picture taken from the international website of theater of the oppressed: www.theatreoftheoppressed.org
Theater of the Oppressed (T.O.) is the designation for theatre techniques that compose a style developed by Brazillian director Augusto Boal since the late 1960s. Based on the theories of the Brazilian philosopher Paulo Freire, T.O. aims at unraveling and promoting debate about situations of oppression that affect people’s daily lives through an informal and playful means. In T.O., oppression is defined as a power dynamic based on monologue rather than dialogue; hence, it results in unequal relationships that are prevalent in everyone’s everyday life. Accordingly, the goal of T.O. is to explore relations of power and oppression while promoting a way to transform them through a participatory debate between its participants.
The various techniques used in Theatre of the Oppressed have been developed since the 60s in different places. (for a brief history see (http://www.theatreoftheoppressed.org/en/index.php?nodeID=3). Among these techniques are:
# Newspaper theatre: This technique reverses the artistic process to the extent it provides participants with the means of production rather than a finished product. People are provided with newspaper and magazine articles (or other written materials, such as reports, manifestos, constitutions, meeting minutes…) and create theatre scenes or plays based on what they read.
# Image Theatre: As the name suggests, this technique is based on priming image as a means of communication. One of the ways to play with image and space so as to discuss something is for the participants to engage in making human sculptures representing their points of view. Not surprisingly, it was developed to establish a dialogue between people whose different spoken languages hindered communication: Indigenous Peoples and Spanish descendants in several countries in Latin America.
# Invisible theatre: This technique’s essence is provocation. Invisible theatre (similar to what is known as guerrilla theatre) can be said to be a direct intervention in society to the extent it uses non-conventional spaces for theatre (i.e. a subway station, a sidewalk, a cafeteria) and surprises the audience that passers by become. A previously rehearsed play is performed without informing the audience that it is a play. The goal is to represent a situation in which some sort of violence is exerted, to clarify it and, by merely happening in a public space “calling” passers by to re-act. To be sure, the plays are based on themes of general interest and are never violent, as the aim is to promote discussion of the issue at hand rather than to reproduce violence.
Notably, in “re-act” the hyphenation is significant: first, people are compelled to not only observe a situation but also to take action on the matter and take a step to transform society. Second, people end up acting as actual actors in a theatre play, even though they are not aware of it. In this way, Invisible Theatre (and T.O.) put in practice Shakespeare’s saying “All the world is a stage and people mere actors”.
# Legislative Theatre: At the core principle of TO is participatory debate, it suits ideals of democracy and can potentially be an enabling channel for them. With Legislative Theatre, TO has proved this to be possible. Legislative Theatre builds on Forum Theatre techniques, taking them a step further and applying them to law making. After Forum Theatre sessions the participants use the same public space to propose projects, adjustments to the law and so on based on the spect-actors interventions. Through a voting procedure it is decided which ideas will be asked to be approved by lawmakers.
Legislative theatre was an innovation in 1992, when Boal was elected on a Workers Party slate to the Chamber of Vereadores of Rio de Janeiro which is similar to a City Council in the United States. Once installed in office, he adapted his theatre techniques for use in city politics, with some hilarious--and sometimes rancorous-results. He hired his theatre group as his legislative staff and extended their methods of participatory theatre into the realm of government by creating seventeen companies of players in communities throughout the city. This method of governing came to be called legislative theatre in which ordinary people, usually restricted to the role of voters, were encouraged to become legislators. Brazil now has 13 laws that were created in legislative-theatre forums, and experiments in legislative theatre-type work have since taken place in London, Toronto, Munich, and Paris.
# Rainbow of Desire: Rainbow of Desire comprises some fifteen techniques so as to address the psychological aspects related to oppression. These techniques aim at visualizing theatrically and dealing with the oppression people undergo. Rather than interpreting, people in the group provide what would be the various regards of others. Techniques such as finding the “Cop in the head” (as opposed to the clearly visible cop in the street that was often present throughout Latin America) were developed in Boal’s trips to Europe.
Given the vast potential of T.O. and its techniques it has been used in various contexts such as prisons (namely in Rio de Janeiro), schools, churches, trade-unions, psychotherapists’ offices, streets … and the list keeps growing.
The various techniques used in Theatre of the Oppressed have been developed since the 60s in different places. (for a brief history see (http://www.theatreoftheoppressed.org/en/index.php?nodeID=3). Among these techniques are:
# Newspaper theatre: This technique reverses the artistic process to the extent it provides participants with the means of production rather than a finished product. People are provided with newspaper and magazine articles (or other written materials, such as reports, manifestos, constitutions, meeting minutes…) and create theatre scenes or plays based on what they read.
# Image Theatre: As the name suggests, this technique is based on priming image as a means of communication. One of the ways to play with image and space so as to discuss something is for the participants to engage in making human sculptures representing their points of view. Not surprisingly, it was developed to establish a dialogue between people whose different spoken languages hindered communication: Indigenous Peoples and Spanish descendants in several countries in Latin America.
# Invisible theatre: This technique’s essence is provocation. Invisible theatre (similar to what is known as guerrilla theatre) can be said to be a direct intervention in society to the extent it uses non-conventional spaces for theatre (i.e. a subway station, a sidewalk, a cafeteria) and surprises the audience that passers by become. A previously rehearsed play is performed without informing the audience that it is a play. The goal is to represent a situation in which some sort of violence is exerted, to clarify it and, by merely happening in a public space “calling” passers by to re-act. To be sure, the plays are based on themes of general interest and are never violent, as the aim is to promote discussion of the issue at hand rather than to reproduce violence.
Notably, in “re-act” the hyphenation is significant: first, people are compelled to not only observe a situation but also to take action on the matter and take a step to transform society. Second, people end up acting as actual actors in a theatre play, even though they are not aware of it. In this way, Invisible Theatre (and T.O.) put in practice Shakespeare’s saying “All the world is a stage and people mere actors”.
# Legislative Theatre: At the core principle of TO is participatory debate, it suits ideals of democracy and can potentially be an enabling channel for them. With Legislative Theatre, TO has proved this to be possible. Legislative Theatre builds on Forum Theatre techniques, taking them a step further and applying them to law making. After Forum Theatre sessions the participants use the same public space to propose projects, adjustments to the law and so on based on the spect-actors interventions. Through a voting procedure it is decided which ideas will be asked to be approved by lawmakers.
Legislative theatre was an innovation in 1992, when Boal was elected on a Workers Party slate to the Chamber of Vereadores of Rio de Janeiro which is similar to a City Council in the United States. Once installed in office, he adapted his theatre techniques for use in city politics, with some hilarious--and sometimes rancorous-results. He hired his theatre group as his legislative staff and extended their methods of participatory theatre into the realm of government by creating seventeen companies of players in communities throughout the city. This method of governing came to be called legislative theatre in which ordinary people, usually restricted to the role of voters, were encouraged to become legislators. Brazil now has 13 laws that were created in legislative-theatre forums, and experiments in legislative theatre-type work have since taken place in London, Toronto, Munich, and Paris.
# Rainbow of Desire: Rainbow of Desire comprises some fifteen techniques so as to address the psychological aspects related to oppression. These techniques aim at visualizing theatrically and dealing with the oppression people undergo. Rather than interpreting, people in the group provide what would be the various regards of others. Techniques such as finding the “Cop in the head” (as opposed to the clearly visible cop in the street that was often present throughout Latin America) were developed in Boal’s trips to Europe.
Given the vast potential of T.O. and its techniques it has been used in various contexts such as prisons (namely in Rio de Janeiro), schools, churches, trade-unions, psychotherapists’ offices, streets … and the list keeps growing.
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