What Would You Do to Fix the Hurt??

Written by Julia Sullivan

After months of preparation, on April 14th, 2011, the group of ASU students in Dr. Alesha Durfee's "Women and Social Change" class embarked on a mission to spread awareness and knowledge of the realities of domestic/relationship violence and abuse. Having Linda King as our supervisor and using the ASU campus as our stage, as well as the most generous help from two phenomenal actors (Chase Reynolds and Elizabeth Sheffer) the group set out to simulate real-life situations of abuse so as to address the question to our fellow student body: "What will YOU do to help fix the hurt?"
Throughout the day, the group set up acting "skits" n various locations of campus. The scene began innocently enough, with a girl on her phone, calling a fellow classmate regarding a group project. Outraged with jealousy and anger, her boyfriend stormed over and grabbed the phone, screaming that the phone and she were his property and that she was a liar. This, of course, leads to physical escalation, as he grabs her and proceeds to drag her a couple of feet before the skit is abruptly ended.

After the skit commenced, the individuals surrounding the area were interviewed. Reactions were varied. Many were simply confused and intrigued by the situation. Some were concerned. Some were outraged, as one man in particular demonstrated as he attemped to put our male actor in a headlock (whowas not harmed in any way during the skit, by the way!!). It was clear that there was a "difussion" of responsibility seen amongst the crowd. Most assumed that someone else would step in at some point or that they would, if it had escalated further. Yet, what could be certain from that day (no matter the reaction of the individual who witnessed the fight) was the newfound awareness instilled upon the ASU community. While it may not be public, domestic abuse is real, tangible and affecting friends, sisters, mothers, daughters, coworkers and classmates each and every day. Becoming a positive influence on someone has nothing to do with the relationship you have towards them, with the most simple action can a stranger or passerby make a difference and save a life.

New Light Brought to Age Old Problem

The age old problem . . . . how to get people to pay attention to a problem they find appalling and believe there is no solution for.

So, it is with Dating and Domestic Violence! We tell our story, people are appalled and verbally condemn the act, and then they go home and immediately forget.

That is the reason the Fix the Hurt group turned to theater arts presentation to try and create a memory that will not be forgotten and will promote action.

For several weeks I was involved with a project to determine the value of theater arts in bringing awareness to the public, relative to these issues. A Women's Studies class scripted a dating violence scenario, entitled, "What would you to do help fix the hurt?" This skit was to be presented in three locations on ASU campus. Actors from the theater arts department on campus were invited to provide two actors to perform this skit.

Basically, the female actress was to be texting and the male actor was to come up, grab the phone and start scrolling though the messages, telling the girl he had the right to look at her text messages because he bought her the phone. He was to accuse her of flirting with some other guy on text. An argument developed and the actor was to take the actress by the arm and lead her away.

While the program prompted a reaction the group did not anticipate, and while it is not the response desired, it does make one important point!! People pay attention and react to live theatrical presentations.

As the actor grabbed the actress by the arm to lead her away, it seems one of the people watching the skit unfold, and not realizing it was a skit, rushed in and put a hammerlock on the actor and took him to the ground. Several people pulled him off the actor and explained to the "hero" that it was just a skit.

Clearly the message got out to the spectators. Fortunately, no one was hurt and the actors felt they had succeeded in realistically presenting the performance and the study group can definitely show that Theater Arts powerfully sends the message.

As a sidebar, there are several factors that come to light as a result of this experience:

1. Had the situation been a real encounter, the abuser would have been more alert to the actions of the crowd and may have not gone down to easily and people could have been hurt.

2. After the fray, the abuser would have, no doubt, blamed the victim for the actions of the hero and would have made her pay dearly for the incident.

To learn more about Fix the Hurt and its programs, go to www.HelpFixtheHurt.org.