Green Pantomime When Silence Speaks out Environmental Issues
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Green Pantomime Theater (GPT) is a tool for promoting children environmental awareness and activism. This paper provides insight into how environmental issues can be embedded in green performances and consequently offers a model of socio- environmental change. In Morocco, GPT performances aim to change children behavior, enhance their environmental awareness, and develop their abilities to act as protectors of the environment. The status of PGT upon children has considerably changed within the Moroccan theatre context. The ‘Creativity Association for the Development of Educational Work’, under Arabic name of جمعية لتنمية العمل التربوي إبداعات is a Moroccan non-governmental association that employs GPT to promote environmental awareness and activism. The study examines a 45 minutes show performed by ‘the Joker’ theatre group titled البيئةهجرة ‘Environment Migration’. Within the framework of ecocriticism (Bracke & Corporaal, 2010) and visual grammar (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006), the present work attempts to explain how silence, gestures, and visuals mirror the themes of the show. The study argues that environmental themes adopted in the performance strongly point to the Anthropocene's responsibility in destroying nature. For example, scenes on pollution, deforestation, the killing of species, and unreported and unregulated fishing (UUF) show that man has been dramatically affecting the environment. To make of the show a success, participating actors have meticulously used signs and gestures to silently express their views about a highly sophisticated issue. They have made of this show a universal performance in that anyone anywhere can perceive. Eventually, GPTs are highly recommended to identify lines of confrontation that man has with nature. Also, GPTs are important in that they represent man’s practices through gestures and signs and may provide responses for inspiring socio- ecological change.
Downloads
Metrics
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
References
Abrams, M. H., & Harpham, G.G. (2015). A glossary of literary terms. Stanford: Cengage Learning.
Agee, J. (1949). Comedy’s greatest era. LIFE6 , September 3. Retrieved from https://scrapsfromtheloft.com/2019/11/17/comedys-greatest-era-james-agee/
Baylis, J. (2009). Mapping Queensland theatre, Queensland government report, May 2009.
Retrieved from http://www.google.com.au/search?q=Mapping+Queensland+Theatre&rlz=1C1CHNU _enAU475&oq=Mapping+Queensland+Theatre&sugexp=chrome,mod=3&sourceid=c hrome&ie=UTF-8
Bergthaller, H. (2010). Housebreaking the human animal: Humanism and the problem of sustainability in Margaret Atwood’s ‘Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood’. English Studies, 91, 728-742.
Bracke, A., & Corporaal, M. (2010). Ecocriticism and English studies: An introduction. English Studies, 91(7), 709-712.
Brockett, O. G., & Hildy, F. J. (2015). History of the theatre. Essex: Pearson.
Brown, S., Mittermaier, E., Kher, T., & Arnold, P. (2019). How pantomime works: Implications for theories of language origin. Common, (9). doi: 10.3389 / fcomm.2019.00009
Buffy, P. (2015). The Lexicon of theater (M.F. Khat trans.). Beirut: Center for Arab Unity Studies.
Chandler, D. (2007). Semiotics: The basics. London, UK: Routledge.
Chaudhuri, U. (2005). Animal geographies: Zooësis and the space of modern drama. In G. Giannachi & N. Stewart (Eds.), Performing Nature: Explorations in ecology and the arts (pp: 103-118). Bern: Peter Lang.
Chaudhuri, U. (1997). Staging Place: The geography of modern drama. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan.
Clark, T. (2015). Ecocriticism on the edge the Anthropocene as a threshold concept. London : Bloomsbury.
Dutton, J. (2015). Keeping quiet visual comedy in the age of sound. Gosport: Chaplin Books.
El-Nawawy, M., & Hamas Elmasry, M. (2016). The signs of a strongman: A semiotic and
discourse analysis of Abdelfattah Al-Sisi’s Egyptian presidential campaign. International Journal of Communication, 10, 2275-2296
Estok, S. C. (2005). Shakespeare and ecocriticism: An analysis of 'Home' and 'Power' in King Lear. AUMLA103, 15-41.
