I was in Sri Lanka in February and March, working on the project I started in January 2006.
The development of this project since last year is incredible. I remember coming away from my work there last time wondering how much real value this project had, and how that measured against the enormous task and expense of setting it up. This year, there is no question for me. I can see how much benefit the participants have gained in the year since I was gone, and the immediate benefits of the work were also more visible. The organisational task was easier with everything now familiar, my network hugely expanded and support much easier to access.
I left the group last January with the understanding that I would be back a year later to continue their training. I heard from them now and then to say that they were still meeting, had moved location, had taken in new members and had gone on a group excursion to Kandy. I also heard news of them from a colleague who did a little bit of work with them as part of a different project. She told me that their work was very strong, but they had dwindled in numbers.
I had to organise everything at the last minute, as the political situation in Sri Lanka has remained unstable in recent months. Through the second half of 2006, I heard from two sets of Sri Lankan friends asking me to please postpone plans for my project while the situation was so bad. My friends offer me an incredible amount of support for the project and I know they feel in some way responsible for me, so out of respect for them, I prefer to honour any request they have. I was quite torn between this and the pull of my commitment to the Playback group in Unawatuna. In the new year there were bomb blasts in buses on the road to Galle and Kandy (the two bus routes I would use), and one hitting a school and a naval base in Galle. In general, though, things seemed to have settled down quite a lot. It was clear that if I waited until the situation settled down completely, it would be impossible to give the group the support I had offered. I decided on a compromise of going but avoiding public transport.
I invited a colleague from India, Clare Therese, to join me. She has done a lot of Playback Theatre with the Dalit people (the ‘untouchable’ caste) and with tsunami affected communities in the weeks and months immediately following the disaster. She responded to my invitation immediately. She was very keen to take part, and wanted to know if we could also offer Playback training to two Tamil groups who work for plantation workers’ rights. We found two days in the middle of our schedule and I extended my time by three more days, so we could offer them five days of training. I also brought a colleague from Germany, Dianne MacFarlane, who has attended various workshops and projects I have run over the past five years. She joined us as an assistant teacher for the first week.
Our team worked fantastically well. Each of us ran some parts of every workshop. I came with a clear direction for the program, and the other two seemed happy with my approach. Clare specialises in music, which is not a strong area of mine. I learnt a lot from her. It was wonderful to work in such a strong team and to be totally supported in planning, facilitating and reflecting on our work.
With the Unawatuna group, we focused on playing out stories, integrating new members, setting up a performance, and planning the next steps for their future development. They have been able to continue working because of support they receive from a local NGO, the Unawatuna Tourist Development Society, who offer free rehearsal space and pay a leader, Mr Nanayakara. The group has a strong vision of becoming a professional performing company. They are currently facing the challenges inherent in sustaining the group while they develop skills and build a strategy for how to make their work financially viable. The group members cover their own expenses, some travelling up to 50km to and from rehearsals. Beyond travel expenses, it is not easy for them to find an unpaid afternoon each week away from work and family obligations. It’s clear that they are torn between a genuine interest in Playback Theatre and scepticism about its financial viability. They see the only lucrative options to be ‘tele-dramas’ and traditional theatre. I encouraged them to maintain their Playback work alongside anything else they pursue, and suggested ideas for finding paid Playback work in community and commercial settings. It is difficult for them to imagine audiences paying to see this new theatrical form. It is also difficult for them to imagine how good their work could grow to be. The development we saw during our time together was dramatic, and they were very encouraged by the performance they held at the end. I was torn in how to support their development, knowing that it takes a lot of focused dedication to become really skilful in Playback Theatre, but not wanting to push my own influence. It is important for them to have genuine ownership over their work and future direction, and of course I hope they choose to continue developing in Playback Theatre.
We worked with the two Tamil groups mixed in together. It was very complicated, as each group had completely different levels of skill. One of them, a project of the World University Service of Canada (WUSC), has a lot of experience with political activist street theatre. They came in full of confidence and volume. The other group, Centre for Social Consciousness (CSC) were nervous and inexperienced. Both groups responded to one another with reserve and competition. Our first two days were not easy. The WUSC group found it hard to recognise the sensitivity needed in Playback. CSC was terrified, both by performing and by WUSC. One thing we were able to do in those two days was to bring the groups together into a genuinely positive meeting. Many of them said how surprised they were at the strong bonds that sprang up between them. We asked them to organise a rehearsal to practice what they had learnt before we met again two weeks later. Clare and I had many discussions about how to work with this big combined group: how to encourage WUSC to soften and develop listening skills without undermining the power they already had, and how to build CSC’s confidence in a way that would bring the two groups together, not separate them further.
The shift that took place was remarkable. Something powerful happened in each of the groups during their rehearsals, and when we met for the second stage of the training, both had really grasped and had fun with the work we did previously. The development that took place through those three days was quite staggering. I was very moved by the changes I saw taking place within them individually and as groups. The program officer of WUSC came to meet us on the last day. She described a street drama performed by the WUSC group following the first training in which she and her colleagues saw a sensitivity in the group they had never seen before, which they attributed to the Playback training.
In addition to the two programs, we had meetings with a number of organisations that are interested in supporting a Playback group to be trained in their community. We plan to start four new groups next year: one at the Punchi Theatre (Colombo), with local actors; one at the Maha Maya School (Hikkaduwa), with teachers from local schools; one at the Sri Dhammananda Buddhist temple (Kandy), with local youth; and one through a Jesuit social activist organisation, with the Colombo fishing community. Sewelanka, a huge NGO that works with over 1000 local organisations, has agreed to incorporate Playback into their psychosocial program. It is possible we will set up a pilot project with them at the same time. I will approach some more Playback trainers to join us. Running through the month of January, the program will start with some preparation days for the trainers, clarifying what material to cover and sharing favourite games and exercises. We will set up parallel five day training programs for each group, working in a residential setting where possible. The month will end with a five day leadership training for two members from each group.
In 2009, we plan to set up a gathering to bring all the groups together. International teachers will offer workshops, and Sri Lankans will host the event. Playback groups will intermingle in workshops. This will be a completely intercultural event, taking place in English, Tamil and Sinhalese, with the only common language the theatrical vocabulary of Playback Theatre. It will create a venue for Sinhala and Tamil communities to meet, hear each other’s stories and develop connections across the ethnic divide. The long term vision for this project is to bridge social divisions in Sri Lanka and build connections that develop greater understanding between cultures. The groups themselves are autonomous, each with their own locally oriented vision. The peacemaking project is an overarching vision that all are invited to join to the degree that suits them. Eventually I hope to form a group with representatives from all of Sri Lanka’s ethnic and religious communities.
