Girl Be Heard and Human Rights Watch presents a world premiere collaboration:

BREAKING THE SILENCE WITH GIRL BE HEARD

February 19, 20, 21 at 8:00PM

AT THE SOHO PLAYHOUSE  (15 Vandam Street)

Directed by KATRINA SYRAN
Written by KATRINA SYRAN and SUZAN CRAIG


A joint production of Girl Be Heard and Human Rights Watch, BREAKING THE SILENCE is an advocacy piece using the words of real girls and women, all survivors, telling their stories of rape, abuse, forced marriage and genital mutilation. The stories are powerful and the women who tell them are talented storytellers (some more than others).

Unfortunately, as a piece of theatre, it was under-rehearsed and sloppy, which distracted from the piece, diluting is effectiveness. Some actors had memorized, and some were reading. Transitions from one scene to the next were clunky. It would have been much more moving without the awkward choreography and staging. Telling the stories simply, just sitting in chairs with music stands to hold their scripts would have made their monologues much stronger.

And in a piece entitled Girls Be Heard, why were there men speaking? There were two male actors. Most of their monologues were about the importance of listening to women’s’ voices, but it just seemed patronizing for them to be telling the audience, who were there to listen, that they should be listening.

This is a piece that should be powerful and moving, and the stories of these women and girls do need to be heard. Let’s hope they smooth out the production, and get the stories to a larger audience.

- Jean Tait-