Press Release: Sderot Community Treatment Theater to Stage First Production

Sderot Media Center’s Community Treatment Theater will launch the first theater production of Children of Qassam Avenue. The production is based on the true-life experiences of the theater’s actresses, local Sderot high school girls, who underwent a year of drama therapy counseling.

Sderot, Israel (14.10.09): The Sderot Media Center (SMC) Community Treatment Theater will launch its first theater production of Children of Qassam Avenue in the Sderot Youth Center on 4 Chaim Bar-Lev Street in Sderot at 19:00 on October 14, 2009.

Sderot Media Center first launched the drama therapy program back in December 2008, with 40 Sderot high school girls participating from two Sderot high schools. Although the program was temporarily interrupted during Operation Cast Lead, the drama therapy sessions continued in full swing following the operation

Children of Qassam Avenue is based on the true-life rocket experiences of the Sderot actresses, all of whom are Sderot natives, and have experienced post-trauma symptoms arising from eight years of Gaza Qassam attacks.

“We took our personal experiences of everyday life in Sderot and incorporated them into the play,” said SMC Theater Project director Livnat Shlesinger, whose childhood friend, Ella Abuksis was killed by a Qassam rocket four years ago in Sderot. “This project has instilled a sense of confidence in these Sderot actresses and has given them new tools to deal with the stress and pressure of living in a rocket zone.”

Watch YouTube video of Sderot Media’s Treatment Theater:

The Sderot Community Theater Program began with 20 drama therapy sessions for the traumatized Sderot girls. A play script was established based on the stories and experiences that emerged during the sessions. Psychologist Debbie Gross and social worker Nechama Munk, facilitated the drama therapy sessions along with SMC Project Director, Livnat Shlesinger.

Each session was filmed by Sderot Media Center and has been used as advocacy material on the Sderot Media Center website: www.SderotMedia.org.il , to showcase the plight of residents living in the Sderot and western Negev region.

For more information and to arrange interviews with the Sderot theater actresses and the project coordinators, please contact Anav Silverman, [email protected] .