Using a rights-based approach each performance is age-appropriately crafted to highlight and foster thought and debate around the issues of identity, rights, relationships, discrimination, gender, sexuality, peer pressure, sex, substance use, violence, and physical and emotional abuse. The approach addresses the notions of choice making, responsibility and tolerance within the framework of the audience's understanding of their rights. The performances travel the country, reaching some of South Africa's most vulnerable children.
"With arepp: Theatre for Life, all the world and its issues are presented on a stage, but the children in the audience are not passive players. There is no doubt that their shows transcend a mere theatre experience to become a milestone life experience for the young audiences affected. External impact assessments clearly demonstrate that children leave arepp's theatre shows better equipped to walk the fragile path to adulthood," says Samia Zoued, programme officer at STARS Foundation for Africa-Middle East.
The STARS Impact Awards identify and support already effective, frontline, impactful local organisations that achieve excellence in the provision of services to disadvantaged or vulnerable children and that demonstrate effective management practices. Through the Impact Awards, the STARS Foundation helps organisations such as arepp: Theatre for Life, become even stronger by enhancing their capacity to deliver vital services on the ground. arepp:Theatre for Life was selected from amongst 976 applicants from 60 countries.
"We are delighted to receive the STARS Impact Award, which recognises our 25 year contribution to the promotion of Human Rights in South Africa and highlights the vital importance of assisting young people and children to understand, engage with, and contextualise the notions and practical applications of their rights," said Brigid Schutz director of arepp:Theatre for Life.
Established in 1987, arepp:Theatre for Life now directly engages approximately 120 000 five to eighteen year olds in approximately 350 schools annually, through their high quality applied theatre productions which provide interactive, social life-skills education to school-going learners, enabling informed choice and developing self-efficacy and resilience. In 2011, the educators indicated an increase of 81% in the audience's knowledge, skills, ability and confidence to engage, deal with and problem-solve the concerns that were relevant to them. The reported percentage of physical and sexual abuse cases in those schools halved from the previous year, to just under 4%, reported pregnancies dropped from 9% to less than 1%, and reported suicides decreased from 1 to 0.1%.
