Sarah Dufayard was bullied as a teenager. For four years, she says, between the age of 13 and 16, she endured the taunts in school. So much so, that it wrecked her self confidence and, for many years, led to her being confused about her body image.
But the biggest tragedy of it all, says Dufayard, now a 31-year-old Dubai-based actor, director and producer, was that she never knew it was bullying.
“It was only after I got to university that I began to realise that pain and hurt and self-doubt I experienced was a result of bullying,” she says. “If I knew that was bullying, I could have done something about it.”
Because bullying still widely exists, and because technology has dramatically enhanced it, Dufayard has now decided to do something about it. She’s adapted an Australian play called The Yum Yum Room, which explores issues facing young people and tackles themes of growing up.
The one-hour play will run for three days beginning February 27 (Thursday) at The Courtyard Playhouse in Al Quoz, Dubai.
The story, she says, explores the relationship between a troubled 17-year-old, Tom, who wants to drop out of school and become a DJ, and his disapproving single father who’s struggling with his own issues. Written by Steven House, the play was originally commissioned by the City of Mount Gambier in south Australia as a response to high teen suicides in the area.
“Dubai is such a multi-cultural city, and the themes tackled in the play are universal. Anybody anywhere will be able to identify,” says Dufayard, who first began to work on her adaptation last year in November.
Getting the production together was not easy, she says, and she decided to self-fund the project after many failed attempts to find backers. Casting was another major challenge, especially for the lead role, which required a young, professional actor. Dufayard eventually settled on local actors, all active in the UAE’s theatre scene, with Filip Ranebo playing Tom, Bryan Mackenzie as the dad, Laura Quirke as Tom’s love interest and Sol Abiad as Tom’s grandmother.
Yet, despite the challenges, Dufayard says The Yum Yum Room was a story that had to be told.
“One of the aspects of bullying that’s interesting is that most teenagers who experience difficulties at school or socially, a lot of them don’t talk about it. Because the main problem with victims of bullying is that they don’t know they are victims,” she says. “So, we need to send the message to everyone.”
The Yum Yum Room is also supported by a UAE campaign called Bolt Down on Bullying.
“We want to tell people that it’s OK to talk to someone. Sometimes you’ve just got to find the right person to talk to,” she says. “Maybe it’s your parents, your teacher or a friend. Just talk to someone about it.”
