by Yaching Cheung
In 1964, a series of events in Brazil led to the overthrow of president Joao Goulart by the US-backed military dictator Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco. The military regime lasted 21 years until 15 March 1985. In 1967 the government enacted a new restrictive Constitution that stifled freedom of speech and political opposition and adopted nationalism, economic development, and anti-communism as its guideline. Brazil’s military provides a model for other military regimes and dictatorships in Latin America.
The theater of the oppressed was first elaborated in the 1970s in Latin America during the dictatorship time, which echoes the third cinema and recognizes the struggle of national and personal identities, colonialism, class, and cultural practices. It has carried the practices of third cinema into the physical space and blurred the boundaries of the “spectators” and actors. The theatrical practitioner Augusto Boal mentioned that the actor needs to listen to what spectators have to say, and often spectators can participate and become the actor during the play. In the film Elephante y Bicicleta, the community that lives in a small village subverts the dictatorship government by “rehearsing” the revolution in the film night collectively. The theater of the oppressed engages in broader social changes by presenting the issues of inequality in public and asking the audiences to participate. The enactment stimulates the practice of resistance to oppression in real life.
1. Intentions and relations to Third Cinema
Brazilian theater practitioner Augusto Boal first made the methodology of Theater of the Oppressed in the 1970s. He uses theatrical techniques to promote political changes. Boal’s teaching was controversial to the Brazilian military regime. In 1971, Boal was kidnapped off the street, arrested, tortured, and eventually exiled to Argentina. He was deeply inspired by Paulo Freire, the author of The Pedagogy of The Oppressed and an excellent friend to Boal. Paulo advocates non-hierarchical education and is against “Banking transactional” education, in which the students passively receive information and knowledge. I found some exciting encounters with Chinese philosopher Mozi’s thinking about universal love. (In the society Mozi portrayed is not power-centered or self-centered, the love people have for the surroundings is not based on Top to bottom, but rather dynamic and diverged). Mozi also mentioned the concept of “非乐.” (He discourages the government from spending additional budget on festivals and musical events because that will only add a financial burden on the citizens) Mozi’s thinking is contradictory to Confucius’ 礼乐（礼乐 is a traditional Chinese ritual and music system that originated in Zhou Dynasty to maintain social order). In other words, Mozi doesn’t endorse and glorify the ruling class. His thought is standing for the benefit of citizens. As a result, in 134BC, Dong Zhong Shu, a Chinese philosopher, suggested the ruler should pay supreme tribute to Confucianism while rejecting all other schools of thought.
2. The practice: Theater belongs to people/educational purpose of the theater:
The theater of the oppressed refuses the single narrator system. Boal believes the theater belongs to people. The ruling classes took possession of the theater and built the wall of division. In the theater of the oppressed, the plays are not scripted or directed. Although systematic Methodes are being practiced, several main categories are Forum theater, Newspaper theater, Legislative Theater, Invisible Theater, Image theater, and Rainbow of Desire.
While Boal was studying chemical engineering at Columbia University, he was introduced to theories of German theater practitioner, playwright, and poet Bertolt Brecht and Russian actor and director Konstantin Stanislavsky. After Boal’s graduation in 1956, He was backed to Brazil and began to direct the plays at Arena Theater, he toured the poor neighborhoods in Brazil, and these plays often ended with actors asking audiences to rise against oppression. During one play, one female audience can not make the actors understand what she was suggesting, so she stepped onto the stage to perform her act.
Boal quote in his book that “Theater is a weapon for liberation.” and “all theater is necessarily political because all the activities of man are political and theater is one of them.” In August 1973, in the cities of lima and Chiclayo in Peru, the government started a national literacy campaign called Operacion Alfabetizacion Integral. They are trying to improve the literacy rate in Peru, where an estimated 3- 4 million people are illiterate or semi-illiterate. Peru has a vast diversity of Idiomas, and some languages are not even being written down. The ALFIN project decides upon an experimental approach to preserve all the languages and teach literacy in all possible languages, especially in artistic ones, such as theater, photography, puppetry, films, journalism, and so on.
Brecht and Boal wanted to use theater as an educational resource for audiences. During Brecht’s exile from Nazi Germany to America, he wrote several vital plays: Mother Courage, The Life of Galileo Galilei, and The Good Person of Setzuan. And he formally established his theory about Epic Theater. Back in Germany, he and his wife resettled in east Germany and created the theater company Berliner Ensemble. Brecht doesn’t want the theater to become a place where the audience can escape reality. He wants his audiences to think consciously and critically. Brecht said:” Art is not a mirror with which to reflect reality, but a hammer with which to shape it. Of what artistic devices we should choose is simply the question of how we can get our audience to become socially active. How we can knock them into shape, we should try out each and every conceivable artistic device which can help towards this aim whether it’s old or new.
3. Questioning the definition of theater – define it by yourself?
So what is theater? What are the actor/actress and spectator? The original definition of the theater comes from the Ancient Greek word θέατρον (théatron, “a place for viewing”), itself from θεάομαι (theáomai, “to see,” “to watch,” “to observe”). In the early history before the 6th BCE, the body of theater didn’t exist. Still, there was a pretty similar event with a “theatrical” aspect – the religious ritual, such as the worship of Dionysos – the sacrifice of goats. The drinking rites resulted in losing all control and emotions to become another person.
