Augusto+Boal

The Theatre of the Oppressed is a method elaborated by the Brazilian director [|Augusto Boal], who was influenced by the work of [|Paulo Freire], starting from the 60s, first in [|Brazil] and then in [|Europe]. This method uses [|theatre] as means of knowledge and transformation of the interior reality in the social and relational field. The public becomes active, so that the "spect-actors" explore, show, analyze and transform the reality in which they are living. Boal was born in [|Rio de Janeiro]. He took an interest in theatre at an early age, but did not become involved until he received his degree. Shortly after graduating from university, Boal was asked to work with the Arena Theatre in São Paulo, southeast Brazil.[|[2]] It was here that he began to experiment with new forms of theatre. Boal’s teachings were controversial, and as a cultural activist he was seen as a threat by the Brazilian military regime. In 1971 Boal was arrested and tortured.[|[3]] He was eventually exiled to Argentina, where in 1973 he published his first book //[|Theatre of the Oppressed]//. He fled to Europe, and eventually lived in Paris. There he taught his revolutionary approach to theatre for 12 years, creating several Centers for the Theatre of Oppressed, and in 1981, organizing the first International Festival for the Theatre of Oppressed. After the fall of Brazil’s military dictatorship, Boal returned to [|Rio de Janeiro] and established a major Center for the Theater of the Oppressed in Rio (CTO Rio). He started over a dozen theater companies that work to develop community-based projects. Boal also worked with many groups worldwide using Theatre of the Oppressed methods. The Theatre of the Oppressed is //theatre// in this most archaic application of the word. In this usage, all human beings are Actors (they act!) and Spectators (they observe!). They are Spect-Actors.... Everything that actors do, we do throughout our lives, always and everywhere. Actors talk, move, dress to suit the setting, express ideas, reveal passions - just as we do in our everyday lives. The only difference is that actors are conscious that they are using the language of theatre, and are thus better able to turn it to their advantage, whereas the woman and man in the street do not know that they are speaking theatre. (Boal 1992: xxx).