organisiert von: Die Schenke geldlos
Location: Die Schenke, Pfeilgasse 33, 1080 Wien
Url: https://krituni.noblogs.org/programm/?event_id1=41

(in English; Moguć prijevod na bosansko-hrvatsko-srpski)

Theatre of the oppressed is a type of political theatre developed in Brazil from the 1960’s onward. During its beginnings, under the totalitarian regime of Brazilian dictatorship, the theatre of the oppressed was used to discuss the everyday events that couldn’t be talked or written about openly (Newspaper Theatre), and to discuss and find solutions for the oppression different communities faced (Forum Theatre). Over the years and in exile, the founder of the method, Augusto Boal, developed a few more techniques (such as Rainbow of Desire, where the oppressors are the policemen in our own heads, a form of therapeutic theatre, or the Aesthetics of the Oppressed, where he moved from word as the primary medium of communication to artistic expression). Upon his return in Brazil, after the fall of the dictatorship, he served on the city council and developed a theatre method for the direct political work: the Legislative Theatre. All of the methods have some common characteristics. They are all theoretically in line with the philosophical/political/pedagogical system of another Brazilian – Paulo Freire and his Pedagogy of the Oppressed – and with the theatre of Bertolt Brecht. The main goal is that of the real democracy and true empowerment: theatre of the oppressed is not something that people can do for others, it works only if it is done by the community, for the community.

In the workshop, we will mostly concentrate on the exercises from the Forum Theatre arsenal (although there will be some mention of the other methods). Usually, the goal of the Forum theatre workshop is a theatre show, lasting from five to thirty minutes, that presents a situation of the oppression in the community, and it is then performed in front of the other members of the community who serve as spect-actors (in Boal’s terms), who have the power to stop the show and replace the protagonist on stage, offering their ideas on potential solutions, practicing revolution. In the workshop we will arrive at some nuclei of potential future scenes, trying on the roles of protagonist, antagonist and tritagonist, all of that through drama exercises. The workshop is three hours long, and you should wear comfortable clothes. There is no need for any acting experience – we are all actors, said Boal, and the world is theatre. The workshop is hold by Josipa Lulić.

Please register under morana@morana.pw