Performing Empathy: Theatre as a Tool for Conflict Transformation
As part of its dialogue and peacebuilding efforts, Hona Beirut launched a series of theatre-based conflict transformation workshops, providing young people from diverse communities in Beirut with tools to navigate and transform conflict through performance, dialogue, and emotional exploration.
Theatre was chosen as a tool for conflict transformation in Beirut precisely because of the city’s growing polarization. As hate speech and fearful perceptions of the “other” rise, shaped by both local realities and wider geopolitical tensions, there is an urgent need to cultivate empathy and compassion across divided communities in Beirut. By performing in the shoes of someone else, youth chosen from diverse backgrounds around Beirut, experienced the shared struggles of others, fostering deeper understanding between Shiite, Christian, and Sunni communities. In this way, theatre becomes not just a form of expression, but a vital space for breaking down barriers and building common ground.
Conflict Transformation Through Theatre: A Safe Space for Dialogue
The workshop series consisted of dynamic sessions designed as interactive simulations of real-life conflict scenarios many of which reflected sectarian or community tensions that youth themselves had encountered or witnessed. In these sessions, the youth engaged in role-playing, collaborative storytelling, and improvisation, stepping into the roles of mediators, bystanders, or those directly involved in the conflict.
The goal was not only to explore conflict but to practice resolution: participants learned to identify triggers, de-escalate tension, and apply practical tools such as active listening, negotiation, and mediation. This theatre-based format allowed for emotional expression and open dialogue in a supportive, safe environment fostering empathy, self-awareness, and the confidence to act as peacemakers in their communities.
Cross-Community Participation: Breaking Barriers Through Performance
A defining strength of these sessions was the intentional mix of participants from diverse religious and sectarian backgrounds. By working together in an environment that emphasized expression over argumentation, the youth were able to connect on a human level beyond inherited stereotypes. The shared creative process served as a powerful tool to break down social silos, build mutual understanding, and encourage reflection on personal and communal experiences.
Through their performances, participants confronted sensitive issues expressing perception of the others, a sense of shared struggle, challenging stereotypes, and offering new ways to envision coexistence. In this post-war context, where many divisions still run deep, the sessions offered a rare and vital space for young people to reclaim their agency and shape alternative narratives of unity and reconciliation.
In a region where identity and politics often divide, these workshops are helping to write a different story one where dialogue replaces silence, empathy overcomes fear, nurturing emotional resilience, and promoting inclusive civic participation.
