Theatre of the Oppressed:
· Theatre of the Oppressed originated in Brazil originally as a way to deal with local problems, and has since branched off into many other forms of the theatre. It was created by Augusto Boal.
· These include:
o Newspaper theatre
§ This was the first form of TO, it’s goal was to deal with the local problems; and soon was used all over Brazil.
o Forum theatre
§ Originated in Peru, as a part of a Literacy program
§ Involves a practised or improvised play being performed (traditionally in the street.) Here, audience members ( or spect-actors) can watch the play; which is about oppression.
· This means that the oppression is relevant to the audience The play involves an oppressor, and the actor who is being oppressed.
· The same play is then repeated in front1 of the audience, usually in an abridged version. However this time around, the spect-actors are empowered. At any moment can yell out STOP! And they can take the place of the oppressed actor.
o Contrary to the original ending of the first showing of the play in which the oppressor overthrows the oppressed characters; this time around the spect-actor aims to use different methods to that of the original oppressed actor, in order to overthrow the oppressor, while the original oppressive character aims to finish at the original scripted ending.
o If the audience decides that the spect-actors actions are deemed to be unrealistic and couldn’t be used ina real situation, then the audience calls out ‘magic!’ and the spect-actor changes their approach to the oppressor. If the spect-actor is unsuccessful then the original actor takes their place back and the play continues until another apect-actor sees an opportunity to overthrow the oppressor and takes the role of the actor through yelling out stop again.
o If the oppressed spect-actor manages to overthrow the oppressor, then the play is remodified again, and the spect-actors can take the place of the oppressor, this means “a more realistic depiction of the oppression can be made by the audience, who are often victims of the oppression.”
o Forum theatre results in the audience not only imagining change in their society, but practising it, they can reflect collectively on the situation, and this thereby encourages real social action.
o Image theatre
§ This was developed to establish communication between Indigenous Nations and Spanish descendants
§ It involves participants showing an emotion, situation and thoughts through sculpting their body to represent this. All participants then group together and create the ‘image’ using all these individual ideas.
§ Participants can also sculpt others into shape.
§ Boal’s idea with Image theatre is that the physical movements in Theatre are the first most important aspect to show expression. ‘By using the body rather than speech, the normal ‘blockades’ and ‘filters’ of thought can be bypassed.’
§ The movements are encouraged to be formed instantaneously, to stop any thoughts from changing the raw emotions.
o Invisible theatre
§ The aim of invisible theatre is to convey the violence that exists within the society, as well as to focus attention on common and recurring problems. As political activity, this was developed in Argentina. It is a previously practised play, which is performed in public without the audience’s knowledge that it is in fact a play. Social injustice, sexism, racism and ageism are all targeted. The intention to invisible theatre is to begin debate and clarify the problem, which is addressed. It not only incorporates the oppressor and the oppressed, but often, other actors disguised as passers-by voice strong opinions, therefore encouraging the real audience to also participate.
o Rainbow of desire
§ Often considered a type of drama therapy, it incorporates aspects of image theatre
This diagram I feel visually maps what Theatre of the Oppressed encompasses. It shows what influences it, such as ethics and politics which branches up eventually into different forms of TOO.
This photo shows sculpting occurring. The actors are using Image Theatre to convey their emotions through the use of their bodies.
This photo is amazing in that it really conveys how TOO can be staged. This could be a demonstration of Forum Theatre, with the action taking place in the street and these many spect-actors having the chance to take part in overthrowing their oppressor.
Here is a script that i found in the style of Theatre of the Oppressed:
This script doesn’t involve improvisation and the opportunities for spect-actors to influence the action, however it is an example of a possible base script, in that the real actors learn this and this is somewhat of an issue in society. It depicts something ethical, and something that shows these children being oppressed by the officials and the system.
Bibliography:
http://www.theatreoftheoppressed.org/en/index.php?useFlash=1
This source is reliable in that it is written by Boal himself, the creator of Theatre of the Oppressed. It doesn’t go into enough detail about the different branches of TO, I needed more information on Forum theatre and image theatre, but luckily this was provided by other sources.
http://www.stage-left.org/past_youth.htm
This is where I got my script from, and I think it is an interesting script of TO. It doesn’t incorporate the improvisation that is so key to TO, but it still addresses the idea of challenging a society or practice within a society.
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_of_the_Oppressed
Although this is wikipedia, it gave me a far better understanding on the different branches of TO, it isn’t as reliable as other resources though, as it can be edited by other people; however this particular article matched the information that I found in the other articles.
Well done. I’m looking forward to the workshop as it’s a great script and maybe you could devise ways that we can incorporate improvisation