Fertat, O. (2009). Le théâtre amateur marocain. Trajectoire d’un théâtre alternatif [Moroccan amateur theater. Trajectory of an alternative theater]. Revue internationale de langue et de littérature, 73(1).1-18. Retrieved from https://crossworks.holycross.edu/pf/vol73/iss1/10
Fertat, O. (2012). Le théâtre populaire marocain, une tradition séculaire Exemples de la halqa et de lbsat [Moroccan popular theater, a secular tradition examples of halqa and lbsat]. Horizons Theatre, 152-1171. Retrieved from http://www.pub-editions.fr/index.php/revues/theatre-populaire-marocain-une-tradition-seculaire-leexemples-de-la-halqa-et-de-ibsat-article-10.html
Fertat, O. (2020). La Darija langue « naturelle » du théâtre Marocain? [The Darija “natural” language of Moroccan theater?.]. Al-Andalus Magreb, 26, 12.1-27. https://doi.org/10.25267/AAM.2019.i26.12
Forister, M. L., Halsch, C. A., Nice, C. C., Fordyce, J. A., Dilts, T. E ., Oliver , J. C., Prudic, K. L., Shapiro , A. M., Wilson , J. K., & Glassberg , J. (2021). Fewer butterflies seen by community scientists across the warming and drying landscapes of the American West. Science, 371(6533), 1042-1045. DOI: 10.1126/science.abe5585
Fried, L., & May, T.M. (1994). Greening up our houses: A guide to more ecologically sound theatre. New York: Drama Book Publishers.
Fuchs, E., & Chaudhuri, U. (2002). Land / Scape / Theater. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan Press.
Gehring, T., Bär, S., Homeyer, I. v., Kraemer, A. R., Mazurek, A.-G., Klasing, A., Tarasofky, R. G. (2000). Closer cooperation, a new instrument for European environmental policy? European Integration online Papers, 4(13), 1-31.
Glotfelty, C., & Fromm, H. (1996). The ecocriticism reader: Landmarks in literary ecology. London: University of Georgia.
Gratiot-Alphandéry, H., Rosemberg, F., & Chapuis E. (1973). Le théâtre pour enfants [Children's theater]. Enfance, 1-126. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.3406/enfan.1973.2559
Hamdaoui, J. (2007).تاريخ مسرح الطفل في المغرب [Children theater in Morocco: History and bibliography]. Retrieved from https://pulpit.alwatanvoice.com/articles/2007/06/04/91396.html
Hamdaoui, J. (2009).ببليوغرافية مســــرح الطفل بالمغرب [Bibliography of children's theater in Morocco]. Retrieved from https://www.diwanalarab.com
Hance, J. (2015, October 20). How humans are driving the sixth mass extinction. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/radical-conservation/2015/oct/20/the-four-horsemen-of-the-sixth-mass-extinction
Hassall, L., & Rowan S. (2019). Greening theatre landscapes: developing sustainable practice futures in theatre graduates. In W. Leal Filho, R. Leal-Arcas (Eds.), University initiatives in climate change mitigation and adaptation (pp: 143-158). London: Springer.
Heise, U. (2008). Sense of place, sense of planet: The environmental imagination of the global. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Heise, U. (2010). Afterword: Postcolonial ecocriticism and the question of literature. In B. Roos & A. Hunt (Eds.) Postcolonial green: Environmental politics and world narratives (pp: 251-258). Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press.
Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S. L. Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, N. Caud, Y. Chen, L. Goldfarb, M. I. Gomis, M. Huang, K. Leitzell, E. Lonnoy, J.B.R. Matthews, T. K. Maycock, T. Waterfield, O. Yelekçi, R. Yu and B. Zhou (Eds.) (2021). Climate change 2021 the physical science basis summary for policymakers. Cambridge University Press. In Press.
James, E., & Morel, E. (2018). Ecocriticism and narrative theory: An introduction. English Studies, 99(4), 355-365.
Jensen, B.B. (2002). Knowledge, action and pro-environmental behavior. Environmental Education Research, 8(3), 325-334.
Jewitt, C., & Oyama, R. (2014). Visual meaning: A social semiotic approach. In T. van Leeuwen & C. Jewitt (Eds.), Handbook of visual analysis (pp. 134-156). London, UK: SAGE Publications.
