Youth Take a Stand Against Corruption

Interactive theater performance raises awareness and engages audience of over 350.

When Umeda Shokirova came to watch a performance by a Youth Theater for Peace troupe, she expected to stay in her seat – not make an impromptu acting debut for an audience of more than 350 fellow university students and teachers.

Yet as the stories of a university instructor who takes bribes and a girl whose family prohibits her from studying unfolded, Umeda couldn’t sit still. She accepted the troupe’s invitation to come on stage, replace a character, and change the outcome of the play. “This type of theater develops courage and energy to perform and freely express one’s opinion,” Ms. Shokirova reflected. “I tried to help to resolve the issue by replacing the weak and traditional mother with a stronger and determined woman [who will defend her daughter’s right to an education.]”

The youth theater troupe, who traveled to Dushanbe from Panj to perform in honor of Anti-Corruption Day on December 9, was trained in an interactive methodology called Forum Theater through the Youth Theater for Peace project, which is funded by USAID and implemented by IREX.  Their plays are designed to raise awareness and spark dialogue about conflict and community issues, engaging the audience in the search for solutions.

“I like the idea of Forum Theater,” said Aziza Sharipova, a classmate of Ms. Shokirova’s. “It makes theater more accessible to every layer of society. Through Forum Theater, young people will learn to see real life with its problems and difficulties and be ready to overcome them.”

The Panj youth theater troupe is one of 12 groups USAID is supporting to engage audiences in more than 50 village communities in the Khatlon and Sughd regions. Their performance in the capital was supported by a special grant from the US Embassy and introduced by representatives of Tajikistan’s Committee for Youth Affairs, Sport and Tourism, the locally registered Anti-Corruption Awareness and Information Center NGO, and US Deputy Chief of Mission Necia Quast.

“This is the first time I’ve seen a performance like this,” said Victoria Tsoy, a medical student who attended the Anti-Corruption Day event. “The contact established with the audience is wonderful. The approach helps youth express their views and teaches us not to be indifferent to the problems presented in the play.”