Augusto Boal by Ruben Rubio

I found it interesting how in Augusto Boal’s, “Poetics of the Oppressed” he gives a brief history of theater.  He says that in the beginning, theater was performed in an open space and everyone in attendance was involved.  As time passed the ruling classes separated all the participants into actors and viewers.  I appreciated some of Boal’s theater exercises like the one where he presents a problem and the actors act out the scene and then the audience gets an opportunity to come up with a solution.  I like how Boal’s work engages the audience and makes them feel part of the theatrical experience.  The theater can be placed at the hands of the oppressed, so that they can express themselves and engage in real action.  Another, exercise that resonated with me was the one where the focus is on body expressiveness.  People use their bodies to recreate an animal, and they have to find their female/male partner.  I find that this exercise makes a person focus on being specific about what movements they use, because they want to accomplish the task and not be left without a partner.  Finally, I found the invisible theater exercise to be powerful, because it made unwitting spectators be more engaged than perhaps they would be if they knew that what they were experiencing was a theatrical performance.  Furthermore, I researched some of Boal’s work and found that the majority of his work promotes social and political change.  The audience members are given an opportunity to show, analyze, or transform the reality that they are living in.