7 -13 December 2000
Issue No.511
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 7 -13 December 2000 Issue No.511 |
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Hope and the dream
By Nesmahar Sayed
Nine months ago, Rania Mamdouh, a resident in psychiatry at Qasr Al-Aini hospital, was studying for her master's degree and came across a book about theatre and its great potential in the treatment of mental patients. She was fascinated by the idea of using it with children suffering from psychiatric disorders. "I had three patients and I was dissatisfied with the result of their treatment. So I decided to bring them together with other patients and let them act out a story," she says. The children, two girls and six boys, later named themselves the Al-Amal (Hope) Troupe. Aged between 10 and 15, the group of eight put on a play titled The Dream, written especially for them and dedicated to the memory of Mohamed Al-Dorra.
photos: Medhat Abdel-Meguid
The aim of this experiment, for Mamdouh, was to help the children make progress by expressing their feelings in public, "live what they fear and face it, discover what is good inside them and be brave enough to face the audience and feel their families' admiration after the show." Her colleagues and supervisors agreed that it was worth a try.
Mamdouh talked to Dr Bahaa Duwidar, who is interested in the theatre, about each case and what elements were important in treating it. He was so enthusiastic about her project that he volunteered to write and direct the play.
Duwidar says the idea of The Dream resulted from his consternation at US hegemony and the way it affects adults and children alike in their daily lives. The question was where to bring together the actors, foster an environment conducive to shared experiences, and help them face challenges together, taking into consideration the differences in personalities and medical histories. What setting would be plausible and allow for the suspension of the audience's disbelief?
The schoolroom was his answer, "because school is the cradle of all our dreams."
The play, therefore, starts in the principal's office, where Gamal, who plays the role of a director, is dreaming of directing a film about the Intifada and its development from 1987 until the murder of Mohamed Al-Dorra. He goes to a school to choose children who will act in his film. There, he meets Roffy, a teacher who dreams of working in the US. As for the children, they have many dreams: watching foreign films, eating American fast food, and studying in the US. But their greatest concern is exacting revenge on the principal and the teacher because of the abuse they receive at school.
After they meet the director, and watch many films about heroic figures in Arab history -- like Omar Al-Mukhtar, Al-Nasser Salaheddin and Jamila Buhreid -- things change. The children dream of traveling to Palestine to meet the youngsters of the Intifada and work on the film.
Dr Said Abdel-Azim
Dr Soad Moussa
Duwidar's own dream is to raise the awareness of both audience and actors as to the Palestinian issue and their Arab identity -- "in addition to participating practically in the children's treatment," he explains. Duwidar wrote the script especially for the children, and helped during the five months of preparations for the show.
Mamdouh says that weekly rehearsals gradually gave way to daily practice during the last week leading up to the show. "The children used to go to school everyday before rehearsal, except two of them who live outside Cairo," she notes proudly.
Dr Said Abdel-Azim, chairman of the department of psychiatry at Qasr Al-Aini, says The Dream "aimed to make the children participate in a group endeavour, where they could express their feelings and work on improving." He feels the experiment has revolutionary potential "if we take into consideration the progress it brought about in their treatment," he adds.
Dr Soad Moussa, assistant professor of psychiatry at Qasr Al-Aini, adds that, although the idea was initially an alternative approach to therapy, allowing the children to resolve certain conflicts or hone their skills, they excelled to such an extent that The Dream was also a dramatic success. Moussa believes "the message of this experiment, to parents and society and especially to the children themselves, that a psychiatric condition must not be stigmatised as a difference. Children can overcome obstacles, recover and be creative. This is evidence."
Hossameddin, one of the young actors, told the Weekly: "I was so afraid before the performance, but now I am very happy. I feel I am no longer sick. I am improving. I used to feel it was almost impossible to memorise anything, but now I know I can do it. The show proved that. I hope I can act again -- but I hope we will do it during summer break, so we do not have anything to study except our roles."
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