FRAGMENTS THEATRE
Promoting Mental Health Through Arts
Fragments Theatre , in collaboration with Bond Street Theatre in New York and in association with 6 additional CSOs, proposes an Arts for Psychosocial Support training program engaging youth (ages 18-30) from Jenin and surrounding villages. The program uses the arts to support mental health in youth, counter violence, foster social inclusion, and advance peaceful solutions to local social justice issues through theatre and digital storytelling.
The project brings together an 8-person US-Palestinian Artistic Team, which includes experts in
theatre direction and facilitation, artists, digital storytelling through social media, and mental health. It is important that the program leadership pulls from a range of interdisciplinary educational backgrounds, such as psychology, the arts, education and communications.
Through the US-Palestinian exchange of skills, the project will produce an ongoing dramatic series
on social media that explores the issues confronting youth in Jenin and offers viable solutions. The series will be written and performed by 10 youth participants from Jenin under the direction of the Artistic Team, and be presented on various online platforms to engage a wide variety of viewers. The interactive nature of social media allows for viewers to respond and the Artistic Team to monitor responses.
The program also provides the 10 youth participants with training in arts-based psychosocial
training methods to enable them to lead a free workshop program in Jenin city and other vulnerable
communities surrounding the city. The youth will gain valuable field work experience in training an
additional 150-200 youth in arts workshops, as well as the program planning and implementation skills.
Fragments Speaks Out
The participants have produced series under the direction of the Artistic Team, the series called Fragments Speaks Out, short stories, exercises, sketch, montage and more gave new prospective to the beauty and challenges of living in Jenin, and presented on various online platforms to engage a wide variety wide variety of viewers. The interactive nature of social media allows for viewers to respond and the Artistic Team to monitor responses.
Community workshops
Conducting community workshops facilitated by the 10 youth participants with the Artistic Team, to assist local youth , children, women and elderly with the emotional problems that affect their lives, use the arts to bring joy, and introduce creative methods for continued emotional support.
The workshops targeted all community members, different ages from 5 years old to 73 years old by targeting Kindergartens, youth organizations, women organizations, elderly homes.
PSS activities in Jenin and Tulkarem
Fragments Theatre implemented Socio Psychological activities by targeting 8 schools in Jenin City, Jenin Refugee Camp and Tullkarem Camps.
The sessions primarily focused on warm-up exercises, breathing techniques, and dividing participants into five groups led by facilitators. Facilitators introduced enjoyable games such as the "Musical Chairs" competition and the "Mirror
Exercise," where two children faced each other, with one initiating movements that the other mirrored. This aimed to enhance focus and foster friendships among participants. Additionally, finger-painting with colors was used to stimulate bloodcirculation and for emotional expression. A participant shared a story followed by a song, prompting discussion among the children about the moral and lesson learned.
.The Problem Tree Exercise
.The House, Person, and Storm Exercise
The Energy Exercise: Involving absorbing energy from the sun, visualizing beautiful things entering the body, and releasing negative thoughts to the ground, aiming to renew energy and promote tranquility.
These exercises aimed to encourage teamwork, emotional expression, and asense of community among the students.