Kantor, M. (2010). Towards a new environmental theatre: An aspirational manifesto for the theatre community. In Greening the arts thinkpieces for a zero carbon future and a survey of sustainable art and practices (pp: 10-11). Retrieved from https://www.tippingpointaustralia.com/library
Kassab, O., Schwarzen, R.P., & Gotsch, N. (2018). Assessing ten years of inter- and transdisciplinary research, education, and outreach: The Competence Center Environment and Sustainability (CCES) of the ETH Domain. GAIA - Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society, 27 (2), 226-234.
Kurt Gerard, H. (2006). Green theatre: proto-environmental drama and the performance of ecological values in contemporary Western theatre (Doctoral Dissertation). Saint Mary’s College of Maryland, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, the United States of America. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/471
Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (2006). Reading images: The grammar of visual design. London: Routledge.
Lada-Richards, I. (2007). Silent eloquence: Lucian and pantomime dancing. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Langley, L. (2021, March 5). Ces 450 espèces de papillons sont menacées par le réchauffement climatique [These 450 species of butterflies are threatened by global warming]. Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.fr/animaux/ces-450-especes-depapillons-sont-menacees-par-le-rechauffement-climatique
Mattor, K., Betsill, M., Huayhuaca, C., Huber-Stearns , H., Jedd ,T., Sternlieb , F., Bixler , P., Luizza, M., & Cheng, A. (2014) . Transdisciplinary research on environmental governance: A view from the inside. Environmental Science & Policy, 42, 90-100.
May, T. J. (2006). Greening the Theatre: Taking ecocriticism. Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 7(1), 84-103.
May, T. J. (2007). Beyond Bambi: Toward a dangerous ecocriticism in theatre studies. Theatre, 17 (2), 95-110.
Ministère de l'Énergie, des Mines et de l'Environnement (n. d). Programme d'éducation à l'environnement et au développement durable [Environmental and sustainable development education program.]. Retrieved from www.environnement.gov.ma
Mliless, M., Kerouad, S., & Yachoulti, M. (2021). Environmental Education and Environmental Humanities Bridging the Gap between Teaching and Research. In M. Larouz, S. Kerouad, M. Mliless, & H. Laabidi (Eds.), Current Issues in environmental discourse (pp: 40-64). Meknes: Moulay Ismail University Pub. ISBN: 978-9920-62002-4
Omoogun, A.C., Egbonyi, E. E., & Onnoghen U.N. (2016). From environmental awareness to environmental responsibility: Towards a stewardship curriculum. Journal of Educational Issues, 2(2), 60-72.
Portnoy, J. (2004). The Philosopher and the Art of Music, (F. Zakaria Trans). Alexandria: Dar Al-Wafaa for the World of Printing and Publishing.
Rowan, S. (2015). Water Wars: Exploring the tensions, challenges and possibilities of applying a sustainability framework to the development and production of a new independent theatre performance (Unpublished Thesis), School of Education and Professional Studies, Griffith University, Australia.
Sahib, A.S., & Taher, S. H. (2021). Semiotics of musical sign in Iraqi pantomime show (Ahriman) as a model. Al-Academy Journal, 99, 199-214.
Siew, T. F., Aenis, T., Spangenberg, J. H., Nauditt, A., Döll, P., Frank, S. K., Ribbe, L., Rodriguez-Labajos, B., Rumbaur, C., Settele, J., & Wang, J. (2016). Transdisciplinary research in support of land and water management in China and Southeast Asia: Evaluation of four research projects. Sustainability Science, 11, 813-829.
Stibbe, A. (2015). Ecolinguistics language, ecology and the stories we live by. London: Routledge.
Stromberg, J. (January, 2013). The age of humans what is the Anthropocene and are we in it? Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/sciencenature/what-is-the-anthropocene-and-are-we-in-it-164801414/
Teo, P. (2004). Ideological dissonances in Singapore's national campaign posters: A semiotic deconstruction. Visual Communication, 3(2), 189–212.
Toussaint, B. (2000). What is Simology, (M. Nazif, trans). Morocco: East Africa Publication.
UNESCO-PNUE. (1977). Conférence Intergouvernementale sur l’éducation relative à l’environnement, Rapport final [final report of the Inter-governemental conference on environmental education]. Tbilissi, Georgia: UNESCO.
United States Environment Protection Agency (EPA). (n. d). What is environmental education? Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/education/what-environmental-education.