Kazakhstan - Creativity in Action: Promoting Gender Equality through Theatre

A peek into the experiences of Bond Street Theatre Member: from the ‘academic’ to the ‘real’ world

Nina, a graduate in international relations at Central European University, completed a virtual internship at Bond Street Theatre in 2021 during the height of the COVID pandemic, and later, brought the company to Kazakhstan for a project around gender-based and domestic violence in collaboration with the Union of Crisis Centers. The Union of Crisis Centers (UCC) is an umbrella organization of 19 women’s shelters and regional projects fighting for gender equality and against gender-based violence (GBV) across Kazakhstan. Together, the two organizations conducted a month-long training program and created a play together which they performed in five different cities around the country: Almaty, Ust-Kamenogorsk, Nur-Sultan, Kostanay, and Kokshetau. The goal was to create a safe space for dialogue, interact with the audiences and communicate practical information about how to deal with domestic violence in various scenarios. 

We had the chance to talk to Nina about her experience and how she managed to put together a whole project without having any professional theatre experience…

Participate in projects without theatre experience? Not impossible! 

In the interview, Nina shared the intricacies of project management with us. As expected, it is indeed very different then the academic world. It is way more practical than theoretical – you need to create budgets, write grant proposals, make the plan and coordinate its implementation. However, there is no need to fear, as Nina suggested some aspects of her studies were also relevant in the ‘real’ world. Nina’s academic skills were very welcomed when it came to problem analysis around issues of social justice, which in the case of Kazakhstan, was gender-based and domestic violence. Before writing a project you need to have an intricate awareness of the issue you wish to address and understand the ways in which you can help. 

Writing the project and actually getting the grant to DO IT are two very different things. Nina did them both! She does not have a formal education in theatre, but it has always had a special place in her life. Once she arrived in Kazakhstan, she met the founders of Bond Street Theatre for the first time in real life, and got started right away. The Kazakh team did not have any previous theatre experience, so the first thing was to teach them some basics to make everyone understand that everyone CAN enjoy theatre and that you do not necessarily have to go to acting school to be able to perform on stage. 

As the team got to know each other better and the training days were over, they started working on the play itself. However, it turned out that the members of the Union Crisis Centre did not think they would be acting in the play as well !? Let's read how that turned out!

Q: How did the execution of the project go? What do you think were the pros and cons of doing the project in such a concentrated amount of time, especially with people who haven't done theatre before? I'm sure you saw so much growth as the show was happening.

A: I think we always want to have more time for the show to be perfect. But it worked! And it worked with people that are not experienced at all. It was intense, the rehearsals and the tour – we spent all day rehearsing together, 6 days a week. Thankfully, we had preparatory online sessions before that, so we could talk about our vision for the play beforehand. 

And of course, the tour was also  intense if you're traveling so much. We started in a city in the north, and because the country is so big, you have to fly everywhere. It was a very tight schedule: you arrive, and maybe two hours later, you already have to be in the theatre to prepare. And then the next day you travel to the next city. So the touring phase is very intense. But it was a young team, and people knew what they were signing up for. The excitement also helps with the stress!

Q: Do you have one experience from the project that really stands out?

A: Women that were affected by domestic violence themselves came to watch the show. And then they spoke out about it, for the first time, during the post-performance discussion. So they said, “this is the first time that I'm talking about it.” We tried to highlight how it's not an issue behind closed doors, and it's not the victims fault. It's something that comes from society, from a patriarchal society. It was so great to see these women speak about it, and feel safe to speak about it. And for them to say “this happened to me, but I managed to get out of this abusive relationship.” That's what I do the work for, to reach these people. 

Q: What has it been like since you completed the project in Kazakhstan? Have you stayed in touch with the people you worked with there? Have you seen any projects or work that they've been doing?

A: We only completed 8 out of the 10 planned post-show workshops while we were there, so they conducted one or two more after the BST team left. And they also did one or two more shows without us, because the idea is that we helped UCC to create the play, but then they are able to sustain it as an organization. We completed the project in July, and then in November, we found out that they did another show. So that's a really nice result to see that they continued even 4 months later… We try to stay in touch, and if I see another grant in this region, I will definitely try to apply for it. And maybe we could do a new collaboration across the borders with Kyrgyzstan, for example.

Q: What about this project warms your heart when you look back on it?

A: Alia, the Project Coordinator from the Kazakh side, was amazing. I think much of the success of the project is because of her. We clicked immediately, and we were very close from the beginning. She was just so great in managing the project and so passionate.. And the funny thing was that in the beginning, she didn't understand that they would be part of the show – she thought that she would just coordinate logistics, and maybe do the social media. And then, after a few days, she learnt that she would be one of the actors! She said, “Ah, so I can act too!” and we said, “Yeah, that's really the idea – that you will become the actor.” And she didn't have any experience with theater before that, but she was so, so, so, amazing. She's just a great role model.

Q: Finally, what kinds of projects do you want to see Bond Street doing in the future?

A: I would love to work on the borders of Europe. There are so many refugee camps, on the Greek islands, for example. And the situation is really, really bad, and how people are treated is really, really messed up. So I think a dream project for me would be to do something there, maybe with women, because they are the most affected by the circumstances there.