Theatre Aquarium is creating a huge buzz in Morocco, by spreading the word that women’s rights are real, and stated in the law.
Why we care: Traditional beliefs and practices need to change to support the implementation of more progressive laws on women’s and family rights
How we’re solving this: The play “Dialy” pushes the boundaries on the traditional beliefs of sexuality and unravels societal stereotypes that degrade women.
Theatre Aquarium produced a highly successful traveling play that reached factories, prisons, hospitals, orphanages, and theaters all over the country, and contributed to the new legal protections for women in the 2004 revised Family Code. The revised and most progressive law on women’s and family rights in the Arab world abolishes polygamy, sets the minimum age for marriage at 18 instead of 15 for girls, and gives women the right to divorce, inherit property, and decide who and when they want to marry.
However, the struggle to protect women’s rights is not over. Widespread implementation of the revised Family Code law will be difficult until people’s traditional beliefs and practices shift. Facing this challenge head on, Theatre Aquarium is thrilled to present the controversial new production, “Dialy.” Dialy pushes the boundaries on the traditional beliefs of sexuality and unravels societal stereotypes that degrade women.
On Halima’s (name changed) wedding night – during her first sexual experience — her husband violently choked her with a pillow. This is one of many explosive and emotional skits in Dialy – a play that portrays the stories of 150 real women, and their passions, suffering, happiness, and anger.
By telling the stories of more than 150 Moroccan women, Theatre Aquarium will spread awareness of women’s rights, advocate for sexual education in schools, and demand respect for women as human beings and citizens.
The play will run for 75 minutes and result in the following:
- Performances at the French, German, Spanish, and Italian cultural institutes in Rabat, Morocco
- Once a month performances at Theatre Aquarium in Rabat, Morocco
- 24 performances in total for 2013
- Productions at two foreign play festivals
- Total outreach: 10,000 women
Budget
Operations
- Author and conception: $500
- Set: $1,000
- Set designer/producer: $500
- Costume designer: $500
- Management and monitoring: $500
- Public Relations: $500
- Actors 150 x 2 x 20 days: $1,000
Production
- Set decorations: $500
- Make-up: $500
- Costumes: $1,000
- Rehearsal room: $500
- Insurance: $1,000
Development and Publicity
- Administrative expenses: $1,000
- Posters and flyers: $500
- Photos and video (production and assembly): $500