Theatre of the Oppressed

by Augusto Boal

Theatre as rehearsal for revolution. He was tortured for this.

For you if

you want to understand how theatre can be a tool for collective problem-solving rather than passive entertainment — from the man who was tortured for proving it

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Boal developed his theatre techniques in Brazil in the 1960s and 70s working with peasants and workers and was arrested and tortured by the Brazilian military dictatorship in 1971 before being exiled. The book that came out of that experience is a complete dismantling of traditional theatre and a blueprint for something different. Traditional theatre, Boal argues, is a tool of oppression: it separates actors from spectators, keeping the audience passive while the stage presents a finished reality they can only watch. His alternative — Forum Theatre, Image Theatre, Invisible Theatre — turns spectators into spect-actors who can stop the action, take the stage, and try different solutions to the problems being dramatized. The stage becomes a rehearsal space for the world: you practice the actions you haven't yet dared to take in life. Boal was later elected to the Rio de Janeiro city council where he used legislative theatre to develop laws with citizens, proving that his theory was not a metaphor. The most essential book on the P&P shelf for Department of Childish Revolution: if Caldwell shows what a community media arts center looks like in practice, Boal shows the philosophical foundation for why that practice changes people. Theatre is not entertainment. It is a rehearsal for revolution.

Where This Book Lives

Setting: Brazil • Latin America
Voice: Written by a Brazilian author
Themes: art as activism resistance and resilience
Topics: brazilian military dictatorship

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