Grassroots Theatre: The New African Diaspora on Stage

Theater is capable of entertaining, raising awareness of societal imbalances, and encouraging people to rethink their own behavior. A community theatre play on stage will be developed based on the Silent University Ruhr‘s premise that grassroots theatre addresses current social and political conditions within the New African Diaspora communities. The collaborative development of a stage play can be a powerful tool to openly expose and discuss social issues of contention. By involving the community and taking different approaches to the issue - environmental, cultural, political, socio-economic - the audience is engaged and can easily relate to themselves and their own situation. In this way, Silent University Ruhr hopes to spark interest in theater as a means of expressing one's own points of view, raising awareness, and building and building a confidence that may together effect a societal change.