DRAMA FACILITATION WITH CHILDREN IN INDIA- A TRIP OF A LIFETIME

Hey Everyone,

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and brought the New Year in with a bang. It's crazy how fast the last year has gone. I have been so excited for 2015 for the last six months that I can't believe that it's already here. I'm so happy that I can finally say I'm moving to LA this year, but I'm sad that it now means my time at Central School of Speech and Drama is almost over. Being at Central, I have learnt so much about myself and I've had the most amazing experiences and opportunities that I will cherish forever.

As a little dedication to Central and a throwback of 2014, this weeks post is going to be about one of my most amazing experiences of 2014.

As part of my university degree we took part in a unit called 'Collaborative Outreach Program'. This was a unit that I was extremely excited about as it allowed us to broaden our drama skills by working with all sorts of different communities and embracing their cultures and values. I remember leaving my Central audition and telling my mum in excitement about the opportunity to work in a community abroad. 

As a child I lived in a small community in Essex and have always socialised with the same people. I felt as if I lived in a bubble and that was all I knew. This opportunity to explore different cultures was stimulating for me and would enable me to discover the rest of the world, something that was quite alien to me. From my very first year, and after watching the third year presentations, I knew that this was an occasion not to be missed.

As this project, along with two others were extremely popular, the course leaders decided that it would be a fair idea to hold a group interview followed by a workshop audition. After the workshop we were told we would find out within the next week, so every day I would check my emails until on the Friday I saw an email with the subject 'Coll Out results'. This was it, the moment of truth, had I done enough to win a space on this project to India? 

I stared at the email for a few seconds and then opened it and there it was, my name highlighted under the India Group for 2014. I couldn't believe I was going to India and looking at the list of people that I'd be going with I knew that I would not regret this.

After lots of preparation with jabs, getting a new wardrobe (my favourite part) and working on our research and fundraising, the time had finally come and we were ready to go. After my dad dropped me at the airport with two suitcases that were probably bigger than me, I was ready to see the rest of my group. We sat on the plane with our wine discussing all the amazing things we would be doing.

When we arrived at the airport we were collected by one of our hosts ‘Satish Dhembe’. I was so excited to work with him after all the praise he received from the students who went last year and I couldn't wait to meet my second host Divya Bhatia, who was such an influence on our method of practice. 

We spent the first week adjusting to the culture and planning our drama sessions.

I think we all knew that it would be hard work, but none of us were ready for the intensity of it all. Dealing with the amount of work, late nights and early mornings we were having was a bit of a challenge at times and did put a strain on our group, but we were determined to make it work, which we did.

Walking down the streets of Bandra was the most surreal moment of my life; this was definitely not something I was used to. I was trying so hard to be humble, but at times I felt so out of my comfort zone. The very first thing that I noticed was all the animals. There were literally goats, chickens and cows everywhere, in the street, hanging outside restaurants, everywhere. I actually didn’t mind this so much as I love animals, but compared to living in England this was really strange.

One morning we were in a taxi driving through Bandra on our way to a drama session, when I saw a group of young boys just pooping in the middle of the road. I looked at them in horror and they all pointed at me, stuck out their tongues and burst out into fits of laughter. Although I was shocked, I couldn’t help but laugh with them. This is their life, so who am I to judge. I needed to embrace this.

As my time went on in Mumbai, I couldn’t help but fall in love with the people and the culture. I was so sad to see so many families homeless on the street but the thing that mattered the most was that they were happy and with their families. Everyone was smiling and dancing in the street and their kind and generous hearts captivated me. It reminded me not to take things for granted, as material things have no meaning if you don’t have people around you that you care about.

I was also lucky enough to facilitate workshops for some amazing people includi"ng two different schools, where I worked with the students and teacher’s developing drama and performance skills. These children were so talented and I felt honored to be able to work with them.

The most important thing this trip has taught me is to never judge anyone or anything until you have experienced it first hand. I was so excited to be invited to collaborate with the charity ‘Sneha’ working with young people in Dharavi’s biggest slums. 

I have always had a fascination with different cultures and communities however, sometimes the media portray them in an untrue light. Before I went away, I watched Kevin McCloud's documentary "Slumming It", where he went to live in Mumbai's biggest Slums. I have to say, I was absolutely appalled by the way he portrayed it. Yes, I agree there were some points he showed that I came across when I was out there, but my experience with this community was nothing but exhilarating. We used our skills of drama to allow the students to express their concerns and ideologies of important topics around domestic abuse. Seeing these children open up and be able to enjoy themselves through drama made it all worth it. As well as teaching us Indian dances and popular Bollywood, they also taught me to be proud of my skills and things are not always as bad as they seem.

Coming to India has given me the skills and understanding to appreciate every person in this world and I am so honored to have gained this experience.   

(created by: Chantal Lopez-dias)