Stage rehabilitation for children with Down syndrome: how an inclusive theater works in Dnipro

Every seven hundred cases in the world, a baby is born with Down syndrome. Such a child needs special care and rehabilitation in order not to find oneself out of society. The Nezabudki Inclusive Theater has been operating as a therapy in Dnipro for 3 years now. There, children with disabilities not only create shows for themselves but also perform in public.

There are similar shops in Kyiv, Kherson, Lviv, and Odesa. What are the benefits of this rehabilitation? And how to organize the theater in your own city? Rubryka explains.

"Be compassionate"

"How pretty you are! And I've never seen such a beautiful manicure!" as soon as I find myself in the theater, a guy runs up to me with a wide smile.

This is Ihor Ziabrov, he's 17, and he has Down syndrome. The boy studies in a regular school, and in his spare time, he plays on stage as an actor of the Dnipro Inclusive Theater "Nezabudki." In plays, Ihor has always a leading role: now he's preparing to incarnate in Vakula from "Evenings on a Farm Near Dykanka."

"My first time on stage was a little scary. But then I got used to showing my talents. I always try to convey emotion to the audience."

In the future, the guy dreams of becoming a singer. And it is on a stage that he learns not to be afraid of the audience and to work with his body.

"The theater discovers new folk songs, new roles, new life situations. It gives a lot of smiles, joy, warmth, kindness. And teaches to be always compassionate, to consider others," the guy shares.

How it all began

Together with Ihor, about 20 children and adults go to the Nezabudki Inclusive Theater (maximum age is 34 years). Most of them have Down syndrome, some have autism. Acting skills are taught by director Liudmila Zhuravel. She was approached three years ago by a group of parents looking for a music director for their children. But then, the idea to create a whole theater immediately came up during the conversation.

Ihor reciting a poem:

"Dnipro has very few places where such children can come together and communicate in a serene atmosphere of creativity. That's why this idea came in handy. Our first group comprised seven people," says Liudmila Zhuravel.

They started practicing once a week. Each lesson lasted an hour and consisted of warm-ups, obligatory singing, dancing, and scenes from plays. Liudmila immediately realized that her 10-year experience of working with other children wasn't quite suitable for the Nezabudki. They had to look for fresh approaches; psychological education helped. 

"It's crucial to communicate with children at the same level as with others, without concessions or simplifications to give tasks and accept them. But, most importantly, to believe that everything will work out, though not at first."

From "Bremen Musicians" to "Evenings on a Farm near Dykanka"

In 3 years, Nezabudki has prepared three plays, and each is more complex than the previous one. They based the first one on the "Bremen Musicians." In this story, the actors learned everything: what the backstage and foreground are, how to go out and behave with the audience. Then the characters had a minimum of words; they danced more, Liudmila Zhuravel recalls the training.

"Roles and words developed here, but the most important thing was meaningful acting on the stage; they already understood what we're talking about. As markers in this play, I took the following concepts: "I can," "I will succeed," "I go forward every time." What matters is self-belief, the lack of fear that they're not like everyone else, and the confidence that they are needed with their mission."

Liudmila wrote the script for the third play herself. It was a tale about a boy born with small feet in a kingdom where everyone had big ones. The director called this story "Being Yourself."

"The boy was thrown out of the kingdom by the king because he's not like everyone else. And I'll even quote him, 'We have no extra treasure for you.' Although the little hero saved the country from the virus of heartlessness and callousness."

In January, they worked on "Evenings on a Farm near Dykanka" by Mykola Hohol. They chose it because they wanted to prepare something festive. For the first time, the actors started working with the script: everyone has a copy with their own lines. Previously, the sentences were studied by ear with the director.

Money and building

Currently, they have acting classes twice a week and stage body movement classes once a week in the theater. And not for an hour, but for an hour and a half. Each lesson costs 100 hryvnias. This amount covers the rent and the minimum salary for teachers. They separately collect money for preparing the play, for instance, for costumes and scenery. Card details are posted on social networks. So, they managed to save 54 thousand hryvnias for clothes to embody one of the stories.

They rent one of Dnipro houses of culture for plays. Everyone is invited to see their works.

Last year, the Nezabudki team realized they needed a bigger room for classes because they could barely fit in the old one. They're currently looking for a new place to invite more children.

They're preparing not only a theater but an entire Center for Inclusive Creativity with different areas of work: music, choreography, and art. Both children with disabilities and neurotypical children will study there.

"Here we kill two birds with one stone. We teach special children to communicate and ordinary children to be tolerant. Everyone needs to live together," says Liudmila Zhuravel.

One of the theater's plays: 

Theater's therapeutic effect

The major benefit of such classes is communication and emancipation from complexes. After the 1st performance, the actors felt more confident. Quarantine also gave a lot because we had to learn new formats thanks to it, says Liudmila Zhuravel. She worked with students via Zoom, in groups and individually, so they paid more attention to each actor.

"We set out to study the poem. Everyone chose it for themselves. When they came out of quarantine, I decided that our effort should not be in vain. Therefore, each child was filmed separately reciting a poem. We had a boy who spoke poorly; after this, he started asking for lines. Now he has a lot of them in "Dykanka." Another boy with autism didn't speak from the very beginning, but now he has started singing with us and got involved in work."

Hanna Tilna also felt the effect on her child; she was the enterprising mother who suggested that Liudmila start a theater. 11-year-old Tymofii is growing in the Tilny family. A boy with Down syndrome is thrilled by performances on stage.

"Every night he performs every role in the play at home. Thus, we have a theater every day. And he makes great toasts at all the celebrations! You can listen spellbound to him. His relatives laugh because he looks like a real Georgian."

Tymofii reciting a poem:

What other types of rehabilitation are there?

The theater is a therapy for children with Down syndrome or autism, says Svitlana Lebid, the director of the Horlytsia Training and Rehabilitation Center. This institution deals with such children.

"Theater allows you to better delve into yourself, try on different roles, learn to be different, and adapt to new circumstances. It also develops aesthetic feelings, emotions, and worldview. And also, language and plasticity of the body become better." 

According to the specialist, any kind of creativity helps to develop. But every child needs to choose their art. Svitlana offers the following options: pottery, felting, dough art, the building of models, sewing, gardening, or cooking. Most of these classes don't require additional money and special skills from parents.

The key thing that is needed from adults is persistence. Because every child has talent, but it needs to be revealed. To do this, you should offer different activities. But don't force but show your enthusiasm. When children are engaged in useful activities, feel that they bring benefits; positive changes won't be long in coming.

Also, read our article "Visiting sunny people: how inclusive cafes and restaurants work in Ukraine"