麻豆影院

When Sarah Fahmy, a master鈥檚 candidate in theatre and performance studies at the 麻豆影院, returned to her native country of Egypt last summer, she had a lot more in mind than visiting family and friends.

鈥淥ver the course of two months, I worked with 55 young women, ages 11 to 17, using theatrical exercises identifying how we can use our bodies and our voices to adequately express ourselves,鈥� said Fahmy about the Young Women鈥檚 Vocal Empowerment sessions she conducted in Aswan and Alexandria, Egypt.听

Her efforts employ a novel strategy to encourage women to express themselves more fully; it combines methods developed by theater performers and by speech pathologists to strengthen a speaker鈥檚 voice and expand her expressive range. The hope is that women 鈥渞ehearse using their empowered voice鈥� in different social contexts.

罢丑别听听program was developed by Fahmy鈥檚 advisor, CU 麻豆影院 Professor Beth Osnes and alumna Chelsea Hackett in collaboration with Guatemalan organization Starfish.听

鈥淔or the most part they addressed issues such as equal access to education or the health-care system听and gender equity in the workplace鈥� said Fahmy about the concerns of the young women. 鈥淏ut they also addressed issues of water pollution, in the oceans or the Nile.鈥�

The exercises are of no casual interest to Fahmy, who is focusing on post-colonial female playwrights in the Middle East, and applied theater such as the empowerment program. The CU 麻豆影院 Office for听Outreach and Engagement helped sponsor the trip, and Fahmy was using applied theatrical techniques developed by Augusto Boal.听

Fahmy hails from the Alexandria area, though she spent about half her life in England before coming to 麻豆影院. Alexandria is the more cosmopolitan city, and Aswan more rural, but both areas are very听鈥渢ouristy,鈥� Fahmy said.

Several different applied theater techniques were employed during the 10 days she spent in both cities. One of the exercises, image theater, required the young women to address鈥攆irst non-verbally and then verbally鈥攖he transition from a polluted environment to a healthful听one, envisioning the current state, the transition state and how it would be if the problem were solved.

鈥淲hat was interesting was a lot of the girls in Aswan were more willing to address their creativity,鈥� Fahmy said. 鈥淭hat wasn鈥檛 what I expected when I chose the locations, but that was the experience."

Fahmy also used the trip to explore the political activism expressed by women playwrights in Egypt. Her emphasis on applied theater and Arab modernity is focused on non-traditional theatrical forms, especially those involving political activism.

While the country is about 90 percent Muslim, Fahmy said that in Egypt, and much of the Middle East, women鈥檚 issues are different, but not necessarily worse, than that in the United States. Religion doesn鈥檛 necessarily dictate women鈥檚 inequality, but the patriarchal structure of the government does, she said.听

For example, in 1919 Egyptian feminists led by Huda Shaarawi held an all-women鈥檚 march protesting the British occupation, and that became one of the most significant marches in the country's history; this was at the same time that the 19th Amendment allowing women the vote was being ratified in the United States.

鈥淚 know in fact a lot of performance in Egypt was focused on political activism, and there was a prominent women鈥檚 march in 1919, which was one of the first public acts against British rule,鈥� she said. Performance history here dates back to the ancient Egyptians, including religious festivals, puppetry and storytelling, although a Western model of theater, with the concept of playwriting,听听wasn鈥檛 introduced until the 20th century.听

At that time, theatrical performances and cultural salons were popular among the upper class. There was also an increase in women's enrollment at schools and universities and their contributions to writing for literary publications and newspapers.听

鈥淚n 1922, May Ziada was the first woman to write something and call it a 鈥榩lay,鈥� but I can't locate any of her scripts,鈥� Fahmy said. 鈥淚鈥檓 definitely having a hard time finding works, even though we know they exist,鈥� she said.听

Looking at women鈥檚 contributions through a performance-studies lens has helped compensate for the lack of scripts available during this period. However, the tradition of women using non-traditional theater in political activism during the Arab Spring in 2011 is a bit easier to document.

鈥淎 lot of it is verbatim or documentary theater鈥攇athering stories from the protests in and putting them into perspective,鈥� Fahmy said. This type of experimental theater is very much in the same vein as Fahmy鈥檚 studies.

One example of an Egyptian female playwright Fahmy researched was Dalia Basiouny, an assistant professor of theater in the English Department at October 6 University in Egypt. Basiouny said the documentary theater during the revolution acted like a touchstone to the realities of the revolution. Basiouny was active in this effort during the revolution and is also a playwright in a more traditional theater sense.

This is compelling to a woman who is researching Arab modernity and post-colonial theatre and听who just happens to be Egyptian.

鈥淚t鈥檚 very interesting to draw parallels between women鈥檚 active engagement with performance and political activism during the 1919 and 2011 protests,鈥� she said. 鈥淢y applied theatre work, aligns with women鈥檚 longstanding history of activism and civic engagement in the country, as it encourages young women to practice using their voices for self and community advocacy.

鈥淲hile empowerment and liberation will not happen overnight, and will require a lot of sustained community effort, I plan to continue working with the university I partnered up with last summer鈥擳he Arab Academy of Science, Technology and Maritime Transport鈥攁nd the Ministry of Emigration, to facilitate applied theater programs around the country.鈥�

Fahmy has been invited to give a presentation on her applied theater work at the fourth Edition of the National Conference for Egyptian Expatriate Scientists and Experts (Egypt Can - Education Edition) hosted by the Ministry of Emigration and Egyptian Expatriates Affairs,听 Dec. 16-19, 2018.

鈥淚 am hoping that this collaboration will help emphasize the importance of, and revitalize the arts in Egyptian education,鈥� Fahmy said.听

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