Al Harah Theater
The Team
Marina Barham
Manager, Artistic and Cultural Projects, Al-Harah Theater
Samar Khalil
Development Manager, Al Harah Theater
Lana Bandak
Director General, Qader for Community Development
Project Outline
The project aims at enhancing the inclusion of people with disabilities into the performing arts sector while opening further and new opportunities for people with disabilities for work and participation. The project also aims at creating awareness and changing social stigmas through theater where people with disabilities are included and their messages are conveyed.
The project will be based over an assessment (first component) conducted by the project Associate Partner “Qader for Community Development” who will assess the status of inclusion of people with disabilities in the Arts sector in the West Bank and recommendations on how to improve that. The second component of the project will focus on capacity building of people with disabilities and without disabilities in mixed and inclusive groups. That includes training for a group of hearing impaired young men and women on moving giant puppets and activating work done with children in Theater performances and festivals. In addition, conducting a drama training for a group of young men and women with different abilities to enhance self-expression, building confidence and communication skills, and compel stories and issues that need to be addressed. The third component is producing a theater performance that is inspired by the results of the assessment and the conclusions of the drama sessions to be performed for varied audiences and communities in different areas in the West Bank.
Project Objectives
The project aims at:
- Enhancing the inclusion of people with disabilities within the performance arts sectors
- Building capacities of people with disabilities and without disabilities in inclusive groups through drama and theater
- Raising social awareness about rights of people with disabilities towards changing social stigmas
This project will help answer the following questions:
- How can new collaborative local partnerships contribute to shaping public and professional understanding of disability?
- How can local partnerships with arts and cultural organizations represent and shape public discourse and understanding of disability?
This project is implemented in partnership between Al-Harah Theater and Qader for Community Development who purely work on promoting better well-being for persons with disabilities in Palestine. The project aims at shaping a better understanding of disability focusing on the Performing Arts Sector where Qader with be conducting an assessment on the status of inclusion of people with disabilities in the Performing Arts Sector that will feed into the work of Al-Harah Theater and will influence the work of Culture and Arts organizations in the West Bank in Palestine. It will also enhance the capacities of people with disabilities and help create new opportunities of work and learning within theater. It will create a space through which people with disabilities are included where they can express their aspirations and challenges that will be conveyed to the public community through a theater production that includes people with disabilities as actors/actresses.
This is considered for the following reasons:
- Lack of focus on inclusion of people with disabilities in the Arts and Performing Arts Sector in specific.
- The wide range of new and creative opportunities that can be opened for people with disabilities in theater and Performing Arts field
- Creating safe spaces for people with disabilities where they are included and where they can safely and freely express themselves and develop their skills
- Theater and drama are powerful tools for provoking social norms and stigmas and consequently creating change of attitudes and practices.
By the end of this project, the following impact is expected:
- Performing Arts and Cultural organizations will be better informed on how to better include people with disabilities within their work
- Disability-led organizations are more aware of the needs of the Arts sector
- Skills and capacities of people with disabilities are enhanced in theater related fields creating new opportunities of potential work
- Local communities are better aware about the rights of people with disabilities towards changing social stigmas.
