Skip to main content

SYN:FORMAT

In dialogue with the audience: theatre that touches people

You can find more information here:

synformat.org

The actors of the German-Syrian theater project share their life story with the audience, in order to break through language and cultural barriers.

„The rehearsals with Magdalena and the group have opened a new door for me,“ says Arwa Azouz. „The project is our baby and the group is a new family for us.“ Originally from Syria, Arwa Azouz has become an actor. She wasn’t one back home, but in Berlin she has joined the German-Syrian theatre group syn:format e.V. The project was launched at the end of 2015 by several refugee men together with actors Aline Joers and Magdalena Scharler.

„Actually, we still can’t say exactly who had the idea first. It was more like the idea came to us,“ recalls Magdalena Scharler, who, together with a colleague, was teaching German in September 2015 at an emergency refugee shelter on Storkower Straße. This soon developed into a theatre workshop which took place weekly in the nearby electro club „Mensch Meier.“ „Every Thursday up to 20 young men would come to do theater with us. It quickly became clear that ten of them had a very deep interest in the work. They really wanted to tell stories that went far beyond our weekly meeting.“

Magdalena Scharler and her colleague decided to devise a piece together with the men. The idea and title were quickly fixed: „Amjad, one of the young men, came to me and said: ‚Actually we refugees should write something like a letter TO THE WORLD, so that our thoughts, our perspective, our stories are heard with our own voices and not always how others interpret them.'“

The reactions of the audience to this first piece, as well as to the two follow-up productions YOUR HOME, MY HOME and FREEDOM have been overwhelming: „Many Germans told us afterwards that they finally understood that being a refugee does not end once one has arrived ‚in the destination country.‘ And that they now have an idea of why the people who have fled to Germany can be a gift.“

syn:format is currently working on their next trilogy. The first on arriving in Germany will be followed by a piece about utopias. Magdalena Scharler: „Most of the refugees in Germany are now no longer ’new arrivals.‘ They have become a part of this society. At the same time, there are many people in Germany who do not see themselves as part of this society, no matter how long they have been here or what nationality they have. We want to try to involve these people in our work.“ The German-Syrian team intends to conduct research at various locations in Germany. With theatrical means, but also in cooperation with a journalistic project founded by Syrian refugees in Berlin. It’s called „Eed Be Eed,“ „Hand in Hand“.

 

INTERVIEW