NYU Abu Dhabi’s theater program has always been geared towards exploration, asking questions and discussing the issues that surround the landscape that we exist in. “Organs, Tissues and Candy Games,” conceived by the Zoukak Theater Company and that inaugurated the Black Box Theater, made an incredible attempt to keep with this tradition.

As contributor to the process of creating the show and as an actor, I was challenged and pushed to all of my limits. My physical capacities, my intellectual capabilities, every part of me was under pressure in ways that only grew greater with each day of rehearsals. My willingness to walk into that room everyday, knowing that some part of me was going to be affected in ways that would leave me questioning absolutely everything, peaked and dwindled as the process moved ahead. There were days I would walk in feeling like I was going to conquer the space and the energy in the room. There were others where all I wanted to do was wallow in a corner and weep about the incredibly creepy and scary work that we were creating as an ensemble. I would be lying if I said I didn’t have a few nightmares.

The formation of the show involved devising, creating a theatre piece during the rehearsal process, and every member of the cast and the company were intricately linked in putting different pieces of writing and movement together. In many ways, our individualities shone through, contributing to the final product. As varied topics and themes emerged during our rehearsals, a specific feeling of annoyance and doubt kept knocking me on my head, telling me I wasn’t looking deeper and thinking about something that should have been very obvious. Ultimately, I realized what it was, among the many, many things that “Organs, Tissues and Candy Games” was exploring:

That theme is consent.

I realize that most would probably disagree with this and probably say that it wasn’t a theme that was even present. Yet, such a large part of the crux of “Organs, Tissues and Candy Games” was related to the idea of ownership over our bodies, whether we get to speak for them ourselves, or whether we are just instruments in a larger world, facilitating different processes and simply providing manpower, which strips us of the ability to consent to the actions and situations we face. The show spoke about the lack of personal agency, about stereotypical representations, about how much power we truly have in choosing what is done to us and who it is that usurps agency from us.

As I worked through being a clone with fellow actor and sophomore Rita Akroush, I couldn’t help but link back this idea to the isolated, under-the-surface murmurings of the need to have a conversation around consent over here. So much of it, from my own personal standpoint towards consent and from my conversations with other concerned students, has centered on the motivations of individuals who have affected others without their consent in very damaging and personal ways in this university, both before and after our move to Saadiyat. These actions perpetuate an incredibly unsafe and frightening environment. I would personally admit to being afraid of potentially facing such a situation after knowing that my fellow classmates have been treated terribly and without consent.

Reflecting on this a week later, what I think “Organs, Tissues and Candy Games” did, both for  me and for the audience, was plant the seed of questions I have been asking myself, of my place in the conversation around consent, of this necessary issue that is thick in the air not only here, but all over the world. It reinforced my need to address it and being brave in wanting to speak up about it.

With the upcoming conversation regarding consent on Monday, I implore you to look within yourself and ask important questions about what consent means. Ask If you are treating those around you with genuine concern, if you know and understand consent, if you consider everyone else’s body as important and precious as you consider yours, and if you are generous and understanding in your capacity for care.

We are a university that questions and pushes boundaries, in every which way. Zoukak Theater Company’s collaboration with our university, I believe, helped question our own behavior and actions at the very moment of its occurrences. It showed us that we are all monsters, all partaking in actions without the other individual’s approval. The point is: Are we going to continue to be these demons? Are we never going to confront ourselves and our actions? Or are we going to live up to the task of grappling with the difficult, muddy and all-important conversations around consent to facilitate a healthier and safer campus culture?