Pacific Arts
Pacific Arts
Drama Sparks Community Awareness Of Social Problems
In most Pacific Islands, youth are quite literally at a crossroads. On top of the usual array of challenges, they're increasingly disconnected from their own customs but not at home in a western culture that, to put it mildly, is clashing with every value their parents grew up with. In American Samoa, Li'a Seui has launched an innovative way to focus community attention on these problems by blending local and western culture to involve young people in theater.
"The vision of Crossroads Theater for Youth (CTY) was inspired by our youth when a suicide epidemic swept our island nation and took the lives of some of our young people in 2003," says Seui. "We wanted to break the curse of poverty that clouded the minds of our youth with hopelessness."
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| Meet the CTY people: standing, left to right: Malaetele Tautala, Daniel A. Kelin, Fred Mata'u, Losoloso Iaulualo; sitting, left to right: Uulasi Tanielu, Molly Fa'amai. (Photo courtesy CTY) |
CTY gained a three-year grant from the U.S. Administration for Native Americans that enabled it to employ a group of full-time actors who develop, produce and perform original plays.
When she launched the program last year, Seui sought the help of Daniel Kelin, the drama education director from the Honolulu Theatre for Youth. Kelin has worked with similar programs in the Marshall Islands, Vanuatu and elsewhere, and jumped at the opportunity.
"Their greatest strength is their ability to connect with the children and youth of Samoa because those youth will see themselves reflected not only in the work, but the people who are doing it," says Kelin, who together with other Honolulu Theatre for Youth staff, has been working with the CTY program for the past year.
"Through drama, young people began to see themselves in a new way," Seui says. "Not as disadvantaged victims of their environment, but as individuals with great potential in a community that is self-sufficient through its talent, culture, strength and resources."
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Rehearsing
a scene from one of CTY's plays are, left to right, Uulasi Tanielu,
Fred Mata'u, and Malaetele Tautala. (Photo
courtesy CTY)
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The plays being produced by CTY are stimulated by real-life experiences of American Samoan youth. CTY's first play "Silent Cries" was based on a true story of 15-year old Luana, a local teenager who suffered sexual and physical abuse that led to a suicide attempt. "For young people involved in developing and crafting her story, it was a time of healing as they've had to confront their own fears of abuse," Seui says. "Every performance has brought tears to the audience as people young and old were able to relate to one of the characters."
"At-risk youth are at-risk because they have little that stimulates them or gives them a purpose on which to place their focus," Kelin says. "Theater gives them an engaging, fun and immediate experience that results in success and a pride in the product. For the community, to see their own children performing is a powerful event."
Perhaps best of all, CTY is creating a unique blend of older island traditions and contemporary issues to engage youth and the community in American Samoa.
