Theatrical improvisation

Initial situation

The campaign of CLASH (Collectif de Lutte contre les Attitudes Sexistes en milieu Hospitalier) Geneva, conducted in March 2021 and supported by the UNIGE and the HUG, showed that medical students are confronted as victims or witnesses to situations of sexism and sexual harassment during their formation. The testimonies revealed a learning culture that does not protect students from sexist remarks, attitudes and acts, and the need to give people concrete tools to prevent and react to such behaviour.

In this context, the idea of setting up a course to raise awareness of these issues was formulated by CLASH Geneva and the Faculty of Medicine, as nothing of this kind had been proposed until then. The integration of this course was supported by the office of the teaching commission and the Master’s committee of the faculty of medicine. Following these events, several declarations of zero tolerance towards sexism and sexual harassment by the Faculty of Medicine and the HUG have been announced. This course is therefore part of this political stance by the two institutions.

In view of the sensitive subject to be addressed, it seemed important to anchor this teaching by using the testimonies of the communication and awareness campaign. There was a desire to stimulate the students to think deeply about prevention strategies and actions to make them actors and get them out of the role of victim. It was with these goals in mind that the idea of working with an improvisational theatre group came up. The objectives of the course were to define sexism and sexual harassment and to make people aware of their extent; to allow the identification and analysis of problematic situations (decode/deconstruct); to remind people of the legal and moral framework (zero tolerance); to give them ways to protect themselves (know where to go and attitudes to adopt) and to make them realize the importance of taking action (as a victim as well as a witness).

Setting up and running the project

The project team writes a script with five different scenes. To allow the audience to easily identify with the story, the script leads them to follow a medical student on her first day as an intern on a ward. The improvisational theatre scenes are based on the testimonies of the campaign participants to make them as realistic as possible. The scenes take place in various locations (operating room, hospital cafeteria, park, etc.) and deal with various forms of sexism and degrees of aggression. The Impro Impact troupe rehearses several times to make the scenes as real as possible, respecting the codes of the medical environment and proper timing. The play is worked on with the return of former medical students.

The scenes are performed in front of the class during the course. After each performance, groups of students are formed and oriented with questions that are displayed on the screen in the room. Their reactions to the scenes are confronted and collected. Students are asked to put themselves in the shoes of the victim or witness and to suggest strategies for reaction. The actors and the course organizers move around the groups to facilitate and frame the discussion.

After a phase of pooling solutions, the actors re-enact the scenes, implementing the strategies suggested by the students and improvising the reactions of the protagonists, which could vary from one scene to another. This is complemented by a theoretical presentation at the beginning and end of the course on the extent of the problem, the strategies for reacting to these situations, and the UNIGE and HUG resources available to the students.

The course is part of a mandatory training unit session and the content is tested on the final exam which is in the form of MCQs.

Thoughts and advice

Generally speaking, the results of this course are very positive, both for the organizers, the Impro Impact actors and the students. The fact that they have seen solutions played out and have thought about them should make it easier for students to take a stand later and thus make them more autonomous and reactive when faced with similar situations.

This course should be continued if the feedback continues to be positive. In addition, a similar awareness course is currently being considered for other faculties and for HUG managers. Impro Impact actors have already offered to perform the show in other contexts, however, the scenes need to be adapted to the environment. Adapting the script and acting to the specific context in which the course is offered is more impactful than a general course on sexism.

Moreover, it is important to think through the theory beforehand. It must be consistent and well thought out in order to provide clear key messages at the end of the course, as well as communication techniques. It is therefore important to frame the content well.

Student feedback

”(…) An interactive course that opens eyes and gives solutions.” “Very well illustrated, representative of reality.” “With improv, we are better immersed in these problems rather than if it were a lecture.” “Letting us think about solutions on our own is a good idea because it encourages us to actively participate (…). Replaying the scenes with its solutions allowed us to realize how effective the solutions were in different situations.” ”(…) our feelings of discomfort have been legitimized, and it will strengthen our ability to act if we find ourselves in this kind of situation.” “You have to dare to talk about harassment and sexism. You have to get help from your peers or associations to get out of difficult situations. We must remain vigilant not to give sexism space.” “Maybe a little more time on the concrete strategies would have been great.” “I appreciated the fact that these scenarios that happen every day were brought to light. This is very important to make everyone aware so that in the future this will not happen again. Also, another important thing is that these scenarios were disturbing to everyone so I don’t think anyone would want to repeat that or like to be harassed.”