the project with rapport building to get along very well with each other. Next phase, everyone had outlined the "I am" poem to reflect the thoughts and filled in the blanks, somehow it reflected the inner voice. Throughout the journey, a variety of emotions, characters and themes were explored. Finally, as a team, we came up with the forum theatre presentation 

• Today's presentation was a performance regarding domestic abuse and unseen caged woman (Sara: that's me). The fascinating and striking appearance of the presentation was to invite the audience to what else a character could do, the scenes were improvised with the strategies and tactics to better handle the situation. The dialogue improvisation with the character was surprisingly inspiring and thought-provoking 

• This forum theatre was over the zoom at this time of the COVID 19. It was highly convenient to join, no need to formally dress up, drive or take TTC, just require to monitor internet connectivity. It was just one click away

• This was a great forum for the community, as everyone equated with the vibes and theme. The sense of belongingness and connectivity was obvious. At some point, the audience was touched and inspired by the improvisation

• This project encouraged and benefited me to unfold various zones or layers of abuse or violence that breathe in the community and how it is impacting women and their overall functionality. Now I feel more confident to identify, address this unseen domestic abuse or violence against women. This project was thought-provoking for me to address this issue by utilizing various strategies, for instance, writing blogs, articles, or offering sessions on this topic to create awareness in the community. Personally, I believe "Knowledge is power"

• This is my incredible journey with the forum theatre and with my team, the most inspiring is Pavla Uppal as a facilitator of this project. I considered myself being honoured as a part of this forum theatre

   

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