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One Love HIV/AIDS Awareness Theater (One Love) is an exciting blend of dance, drama, circus, multimedia, music, and gymnastics. Providing free theater for audiences of all levels One Love performances serve as an effective vehicle for disseminating HIV/AIDS awareness messages because they have the ability to transcend linguistic, social and economic barriers. One Love is grounded in the creativity and imagination of its cast; the youth of Ethiopia. This along with the flexibility of the unique One Love format allows for a variety of awareness messages to be incorporated into shows, ultimately, strengthening the overall impact of HIV/AIDS awareness messages. Above all, One Love reflects the thoughts, feelings and life of the next generation of Ethiopia.

Formerly Debub Nigat Circus, One Love began over 5 years ago. On the streets of Awassa, a group of youth had organized themselves and begun learning gymnastics. Then, with the help of theater director David Schein the troupe put together a performance that showcased their talents while also delivering crucial HIV/AIDS awareness messages. Since, One Love has grown into one of the most exciting and progressive theater company’s in East Africa all while spearheading the fight to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Nearly 1.5 millions Ethiopians are living with HIV/AIDS, however, this is not due to a lack of information regarding the pandemic. Ethiopians are consistently bombarded with HIV/AIDS “education”. For example, it is nearly impossible to attend a community event or turn on Ethiopian T.V. without hearing about HIV/AIDS. Arguably, the average Ethiopian knows more about the virus than many individuals in so called “developed” nations. Despite all of this information, and the millions of dollars behind it, HIV/AIDS continues to devastate Ethiopia; demonstrating that information alone fails to promote change in behavior. One Love aims to bring to life sights and sounds that, hopefully, will trigger awareness in a moment that could potentially mean life or death.

One Love is based upon the philosophy that HIV/AIDS awareness messages must be delivered through relevant, accessible and impressionable media. In short, performances must be memorable experiences in order to get the message across. As a result, over the years One Love has developed a unique style that can only characterized as “theatrical gymnastics”. An engaging mix of HIV/AIDS-based drama intertwined with jaw-dropping circus, dance and gymnastics One Love performances gain the respect and attention of audiences across Ethiopia. If audiences can relate to the performances the awareness messages incorporated in the show are shared as opposed to dictated. In other words, effective awareness education must be ground-up. In this respect, an One Love performance is as much community dialogue as it is community theater.

Aside from delivering crucial awareness messages, One Love performances also serve as an invaluable opportunity for youth to take an active and creative role in their community, see their country and earn a small income. Cast members earn a per-diem for performances, effectively One Love is equivalent to a part-time job in a place where such opportunities for youth are few and far between. In addition to performing, One Love holds three trainings per week. Trainings are facilitated by the One Love director, senior cast members and, on occasion, visiting artists. Trainings incorporate physical conditioning and show rehearsal as well as discussions about the HIV/AIDS awareness messages included in performances. One Love also collaborates with both local and international NGOs on developing certain shows.

One Love venues include the stadiums, theaters, marketplaces and streets of Ethiopia, performing in Awassa (One Love’s home) as well as in villages, towns and cities throughout the country. In addition to writing and performing original scripts, One Love also incorporates live music and drums. One Love’s cast is comprised of children and youth from all walks of life in Ethiopia.

Through the magic of theater One Love will continue to promote creativity in all development activities and spearhead the fight to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia and beyond. Please contact us if you are interested in bookings, workshop facilitation or more information. We appreciate your support in this endeavor. One fight, One Love.

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