The Entonnoir Théâtre proposes to the young people of Kourou to emancipate themselves and find their place thanks to the theater.
For the past 12 years, the funnel theater has offered young people every year to participate in the experience Living and Saying one’s neighborhood and to create a show. This year’s theme was heroism, the place of women, racism and role models.
All the texts but also the dances and songs were imagined by the young people.
They were more than 80, aged 11 to 25, from all Kalina, Bushingué, Saramaca origins, from all walks of life and met six times a week from October 15 to December 15 to create a show My hero, your herald with the collaboration of Karim Troussi and Emilie Mallosse.
After 110 hours of rehearsal, always masked and respectful of barrier gestures, they performed their show 10 times in 7 different locations in Kourou and Cayenne.
For the young people participating in an artistic integration program, it was also a professional experience since they were also responsible for the make-up, the stage management and the costumes.
But above all, thanks to the theater, they were able to transmit their messages, their emotions and “make the body convey what the voice could not always say”.
This show is their show. Everyone brought their own words, their own ideas, starting with the title.
Never could they have imagined one day being a hero, a heroine and playing in front of an audience in a theatre like l’Encre à Cayenne and even several times a day.
This is the magic of the Entonnoir Théâtre: freeing speech, bringing confidence, creating a collective and finding one’s way …
To these young people but also to these everyday heroines like these 9 unemployed mothers from Surinam, Brazil or Haiti who were following a Red Cross training course led by Joseph Petererson of the Funnel Theater.
Through role-playing games, they have regained their self-confidence and now have professional projects other than the job of cleaning lady.
They know that it will be a long road, but they are ready to overcome the obstacles and assert themselves as women. A woman who must above all be respected.
They say it loud and clear through the scenes they imagine about domestic violence in the home.
This is the first time they have spoken out in public on this subject.
Art therapy, social theater; these women or young people in difficulty can finally say words, and use their voice to better find their place in society.
Credit: Anne Pastor