My colleague and I once met a drunk guy on the New York subway. The train was stranded for some reason. And a tall guy with messy hair, dressed in patched clothes, started to ‘perform’ in a sentimental, rhetorical manner to the passengers. There is a dramatic moment on the train. He was questioning his personal life and questioning his misfortunes to others. He was also switching seats and asking different passengers. I was thinking at that moment, is this a theater? Is he an actor? Maybe in a broader sense, he is. John cage responds in one interview with the definition of the theater. He said:” I would simply say that theater is something which engages both the eyes and the ears. The two public senses are seeing and hearing; the sense of taste, touch, and odor are more proper to intimate, non- public situations. The reason I want to make my defination of theater that simple is one could view everyday life as a theater. ”
But my immediate response to my colleague is: He is a good “actor,” but the problem is that he can only perform when drunk but not when sober. I am very limited in my view and preferences. I see the subject of acting as a “carrier.” The audiences are not interested in seeing the actors’ emotions, but in seeing themselves through the character, the others are playing. So my understanding of “acting” and “performing” is that the emotion should stay neutral. And the space of theater transformed mundane daily life into a more abstract viewing and sensing experience. As artists, filmmakers, and directors, observational skills are fundamental to fostering our creativity. The theater or the aspect of the theater can occur in a public space, someone’s living room, a classroom in the university, or any other place.
4. The structure
Theater of the oppressed focus on the action itself. The “spectators” train themselves for actual activities. Boal has several methods to achieve this action: 1. Use an image to explain if one is being asked where you live. The response will be an image that can be interpreted beyond the vocabulary. Boal illustrates some ideas: for example, a picture showing the interior of a shack, Instead of having a separate living space, can indicate the families live in promiscuity, and often the young children are watching their parents engage in sexual activity, which leads to the imitation of the behaviors with their siblings. Or a picture of a hungry pelican eating garbage can symbolize the people in this place suffering the great hunger and eating and killing the pelican. By knowing those symbols of the objects, theater can communicate with its audiences. But the more massive the audience groups are, the more challenging the communications are.
When the theater piece engages in physical experiences, it comes down to the human body. Boal describes the first stage of making theater as acknowledging the body as a source of movement and sound. Therefore, the actors must be aware of their physical existence, knowing the limitations and possibilities to express themselves better. The second stage is to express one’s body and research different physical attributes of different social roles, a peasant, a worker, an owner of the factory, etc. The third stage is to practice theater as a present and living language. That means the play can be scripted, and the audiences can reply with images of actors’ bodies. Or they can ultimately engage and step on the stage to perform and intervene. The last stage is to discuss the theme and find solutions for each social issue.
5. The Forum Theater
Forum theater begins with a short performance. It can be rehearsed or improvised. They are assigned several roles: 1. The oppressor, a representation of a government, a dictator, or patriarchy. 2. People who are oppressed can represent a community whose right is under attack by the oppressor. 3. The Joker, a facilitator, invites audiences to participate in the play.
Today handful of theater companies is carrying on Boal’s method.
1. The Civilians: https://thecivilians.org/about-us/
They coined the term “investigative theater” to describe our combination of a creative process with field research and in-depth residencies with specific communities.
2. The theater of the oppressed NYC: https://www.tonyc.nyc/
‘I live here too” was inspired by a shared experience of Central Brooklyn tenants looking to rebuild community safety and unity despite landlords’ neglect, gentrification, and police occupation.
3. Big Apple Talkback Theater: https://www.bigappleplayback.com/public-performances. Big Apple Playback Theatre is an improvisational multi-ethnic, multi-language actors reenact audience members’ life stories.”
4. Kuringa Berlin: https://kuringa.de/en/home-2/
5. The Magdalena Project: https://www.themagdalenaproject.org/
The Magdalena Project composed by theatre groups that are practitioners of the Feminist Theatre of the Oppressed from Latin America, Africa, and Europe. The Ma(g)dalena International Network is a space to revalue and spread the expression of feminist collectives; it is a space of exchange, struggle, and encouragement for solidarity and justice.
6. Cardboard citizens: https://cardboardcitizens.org.uk/who-we-are/theatre-of-the-oppressed/
Cardboard Citizens(London) creates work with and for people who experience homelessness, inequity, or poverty. We provide theatre/art/training that explores, interrogates, and challenges the injustices that are most alive in our world.
7. Mándala Center in Washington DC: https://www.mandalaforchange.com/
8. Maputo was founded in 2001 after Alvim Cossa spent six months studying theatre methodology in Rio de Janeiro with a grant from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. It has presented plays such as O meu marido esta a negar (My Husband is in Denial), documented as a film by Rogério Manjate, which discusses HIV/AIDS avoidance and treatment.
9. Jana Sanskriti: https://janasanskriti.org/
They address issues like domestic violence, child marriage, girl trafficking, child abuse, maternal& child health, primary education & health care, illicit liquor, etc.
Viewing:
Mother Courage by Brecht: https://youtu.be/MWz07HAzKBI
Marat/Sade by Peter Brook: https://youtu.be/k6V2SIPL59A
Notes:
Theater of the oppressed: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_of_the_Oppressed
Teatro de Arena: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teatro_de_Arena
<Theater of the oppressed> author: Augusto Boal
An interview with Jon Cage: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1125231#:~:text=Kirby: What’s your definition of,the eye and the ear.
Theater of the oppressed, explaination video: https://youtu.be/9sSLz5t7a5M