Theater as a strategy for youth engagement in the fight against aids

Abstract

Despite advances in the fight against Aids, there has been an increase in HIV infections among youngsters in the last decade. This motivated the Museu da Vida to produce a play about HIV/Aids aimed at this audience. We present results of a study conducted with the public of 11 to 19 years based on the observation of nine presentations, five post-play debates and 220 questionnaires. Besides the positive reception and strong adherence from viewers, we observed the play was able to engage them in the debate on HIV/Aids. However, there is a lack of dialogue on the issue, which may be associated with the maintenance of stigma and discrimination. We conclude that the strategy of uniting health and theater in a science communication activity was successful, but there are still many challenges in terms of coping with HIV/Aids, especially among youngsters.