Theater of the Oppressed- Rachael Hinman

Here are my thoughts, questions, and resonances:

Thoughts:

Augusto Boal’s theater method is an an amazing way to engage the audience and allow them the freedom to express their thoughts while watching a piece. Also the strategies and tactics used in this practice is an awesome and clear way to bring on a call to action and explore possibilities.

Concerns/Questions:

This method brings the possibility of huge controversy within the audience as well as potential arguments that could break out. How has this been dealt with and/or what has the outcome been in these situations?

Resonances/ Connections:

“They will look at the lady’s house, and compare it to their ow, at the husbands or wife’s attitude and compare them with those of their own spouses etc” (149). When spectators have to act out part of a story, they often make a deeper connection to the story and try to pull connections to their own lives.

“Third stage: the theater as a language: one begins to practice theater as a language that is living and present, not as a finished product displaying images from the past” (126).

I love this! I dont always want to see theater as a display, as a finished piece as something I’m going to see from beginning to end that has been rehearsed over and over. Art, especially theater, has the capability and power to express an immense amount of emotions and I think it’s amazing to invite audience members to express their emotions and questions during the piece, instead of discussing them with a partner on the way home from a show.

Comments

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