A.R.T. Fusion Association-Romania-
"I don’t want to see you again!”
The play was performed in September for 2 classes (13-14 years old) from a primary school (with mix ethnic groups-Romanian and Roma children) from Bucharest.
This play is about bullying in schools and it was inspired from different stories from schools, from our experience and from the school where we performed. The aim was to reduce bullying situations among students and to make students understand that their words have a big influence on others’ lives, and can even lead to dropping out of school.
Characters:
Oppressed – Maria: a 13-year-old girl, Roma, she doesn’t have very good grades at school because she doesn’t have enough support from her family, but she is good at Chemistry. Oppressor – Petra: a 14-year-old girl, she is the bully type and one of the reasons why she oppresses Maria is because she is Roma. She is in the same class with Maria. Ally of oppressed – Mihaela, a 13-year-old girl /Ally of oppressor – Roxana, a 13-year-old girl /Ally of oppressor – Teacher of Geography: he is the type of teacher that makes differences between Roma and Romanian students. Neutral – Maria’s mother: divorced, she works in a supermarket; she is concerned only about earning money for a living.
Scenario:
At Maria’s home
Maria and her mother are in the kitchen and having a usual chat. The mother is preparing the food; the daughter asks if there is anything else to eat besides potatoes and they argue a bit about money. The mother says: “Other girls at your age are already bringing money home”. Suddenly the mother’s phone rings. It’s her boss, who is calling her to work earlier. He does this all the time and she thinks it is because she is Roma. Before leaving, Maria gives her a paper with her grade to sign. Her mother signs fast, without reading the paper.
At school, on the same day
Maria and Mihaela meet in the school yard and have a small chat about school. Maria asks Mihaela if her uncle is still looking for people to distribute promotional flyers because her mother is pushing her all the time to bring some money home. They talk a bit about the next class, Geography, and Maria says that she is sure that the teacher will evaluate her because he always does this. Petra and Roxana come in the school yard, too. Petra starts to oppress Maria: “Hey! What have I told you? I don’t want to see you here! You make me sick! etc.” She takes Maria’s backpack and throws it on the ground. Mihaela, Roxana and Petra go to the class because the bell is ringing. Maria stays to collect her things from the ground.
The scene starts with the teacher, Petra and Roxana in the class. Mihaela enters the class a bit late and the teacher tells her to take a seat. Maria comes and the teacher tells her: “Ms Maria, do you think that it is polite to enter the class after me? Come in front of the class and show me on the map two important rivers from North America.” This is how the oppression starts in this scene. Petra, together with Roxana, is mocking Maria and the teacher doesn’t say anything about it. He pretends that he doesn’t see. He also has an exchange of bad jokes (very subtle) about Maria with Petra. At the end of the scene, Maria goes to her place, next to Mihaela and she says: “I told you that he would evaluate me. I cannot stand Petra anymore…she is so mean to me”. Petra hears that and she says: “What did you say? I will show during the break what it is to be mean!”
This scene has a very high level of oppression from Petra against Maria. She uses lines like: “Do you hear me? I don’t want to see you anymore in here! Do you think that a gipsy like you can finish school? Maybe you hope to go to high school… Listen to me! You will never go to high school. You are a stupid gipsy. Do you think that you can finish school? Tell me!! Listen to me! I don’t want to see you again around here! Tell me! Do you plan to come to school much longer? Tell me!!!” This is the moment when Maria says that she will not come to school anymore because she a stupid gipsy who doesn’t have any chance to finish school.
Interventions from public:
1. The mother in the first scene
The public chose to change the mother and to make her more interested in her daughter’s school situation. When she had to sign the grades she looked before signing and she decided to go to school to talk with the teachers about her grades and about how she can improve them.
2. Maria in the second scene
The public decided that the mother will come to school in the second scene, when Petra is oppressing Maria. This is when they change Maria and make her tell her mother about the situation with Petra and to ask for her help.
3. Roxana in the third scene
After the change from the second scene, the mother goes to the Geography teacher and tells him about the situation with Petra. Petra denies everything, so the public decides to change Roxana, and to make her realize that what they are doing to Maria is not right and that they have to stop so she will tell the truth. Even though Petra is threatening her that they will not be friends anymore, Roxana tells the teacher and Maria’s mother that it is true that they bullied Maria. After these interventions, the public decided that now, with her mother’s support, with her attitude changed and with Roxana not supporting Petra anymore, Maria will not drop out of school anymore and she will not accept to be bullied again by Petra.