Entertainment Education Programs

---

Brazilian Street Theatre

Using popular forms of communication for behavior change programs provides an entertaining and widely acceptable format to reach audiences. In Brazil, street theater is one type of popular communication that is embedded in local culture. In 1995 Johns Hopkins University Population Communication Services (JHU/PCS), in collaboration with the Ceara School of Public Heath, developed a community outreach project for young adults in two municipalities in the state of Ceara.

The goal 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 Ministry of Health's health promotion and outreach efforts in the municipalities. JHU/PCS supported groups with reproductive health messages while UNICEF supported theater groups focusing on child survival messages.

This Brazilian experience with street theater is unique because communities played the lead role in identifying reproductive health themes (Sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS and breastfeeding) and in the selection of actors to participate in the project. The theater groups were composed of volunteers selected by the communities. They came from all walks of life (physicians, nurses, herbalists, religious leaders, etc). Troupe members had no prior theater training but committed themselves to mounting productions throughout the year. Their training in theater came from participating in street theater workshops facilitated by street performers. The workshops covered the basics of designing, writing, and acting in street theater. They also covered content areas.

The group followed a process of working with the community to identify the specific reproductive health problems most relevant to the community members. Once the problems were identified, the group canvassed the community to identify community resources available to resolve the problems identified. The next step was to incorporate the 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, performances were given multiple times. The goal of the project was to increase individual and community dialogue on priority health issues and to promote local reproductive health services. In addition to the actual performances, audio and video tapes were produced. They were played on local radio stations or used in clinic waiting rooms, and eventually broadcast on television.

This program was recognized for its effectiveness and the state government extended the use of street theater to promote health awareness to other municipalities. As a measure of the group's success, community health workers subsequently worked with the street theater group in an effort to stem a cholera outbreak. The original group also trained other groups in street theater techniques.

The objectives of the project were:

• To promote reproductive health 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 reproductive health services by providing training in street theater techniques
• To test street theater as a vehicle for reproductive health promotion.

Indicators of success included:

• Wide dissemination of the STD/HIV and breastfeeding dramas in two regions of the state
• Replication of the methodology for other health themes
• One 10-minute video of the performance to be used in clinic waiting rooms.

© 2005 The Johns Hopkins University. All rights reserved.
Security and Privacy Policy, 111 Market Place, Suite 310, Baltimore, MD 21202, webmaster@jhuccp.org

Photos courtesy of Photoshare, a service of The INFO Project.