The Al Akhawayn University (AUI) Social Action Project: Changing Gender Roles in Morocco continues again this year. Leslie Jacobson has partnered with this community for many years, using theatre to create a safe space to voice and discuss issues related to gender justice. This year's performance is titled, "Warriors and Allies."
Each year, Jacobson teaches participants to conduct sensitive interviews about real stories of gender imbalance. Students learn to gain and protect the interviewee’s trust and to follow appropriate procedures to confirm subjects' consent to share their stories. She then reviews the transcribed interviews to create a 45-minute performance piece about changing gender roles in Morocco.
Students perform a staged reading of the script, as if the stories had happened to them, protecting the anonymity of the interviewees. Along with her colleague, Professor Kenza Oumlil, she creates a post-performance questionnaire for the audience members to gain insight into the audience's improved empathy and understanding of the issues presented in the performance.
