Activities
THEATRE AND EMPATHY (SHORT SCENES WITH A FORUM)
Number of participants
Objectives
● To cultivate empathy by engaging participants in a theatrical scenario.
● To encourage participants to explore the emotions of the characters in the scene.
Where does the activity take place within the process (beginning, middle, end)
Duration
Material needed
Enough physical place to create a stage
Preparation
Prepare the room/space so that it is as spacious as it can be, without obstacles.
Step by step description
1. Set up a stage in the room for the theatrical exercise.
2. Scene playing: Choose two participants out of the group to perform a theatrical scene; alternatively, you, as a facilitator can also play these roles yourself. This is to enable two facilitators to participate. One person plays the role of an older lady attending a doctor’s appointment, where she learns that her hip surgery will not happen because of her age. The only option is to pay for it. This is outside of the public health system and which she cannot afford. She has a dialogue with a fictitious doctor who is not on stage. This is to explore the fact that she feels young, she is willing to do so many things in her life. Not having this surgery will have a great impact on life. The response of the doctor is aligned with the protocol – people beyond 70 years old cannot have this surgery.
3. Empathetic Reflection: After the scene, invite all participants to reflect on what the older lady in the scene would be feeling at that exact moment. Ask them to think about concrete feelings (ex.: “frustrated”, “hopeless”, “sad”, “mad”).
4. Then ask some participants (up to 5 people) to enter the stage and invite them to represent those feelings with a movement and a sound. They should surround the main character and perform this movement and sound in repetition. This should be conducted by taking turns to do this.
5. Introduce new characters to the scene from the group. A participant plays the role of the doctor, with a movement and a sound that represents the doctor’s emotions in the situation.
6. Continue to introduce new characters on stage to represent the doctor’s feelings.
7. Encourage participants to think about how the older person in the scene can reach and touch the unempathetic doctor, both physically and emotionally. They should consider creative and empathetic ways to bridge the gap between the characters.
The exercise concludes when you feel that information has been gathered about how people feel in these situations. Ask what can be done to change the situation?
Closing up
You can reflect jointly with the group on this exercise asking the following questions:
● How did this exercise make you feel ?
● Has something been difficult/easy for you?
You can conclude the exercise with a group discussion, where participants can share their thoughts and insights about empathy, communication, and the challenges of older people connecting with unempathetic individuals.