Ceará Street Theatre: Using Popular Theatre for Behavior Change

Project Dates: 1995

• Overview
• Project Outcomes

The use of popular forms of communication for behavior change programs provides an entertaining and widely acceptable format to reach large audiences. In Brazil, street theater is one type of popular communication that is very popular and embedded in Brazilian culture.

In 1995, JHU/PCS in collaboration with the Ceara School of Public Heath developed a community outreach project for young adults in two municipalities in state of Ceará. The role of the project was to form local street theater troupes as a strategy for community outreach in reproductive health education. The troupes were trained locally to produce folk theater that would complement the MOH health promotion and outreach efforts in the municipalities. JHU/PCS supported groups with reproductive health messages while UNICEF supported street theater groups focusing on child survival messages.

Overview

The purpose of the project and specifically the street theater performances was to increase individual and community dialogue on priority health issues and to promote local reproductive health services.

More specifically, project objectives were:

• To promote RH services to young adults (ages 19 to 24) residing in the semi-rural communities of the Icapui and Pedra Branca municipalities through the use of street theater

• To actively involve the communities in the promotion of RH services by providing training in street theater techniques

• To test street theater as a vehicle for RH promotion

The Brazilian street theater experience was unique in that communities played the lead role in identifying the reproductive health themes (STDs/HIV, and breastfeeding) and in the selection of the actors to participate in the project. The theater groups were made up of volunteers selected by the communities and were from all walks of life (physicians, nurses, herbalists, religious leaders, etc). The members, with no prior theater training, made the commitment to put on productions throughout the year. Their training in theater came from participating in street theater workshops facilitated by street performers. The workshops covered the basics on designing, writing, acting in street theaters, and also content areas.

The group began the process by working with the community to identify the specific reproductive health problems most relevant to community members. Once the problems were identified, the group canvassed the community for available resources to resolve the problems identified. The next step was to incorporate solutions into the play (for example a pregnant woman is shown going to a health clinic instead of giving birth in the streets). Once the plays were ready, street theaters were staged multiple times. In addition to the actual performances, audio and video tapes were produced for local radio stations and clinic waiting rooms, and eventually broadcast on television.

Project Outcomes

The program was recognized for its effectiveness, and State government extended the use of street theater to other municipalities to promote health awareness. STD, HIV and breastfeeding dramas were widely disseminated throughout the state, and the methodology was replicated for other health themes. Community health workers used the project model and worked with a street theater group in an effort to stem a subsequent cholera outbreak. The original group was then asked to train other groups in the techniques they had learned, to keep the tradition alive and further impact public health.