Dubai: Inside the 'Village of Cubes', where every individual possesses noble values, including love, respect, cooperation, hope, peace, and responsibility, but lacks the ability to share them with others, the play ‘When Words Fall Silent’ took place. It was presented at the Al Jalila Cultural Centre for Children, affiliated with the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, as a result of cooperation with the Rashid Centre for People of Determination.
As the play unfolded, the events in the performance escalated to the point where sound suddenly disappeared, and the villagers were faced with a new challenge that pushed them to use signs, movement and pictures to communicate. They gradually discovered that words alone are not enough, and that cooperation and teamwork are the real way to create meaning and build bridges of understanding among them.
The work represents an artistic and human experience that celebrates the values of cooperation, love and communication among members of society, which is in line with the objectives of Dubai Culture. It aims to employ the arts in building awareness, promoting the values of understanding, tolerance and acceptance of others, in addition to providing a creative environment that contributes to enabling children to discover their abilities, express themselves and their energies, and enhance their skills through interactive artistic experiences that enrich their imagination and broaden their horizons, and contribute effectively to enriching the cultural movement in the emirate, which enhances its position as a global centre for the creative economy.
Ongoing cooperation
Regarding the preparation stages for the work, Ahlam Al Bannai, Director of the Al Jalila Cultural Centre for Children, said: "We at the Centre continuously collaborate with the Rashid Centre for People of Determination, and this is not our first collaboration. We have a programme that runs throughout the year, whether in theatre, pottery studio, or drawing. This experience is a human and artistic one in which we focused on the values of cooperation, love, and communication with all members of society."
She added: "We employed art to promote the values of understanding, tolerance, and acceptance of others, through a creative environment that contributes to empowering children from all segments of society. The performance is the fruit of cooperation with the Rashid Centre for People of Determination, in a theatrical experience that relies on visual and kinetic expression."
Ahlam Al Bannai explained that "the Al Jalila Centre has a long history of cooperation with people of determination from various centres, and there is a specialised studio behind the scenes for making puppets and costumes, and we integrate people of determination into all these programmes."
She noted that the team at the Centre is trained to deal with people of determination and integrate them into all programmes, not only those specifically for them, but also winter, summer, and other programmes.
Empowerment programme
For her part, Alaa Hammad, the person in charge of the theatre programme at the Al Jalila Centre, noted the programme for empowering talents, pointing out that they decided to offer something special for people of determination, which prompted them to partner with the Rashid Centre to work on presenting a complete theatrical work that allows people of determination to learn about the concepts of theatre, music, and training.
She added that the basic standards in working with people of determination are based on developing skills, knowing the children's abilities, and finding the special method and approach to work with them, with a focus on the safety factor so that they do not feel that there are restrictions limiting them.
She explained that the main goals that are focused on in the theatre are breaking the ice with members of society, enhancing self-confidence, and presenting the concept of teamwork, because the theatre is not based on one individual, in addition to enhancing talent.
Regarding working with people with disabilities in the theatre, Alaa Hammad stressed the need to respect and highlight the abilities of people with disabilities, revealing that they are preparing a new theatrical work in classical Arabic, which will be presented soon.
Focus on details
For his part, Najib Al-Habbal, who directed the play in collaboration with Nasra Al-Maamari, said: “The play is short, and the number of participants reached 10 students with disabilities, with their different situations. The text was built on the basis of their abilities and potential, as well as focusing on the call for peace, love, and cooperation.”
He pointed out that the main challenge in theatrical work with people with disabilities lies in building the play step by step, and focusing on the small details related to body movement or even facial expressions, to present feelings of sadness, anger, joy, and others, as well as focusing on action and reaction among the participants.
He pointed out that people with disabilities learn self-confidence through theatre, because they often face challenges in confrontation or communication, and theatre helps them overcome those difficulties. He noted that the work is also important for the parents and families of people with disabilities, because it gives them a sense of hope that their children are capable of making important achievements, especially in the arts.
He stressed the importance of integrating this group into society, and not limiting this to schools, especially since the state is working to integrate them into all aspects of life. Here comes the role of cultural institutions in providing opportunities for people with disabilities to participate in artistic works, as well as sports and many other fields.
Social message
Syrian Lamita Sarmini, who participated in the play ‘When Words Fall Silent’, said: “I am 13 years old, and the participation was very important to me, because the show carries a social message aimed at establishing the values of cooperation with people with disabilities. The work shows others how they should deal with us.”
She noted that she loves acting because she loves expressing herself through her face, admitting that she faced some difficulties during rehearsals, but upon going on stage and facing the audience, she was able to overcome all challenges.