Contemporary Theatre - Boal

Augusto Boal (16 March 1931 – 2 May 2009) was a Brazilian theatre practitioner, drama theorist, and political activist. He was the founder of Theatre of the Oppressed, a theatrical form originally used in radical popular education movements. In the Theatre of the Oppressed, the audience becomes active, such that as "spect-actors" they explore, show, analyse and transform the reality in which they are living.


Most of Augusto Boal’s techniques were created after he realized the limitations of didactic, politically motivated theatre in the poor areas where he worked. He found that his attempts to inspire the people living in poor or "slum" areas to rise up against racial and class inequality were inhibited by his own racial and class background since he was white and comparatively financially comfortable. His new techniques allowed the idea of rebellion and the impetus for change to come from within the target group. Much of his early work and teaching was inspired by Marxist philosophy, although through his career he had not been restricted by this and much of his work now falls within the boundaries of a center-left ideology.

At the time he was practicing in the 1970/80/90s, he was living in Brazil under a massive fascist regime where people would disappear if they spoke against the government. This regime allowed Boal to start creating politically motivated theatre against the regime which alerted his increasing presence to the Brazilian authorities who kidnapped and tortured him before he fled to Argentina where he still continued his style of theatre which included both invisible and forum theatre.

Invisible Theatre

Invisible Theatre is a form of theatrical performance that is a major part of Theatre of the Oppressed. It is enacted in a place where people would not normally expect to see one—for example on the street or in a shopping center. The performers attempt to disguise the fact that it is a performance from those who observe and who may choose to participate in it, encouraging the spectators (or rather, unknowing spect-actors) to view it as a real event. It is often followed by a Q&A with the spect-actors about how their views were challenged and is often a stepping stone to how people would act in a real-life situation that is similar to one they've been subjected to. It makes the spect-actor feel 'proper' emotions as it happens in real time. For this, Boal didn't use large sets due to the poverty encasing Brazil at the time. However, there are some drawbacks to this method as some things cannot be shown which are too graphic for a social setting and it can't be sustained for long periods of time. Moreover, it can get dangerous if people actually get involved and become aggressive.

We were introduced to this theatre when Marlon left the classroom against Chipp's wishes, which they had arranged beforehand. It was made increasingly real when a senior member of staff got involved accidentally as she was stood outside the drama studio. I personally felt very shocked as Marlon had always listened to Chipp even if he had to leave and even if he did have to leave, he would always let Chipp know before the lesson started. Maybe I easily believe things, but I genuinely felt that there was something wrong with Marlon - this was enhanced as his close friends began to reason as to why he had left the room and even suggested he had been off with them the week prior. I think that this shows that this method is effective, especially to people who easily believe things like myself.


Forum Theatre

This was initially called 'simultaneous dramaturgy', where actors or audience members could stop a performance, often a short scene in which a character was being oppressed in some way (for example, a typically chauvinist man mistreating a woman or a factory owner mistreating an employee). In early forms of 'simultaneous dramaturgy', the audience could propose any solution, by calling out suggestions to the actors who would improvise the changes on stage. This was an attempt to undo the traditional audience/actor partition and bring audience members into the performance, to have an input into the dramatic action they were watching.

With the change to Forum Theatre, the audience were now encouraged to not only imagine change but to actually practice that change, by coming on stage as 'spect-actors' to replace the protagonist and act out an intervention to "break the oppression." Through this process, the participant is also able to realize and experience the challenges of achieving the improvements he/she suggested  The actors who welcome the spectactor volunteering onto the stage play against the spectactor's attempts to intervene and change the story, offering a strong resistance so that the difficulties in making any change are also acknowledged. This practice is not intended to show the correct path, but rather to discover all possible paths which may be further examined.

The audience is certainly not passive and the story is not as set as a usual piece of theatre so can change direction. A true piece is one which can mobilise political power which is achieved through education hence why it's often used in education pieces due to its power. The audience will certainly get more attached to the character as the character will potentially develop the same issues as audience members do which creates sympathy.

The story that we used was one about two juxtaposing stories. The first that we were introduced to and allowed to ask questions about, was set in the UK and was where a mother was trying to get kidney treatment for her child who had severe kidney issues. She gets a letter from the hospital to go to a meeting where she is offered a chance to get a kidney operation for her son but through private healthcare with a £20,000 cost which she can't afford. The second story was about a man who also had a son but lived on the border between India and Pakistan, who was living in extreme poverty (which shows a similarity between the two stories). He is offered the chance to sell his kidney to get c.£300 for it but dies during the operation to remove it, leaving his son and wife to fend for themselves - this relates to this article about people in South Asia selling kidneys which has been an issue for many years. The disgusting behaviour is, if it is possible to say, softened by the previous story but also seems more harsh as it brings up the question: Why should one person give his life for another boy in another country whom he's never met, sacrificing his son's and wife's life and not getting as much money as the person in another country is paying for the service given?

The real Forum Theatre began when Marlon, Bella, and Chipp performed when the wife of the Indian man goes to the clinic to retrieve her husband's ashes and the money when she doesn't know her husband is dead. This seems vastly unfair and we were told to suggest ways in which the wife could act (from anger to sadness) in order to get the best possible offer from the clinic but we never seemed to reach it. Certainlym it felt far too unfair and made me want to do something to help the real people involved which shows that this method of theatre does work.