3 TECHNIQUES FROM THE THEATRE OF THE OPPRESSED

In this post I will tell you about The Theatre of the Oppressed and some of its techniques that might be applicable in the English classroom:

The Theatre of the Oppressed is a different kind of theatre elaborated by the Brazilian theatre practitioner Augusto Boal in the 1960s that promotes social and political change on the part of the audience who becomes active (“spect-actors”). The people participating in it explore, show, analyse and transform the reality in which they are living.

Some of the Theatre of the Oppressed techniques are the following:

ANALYTICAL THEATRE:

A story is told by one of the participants and immediately the actors improvise it. Afterward each character is broken down into their social roles and the participants are asked to choose a physical object to symbolise each role. Having analysed the characters, a fresh attempt to tell the story is made, however this time removing some of the symbols from each character, and consequently some social roles as well. For example, the story would be perceived differently if the robber had the police uniform. Through this method, the participants will realise that human actions are not the exclusive and primitive result of human psychology.

INVISIBLE THEATRE:

A form of theatrical performance that is enacted in a place where people would not normally expect to see one, for example at school. 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 to view it as a real event.

NEWSPAPER THEATRE:

A system of techniques devised to give the audience a way to transform daily news articles or any non-dramatic pieces to theatrical scene. Here there are some strategies:

Crossed Reading: two news item are read in alternating form, complementing or contrasting each other in a new dimension.

Rhythmical Reading: article is read to a rhythm (musical), so it acts as a critical “filter” of the news.

Parallel Action: actors mimic the actions as the news is being read.

Improvisation: news is improvised on stage to exploit all its variants and possibilities.

Historical: data recurred from historical moments, events in other countries, or in social systems are added to the news.

Reinforcement: article is read accompanied by songs, slides, or publicity materials.