Theatre of the Oppressed

Theatre of the Oppressed - Caleb Wildman

The thing that most resonated with me while reading Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed was how art and the process of making art is defined as a different language. I couldn’t agree with this more. The example of people being asked to take a picture of what their home is could not be more memorable. In this matter, the writer argues that photography is purely a visual language. The saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” really began to take a new meaning. The language of making theatre is argued to be one of story telling. As a lighting designer, this is purely what I do. Just like the community members participating in various games, I take a script or some piece of work and build the world that exists around it. My art is not as much about physicality, but nonetheless, it is my job as a theatre designer to create the world that the story revolves around.

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Mind Map

What a Riot - Bri Pattillo

I like the Theater of the Oppressed methodology of the Joker. It sort of reminded me of El Pachuco in “Zoot Suit”, like this narrator commenting on all the action. I thought the Joker methodology was a good way to introduce a Theater of the Oppressed tactic into the piece. A lot of the Theater of the Oppressed options that we read about last week have an element of questioning within in them, but I think the Joker was a good one to use with young people. It was nice and cool that she was able to include the students’ actual questions into the play. I did think her approach was rather problematic. She highlighted the problem herself and posed the question, “To whom and to what is the author beholden when writing a play for a specified population that has been invited to contribute to the playwriting process?” My problem was her answer, when she said that the students didn’t understand all of the references or language in the play. I don’t...

Arts and Community Engagement 2018

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