Sitting in my Drama of
Social Change class my senior year of college, my professor told us that the
organization we select for the community service portion of the class must be important
and personal to us. What is personal to me? I pondered this.
After 4 years in New York
City I had found a new voice of the modern American woman, though the voice of
my childhood and teenage years felt unresolved. I am a Saudi-American and I spent
most of my life living in Bahrain. I considered the issues that had hindered me
most in my life…perhaps the civil unrest that defined my final years in
Bahrain? The inner conflict of embodying two opposing cultures? Or was it
simply being a Saudi woman with a loud voice and a lot to say? I meditated on
these questions and the next week I approached my professor asking for
suggestions. As if premeditated, she shouted ‘Bond Street Theatre!’
Immediately captivated by
their purpose, I contacted them right after class to find that they were
working in Afghanistan. The very fact that they were working on peace building
in a world so close to my own, physically there and committed to resolving
conflict, enraptured me. I subscribed to Bond Street Theatre’s newsletters,
followed their blog and stayed updated on the important work that they do.
Following my graduation in May 2017, with a degree in Directing for Theatre,
the Bond Street Theatre team was back in New York City and I applied for an
internship.
Being from a mixed family,
I have seen how a certain type of sensitivity can help bridge cultural
boundaries, and Bond Street Theatre does that on a large scale. They generate
important conversations between those who disagree, and allow each side to physically
express their argument, enabling people to find common grounds.
I am very fortunate to have
been exposed to theatre at a young age, and have found it to be my catharsis.
Bond Street Theatre introduces theatre to communities where artistic platforms
aren’t readily available, and in doing so they are giving people all over the
world the freedom to use theatre to tell their stories. From undocumented
refugees such as the Rohingya women Bond Street works with, to those
incarcerated in literal prisons, Bond Street Theatre is committed to this
beautiful type of artistic healing.
Bond Street Theatre has
given me the freedom to hone in on my own interests and I narrowed my
professional focus towards grant writing. As an emerging theatre artist,
learning to write grants is crucial. This involves historical research and
close attention to minor and major conflicts, studying them with a sensitivity
and reporting them with accuracy. The research necessary for these grants has
cultured me and given me knowledge of conflicts mainstream news sources don’t
cover, conflicts I thought my Middle Eastern upbringing had exposed me to, but
in many ways it shielded me from. In addition, I have written blog posts and
found partnerships for the organization. Bond Street Theatre is helping me with
my personal endeavors and teaching me how to make theatre for change. I have
learnt here that anything is possible.
Joanna and Michael, our
Artistic and Managing Director (otherwise known as the dynamic duo), have shown
me the type of life a non-commercial theatre artist can lead. I admit that
getting an artist degree was extremely scary for me; I didn’t know if that kind
of life was realistic. Joanna and Michael literally live their art and have
shown me that it is entirely possible to run a company, travel the world and
help people. Though one theatre can’t change the world all on its own, it has
certainly changed parts of it.
