some local theater

A creative outlet that seems to be quite popular here among youth is putting on plays. They are fun and tend to use a lot of comedy. There have been two small productions in town lately - one with students at the dar chebab and another with students (girls) at the Development Association.

The first had its public performance at the dar chebab last week. It was a bit of a morality play with a target audience of younger kids. I was also able to understand most of it since it was in Darija (Moroccan Arabic) instead of Standard Arabic as most presentations are. The story is about some guys who are up to no good - drinking, doing drugs, and stealing. The humor comes from the dialogue and action being really exaggerated (as well as the way the bad guys dress). Here is the scheme beginning




But of course they end up getting caught and arrested by the police.




They go on trial to explain themselves in an over-the-top kind of way. It turns out that just one of the guys was responsible for the crime while the other was quite innocent. Justice is served!




Over at the Development Association (where girls from the surrounding countryside come to live while going to school here in town) I was asked to help with a simple English play for some of the motivated girls. We did a fun adaptation of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. It's more of a narration with acting if that makes sense....




"Go home Goldie! Hear our call: run like the wind and don't come back at all!"




So our Moroccan Goldie (in the middle) may not have blond hair.... It's a good time working on plays. I even got invited for dinner a couple times after our rehearsals. I look forward to more theater!