Political Performance

Colonialism

Techniques of the Body - Act of Resistance

THEATRE OF THE OPPRESSED is a system of Games and special Techniques that aims at developing, in the oppressed citizens, the language of the theatre, which is the essential human language. This form of theatre is meant to be practiced by, about and for the oppressed, to help them fight against their oppressions and to transform the society that engenders those oppressions. The word Oppressed is used in the sense of s/he who has lost the right to express his/her wills and needs, and is reduced to the condition of obedient listener of a monologue. It must be used as a tool of fighting against all forms class oppression, racism, sexism, and all kinds of discrimination. THEATRE OF THE OPPRESSED does not aim at being only like Hamlet´s definition – a mirror that allows us to see our vices and virtues – but to be an instrument of concrete social transformation -Augusto Boal, Rio de Janeiro 2004

Augusto Boal Workshop April 2004

"All human beings are Actors and Spectators. They are SpectActors...everything that actors do, we do throughout our lives, always and everywhere."----Augusto Boal

Augusto Boal has developed a revolutionary approach to theater – the concept and technique of Spect-Actor. The audience members are invited to performances/scenes to suggest changes and demonstrate their ideas. The interaction between actors and audience undermines the conventional roles in theater: spectators and actors. Everybody in the space is a Spect-Actor who has the rights to make changes. Boal emphasizes the process of empowering and the power of community that are also significant for social activism.

Boal founded a major Centers for the Theater of the Oppressed in Rio de Janeiro 1986.He continues to teach and develop community based performances. Boal’s theater has two major divisions – Forum Theater and Image Theater.

The Boal workshop at Department of Performance Studies, Tisch school of the Arts used techniques and methods from Forum Theater and Image Theater. Students are divided into groups and create scenes without any use of dialogues, discussions, and verbal directing. The audience members perceive the scene from multiple angles and make comments about their thoughts. The performers choose one option out of three – ideal vision, extreme unconsciousness, spontaneous scene changes. There is no requirement for performers to reflect audience’s comments. The audience participates as Spect-Actor who makes differences through their interpretation. All scenes are developed through collaborative process between performers and audience members.