Textualizing the HIV/AIDS motif in theater-against AIDS performances in Kenya

This chapter studies the theatrical and cultural texts that are performed through a Theater for Development (TFD) rubric known as Magnet Theater, which uses theater-based outreaches to mobilize people in low-income communities into forums that discuss HIV/AIDS and how its problems manifest in their localities. Using examples from performances of four theater groups that operate in Nakuru and Mombasa towns of Kenya, the chapter examines how the performances textualize, thematize, and theatise the main issues in HIV/AIDS as seen through the perspective of the performers and how the targeted audience reacts to these "AIDS performances." Beyond studying the theatrical outreaches, the research for this chapter surveyed communities in which these performances have taken place to further appreciate how the motifs discerned from the theatrical outreaches compare to realizations of the AIDS problem in the communities.