Augusto Boal: Theatre of the Oppressed

1. What specifically stood out for you in the Boal reading? ( Give 2 examples, Be specific) What is your response to that? (Did it make you think about something - if so, what? Did it raise questions for you - if so, what are they?)

Near the beginning of the book when Boal discusses 'Experiments with the People's Theatre in Peru' I found out that in August 1973, it was estimated that 3-4 million of Peru’s population which at the time was 14 million were illiterate or semi-illiterate. I found this very shocking because it is thought that the spoken language is at the heart of communication and it is what people heavily rely on to interact with one another. However at the same time there are other ways of communicating, whether that is in another language, through body movements and other art forms. These ways of communicating can seem to be easy and obvious at first, but they are not to those people who are not aware of different ways of communicating. If those people are not aware of different ways of communicating then they may start to feel isolated, lonely and sad. In August 1973 the ALFIN project worked with the people of Peru to teach them literacy in their own first language and in Spanish as the second language and to teach literacy in all possible languages and art forms (Boal, 2008). The ALFIN project seemed to of opened up different kinds of communication to the people in Peru. My question to this subject matter is as follows: If there are different ways of communicating such as through movements to multimedia to even emails, why do people constantly rely on verbal communication? If language opens up a persons way of looking at life in general which they can then pass on that knowledge, why isn't these alternative ways of communicating presented and promoted to people at the early stages of their lives? Why in the 21st century do some people not fully appreciate that not everyone communicates the same as then, especially those with a learning, physical or sensory or mental disorder?

Another aspect of the book that I found interesting was when Boal stated:

“In order to understand this poetics of the oppressed one must keep in mind its main objective: to change the people- “spectators”, passive beings in the theatrical phenomenon- into subjects, into actors, transformers of the dramatic action.” (Boal, 2008: 96)

I found what Boal stated to be very inspiring and I completely agree with it all because theatre should not be just audience and actors, it should be the participants as the audience and actors at the same time. We all have an influence on our own and other peoples lives so it is our right to try out new things through rehearsals, performances and Forum theatre so then we not only inflict positive change and challenge the status quo, we also try out and practise things in preparation for what awaits us in the big world. As Boal stated "the theatre is not revolutionary in itself, it it is surely a rehearsal for the revolution" (Boal,, 2008: 98). My question to this subject matter is as follows: If theatre can be used as a tool by anyone to promote positive change and try out new things, why is this not being made easily available to the general public? Why are people not constantly being made aware of the benefits of theatre? Why do people either have minimal knowledge of the purpose of theatre or have stereotypical views of it?

2. What can we learn from Boals experience with the mans picture of home on pg 100? 

We can learn that a photo can tell us a lot about the daily lives of people and what they go through on a day to day basis, so this is a very powerful tool. For example, Boal met a man from Peru that had a picture of the child who's face was bleeding as the rats ate bits of their nose (Boal, 2008). Even though this photo was not a photo of home, it was a photo that clearly revealed how other people just like this child live and how their lives are at threat every single day. In addition, a photograph can become more significant and has more meaning to people when some of them share similar experiences to one another (Boal, 2008).

 

Overall the main thing we can learn is that we should appreciate how a person communicates, whether it is through movement or through presenting photographs. Also, just because someone communicates differently and other people may not understand what they are communicating, does not mean that a type of communication or what is communicated should be undervalued and dismissed. In a workshop situation or in the rehearsal room, participants will respond to stimuli and activities in a different way through different forms of language and communication. This is a good thing as it shows each persons uniqueness and creativity, so the facilitator should promote this.   
 

3. Please explain Boals first two sections ( 1 Knowing the body, 2. Making the body expressive) briefly in your own words.

Boal discussed in his book about the first stage of 'knowing the body and the second stage of 'making the body expressive. In the first stage when Boal discusses 'knowing the body' he is referring to participants identifying their whole self their muscular structures and the types of habitual behaviours they acquire through social expectations, their work or hobbies and their upbringing. Over years and years of going through life, these habitual behaviours shapes each person in terms of how they behave. Boal outlines different activities which addresses these habitual behaviours and then work on minimising these behaviours, so then participants can free themselves up and start to work on a variety of exercises and become different characters. The exercises that helps participants to become more aware of their body are:

• Slow motion race
• Cross legged race
• Monster race
• Wheel race
• Hypnosis
• Boxing match
• Outwest

Once participants get to know their body and have worked on it for a very long time then they can work on developing to express themselves through the body, but remembering not to get into those common habitual behaviours. Boal believes that in day to day life, everyone communicates mainly verbally which then means that our bodies is left underdeveloped in terms of communication (Boal, 2008). Boal gave an example of an exercise where each participant is given a piece of paper with their animal on it. They have to act as that animal mainly through movement and try to find another person who is acting like that animal as well. In this exercise participants solely use their bodies to communicate and act like their chosen animal and they have to look to see who is acting like that particular animal as well (Boal, 2008). By participants making their body expressive, they uncover things about themselves that they never knew and they start to create unique pieces of work.

Reference List

Boal, A. (2008) Theatre of the oppressed. London: Pluto Press.