Giving Self-worth: Theatre
We work with children, youth and women, facilitating the creation of original, high quality and multi-disciplinary theatre, in which participants write their own scripts.
Our theatre projects take many forms: from weeklong micro-projects led by Seenaryo trainees, to large scale productions that tour nationally, led by local theatre makers and our core team.
Flagship projects include What’s Far Is Near, a cross-border production created and performed over Zoom by women living in the UK and Lebanon which premiered at London’s Southbank Centre and The Palace Theatre in Beirut; Turned Into Stars created by youth in Jordan inspired by the poet Jean Genet, and an adaptation of The Metamorphosis After Franz Kafka by Lebanese, Palestinian and Syrian youth in Beirut which premiered at Lebanon’s first European Theatre Festival.
Nothing except theatre allows me to make my voice heard.
Giving Voice: Choirs
We run a collection of choirs for children and women singing music from around the world, as well as original songs written by participants, in two-part harmony.
Our choir projects take many forms: from in-school choirs, local-community choirs, international exchanges, and music video production.
Flagship projects include our choir exchange between children in Lebanon and the UK which was featured by Al Jazeera+ and our recent lockdown music video, Little Bird.
My body fills with positive energy while I sing – it makes me forget everything negative. I wish this experience would never end.
Giving Leadership: Training
We train youth leaders in participatory approaches to arts facilitation and working in community based arts initiatives.
Our training projects take many forms: from introducing newcomers to participatory arts practice, further training for those with a developed practice, and offering mentorship on the ground to those already leading projects.
Many of our trainees go on to be hired for Seenaryo projects, or receive Seenaryo micro-grants to run their own community initiatives. Seenaryo has also developed its own Seenaryo Theatre Cookbook, as a resource for our trainees.
I've done a Masters in Education, but I've never had access to such practical tools for working with children.
Giving Life Skills: Seenaryo Playkit
We’ve developed the Seenaryo Playkit, a mobile phone app and training for teachers of 3-8 year olds, supporting them to make their lessons interactive through music, story and play.
Our training has been delivered to over 100 schools and NGOs including the IRC, Caritas, and War Child. Teachers are in turn developing the life skills of over 25,000 children to date. The Playkit is currently available to download via the App Store and Google Play.
In response to Covid-19, we adapted our Playkit resources to launch I Learn From Home, allowing parents and caregivers to deliver play-based learning at home. Seenaryo continues design other teaching resources and training for parents and teachers alike.
I taught early childhood education for 8 years and have never seen anything like this.
Senior Education Officer (IRC)
