Youth from the Transdiaspora Network Blog About TRAPT!
Jan. 08, 2014A youth organization came to the Ali Forney Theatrical Society's performance at Bowery Poetry Club in December, and they blogged about their experience at the forum.
Theatre of the Oppressed Experience
Written by Jasmine Mondesis, TDN BOLD Initiative intern. Dec. 13, 2013
Theatre of the Oppressed Experience
Written by Jasmine Mondesis, TDN BOLD Initiative intern. Dec. 13, 2013
Interactive Experience With Theatre of the Oppressed
“Why can’t you be like your brother? You are not coming back in my house!” These were the hurtful words that came out of a mother’s mouth. She had just finished screaming at her son whom was dressed like a woman and wearing her purse. He was so sad, and he started to cry after hearing what his mother said to him. I can’t even imagine going through something like this with my parents, but this is what some people experience when families discover secrets dealing with sexuality. I felt extremely bad for the son. The comparison to the sibling and being able to kick the son out of the house with ease were very upsetting to me.
I watched this interaction between the mother and son characters in a play that was produced by the Theatre of the Oppressed NYC at Bowery Poetry last Sunday (Dec. 8, 2013). This was just one of the many issues that was addressed as I sat in the theater with my TDN co-worker, but this stood out to me the most because I have gay guys as friends. When I saw that scene, I wondered if these were things that they had gone through or are currently going through. I would never ask them though because I wouldn’t want them to feel uncomfortable.
The Theatre of the Oppressed really put on a great production because they made it very interactive. They involved the audience and I even went on the stage and acted out a scene. Although acting in the scene made me feel very much in the moment of sadness, I can never truly know the feeling of my family turning their back on me for something like that. It’s quite sad how some of these situations turn out. Hopefully, people can be more understanding and love people for who they are.
“Why can’t you be like your brother? You are not coming back in my house!” These were the hurtful words that came out of a mother’s mouth. She had just finished screaming at her son whom was dressed like a woman and wearing her purse. He was so sad, and he started to cry after hearing what his mother said to him. I can’t even imagine going through something like this with my parents, but this is what some people experience when families discover secrets dealing with sexuality. I felt extremely bad for the son. The comparison to the sibling and being able to kick the son out of the house with ease were very upsetting to me.
I watched this interaction between the mother and son characters in a play that was produced by the Theatre of the Oppressed NYC at Bowery Poetry last Sunday (Dec. 8, 2013). This was just one of the many issues that was addressed as I sat in the theater with my TDN co-worker, but this stood out to me the most because I have gay guys as friends. When I saw that scene, I wondered if these were things that they had gone through or are currently going through. I would never ask them though because I wouldn’t want them to feel uncomfortable.
The Theatre of the Oppressed really put on a great production because they made it very interactive. They involved the audience and I even went on the stage and acted out a scene. Although acting in the scene made me feel very much in the moment of sadness, I can never truly know the feeling of my family turning their back on me for something like that. It’s quite sad how some of these situations turn out. Hopefully, people can be more understanding and love people for who they are.