The Living Energy area becomes a theater. Although is not just any representation, it is the theater of the oppressed. The company from Villa Real, Cultura Crítica, deals with gender violence in “Donat”. A group of actors comes on stage to represent the story of Maria, a young girl with dreams who knows Alberto, who seems to be the man of her life. Soon, he begins to show some rejection to certain of Marias behaviours. After moving in with him and abandoning her dreams for the future, she isolates herself from friends and family until she only has him. The play ends with a Maria who, after opening her eyes, asks for help.

But there is more because this is not conventional theater. The performance opens to the public. The problem, the story of the oppressed one is moved to the audience so they can detect what changes would they make. They should have reacted earlier in front of their friends?, should her mother have stopped her?, is she to blame for not seeing the signs?, how does he perceive it? The audience exposes, comes on stage to play the role that should have changed and try to find possible solutions to the controversy. And this is how the theater becomes a forum.

Gender violence and the defense of the role of a liberated woman in control of her decisions, acquire an incredible strength on the fifth day of Rototom Sunsplash. Her right to be happy, slogan of this editions Social Forum, where the gender-based violence has a name, that of the Spanish artist Amparo Sánchez (who will participate in the tribute concert Cantando a Marley to be held on Thursday 20th, as well as on her own on Friday 21th on the Showcase). A heartbreaking testimony of how someone with only 15 years suffers a situation of oppression and abuse with someone who was her partner; the one she believed to be the love of her life. A physical, psychological and emotional story of abuse, also reflected in her book “La niña y el lobo” (“The Girl and the Wolf”), presented at the Social Forum.

Alongside the testimony of Amparo Sánchez, is the journalist Llum Quiñonero, who helps establish an analysis of the situation of gender violence and idealized love. Also, the jurist Mercedes Boronat provides a critical analysis from her expertise. Three women showing a shared reality, the need for the fight for liberation of women in which they have to participate, including men.

Asun Pérez