Theatre Of the Oppressed
Using Theatre for Community Mobilization
and Advocacy
Christie Wall
Theatre of the Oppressed
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Pedagogy of the
Oppressed
Community
development
Dialogue and
action on relevant
social issues
Spect-actors
Acting alternatives
and resistance
Image from www.studio34yoga.com
Augusto Boal
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Created TO
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Brazilian actor
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Response to dictatorship in Brazil
Image from: www.guardian.co.uk
Strategies
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Encourage critical
thought about
social conditions
Acting for social
change
Spectacle to
engagement
Blurs reality and
fiction
Image From: theforumproject.org
Invisible Theatre
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Rehearsed play which occurs in public
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Audience does not know it is rehearsed
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Brings dialogue to public spaces
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Generally disrupts a social norm
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Theatre graffiti and product placement
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Example: Men in women's clothing
Forum Theatre
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Creation of the play
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Role of the Joker
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First run-through
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Audience participation
Image from: firehallartscentre.ca
Who is the Joker?
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A neutral party: deck of cards
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Strong facilitation skills
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Enforces theatre's rules
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Uses of Forum Theatre for Public
Health
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Enable public dialogue
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Facilitate understanding of complexity
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Rehearse alternatives and solutions
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Making 'public health' public
Legislative Theatre: Theatre Making
Policy
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An extension of Forum Theatre
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Theatre becomes a way of conducting politics
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Instead of practicing individual responses, the
interventions come through laws
Augusto Boal used Legislative Theatre to create
13 laws while he was city councillor in Rio De
Janeiro
Resources
Boal, A. (1974). Theatre of the Oppressed. London: Pluto Press.
Boal, A. (2002). Games for actors and non-actors (2nd ed). New
York: Routeledge.
Diamond, D. (2007). Theatre for living: The art and science of
community-based dialogue. Victoria, BC: Trafford Publishing.
Headlines Theatre (no date). Theatre for living. Retrieved from:
http://headlinestheatre.com/
The Forum Project (2013). The Forum Project: creative tools for
creating change. Retrieved from:
http://theforumproject.org/whatisto/