I grew up a lot hearing and learning about Augusto Boal. Theater of the Oppressed is basically theater that brings about social change. In Lebanon, I grew up seeing a lot of street theater that would be heavily influenced by the country's political climate. As a child I had a vague understanding of what it truly meant to be performing the way they were. It wasn't until high school that I started to view Lebanese street theater/art differently. My theater teacher at the time was very aware of Lebanon's political state and introduced us to Augusto Boal and his practices. Since then, I started looking at theater, film and art in ways I could not have before. Almost everything for me became political from then on. I felt that the urgency of art that fits into Theater of the Oppressed is one that is necessary for social, political, and economic change. I try to emulate or reflect the Lebanese struggles of war, poverty and corruption in nearly everything I create, be it satirical or dramatic
“The Joker System provided a perfect aesthetic vehicle to tell not only the story of Rodney King and the ensuing uprising, but a larger, ever changing and ever-the-same, storyo of violence, racism, and resistance in the US. Creating UPSET! In the mode of the Joker System provided a means to incorporate the teens curiosity, dismay, outrage, confusion, fear, and inspiration in relation to the subject matter of the play within the play.” Here's a bit of extra background on the joker system: “The Joker System laid the theoretical foundation for the Theatre of the Oppressed, the umbrella term Boal employed for all his subsequent theoretical developments. Even in the Forum Theatre, his most popular theatrical format, the lineaments of the Joker system are apparent. The Joker System began in 1965, when the Arena Theatre performed Arena Narrates Zumbí. The word “Joker” had, in Boal’s mind, the same significance as the “Joker” playing card, a card which has more mobility than a...