Bethlehem University Drama Society Comments on Education in Palestine

Three stories. Three former students. All dropped out of secondary school after 10th grade for various reasons. Some are happy about their decisions and some are not.
In an effort to initiate dialogue about the pertinent issues surrounding education in Palestine, the Bethlehem University Drama Society created three characters whose stories incorporate some of the real factors that persuade teenagers to drop out of school. Paul Moclair, who, along with Dr Hala Al Yamani, is facilitating the project stressed that their project is about the process rather then the performance itself. The Society focuses on the transformation of the students and the audience and it highlights the benefits each performer gains in their self esteem and communication and analytic skills.

Primarily from the Faculty of Education, the members of the Society use Forum Theater to explore the consequences of decisions to drop out of school without identifying whether they are good or bad. Forum Theater requires that the performance team deliberately leave the problems unresolved in an effort to encourage the audience to come up with a different approach to the issue. Members of the audience join the performance team on stage and intervene to try to solve the problem at hand, while the original performers try to prevent the audience member from solving the problem. “This and getting the actors to overcome their inhibitions on stage are the most challenging aspects of the performance,” Moclair said.

The aim of Forum Theater is to create a dynamic and safe environment to explore and discuss serious issues. “We wanted to design a Forum play that would allow 10th graders to explore the factors that led them to leave school, and to explore the likely consequences of dropping out,” Moclair said, “It has never been our intention to stage a teaching play urging students to stay on. We just wanted to help with their ability to think critically and creatively.”

The Society is now in intensive training to prepare for their upcoming performances at various schools in the Bethlehem District, including Bethlehem University, the first of which will take place on September 8th.