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| THEATER OF THE OPPRESSED (BOAL TECHNIQUES) |
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| THEATER OF THE OPPRESSED (BOAL TECHNIQUES) |
A videotape of Boal's work in Rio WAS released March 1996. See below under Legislative Theater.
The writings and workshops of Augusto Boal have influenced many theater artists and social change organizations around the world. Combining many of the aspects of IMPROVISATION with some of the techniques associated with J.L. MORENO's concept of SOCIODRAMA, Boal's unique synthesis extends Brecht's Epic Theater concepts into a new realm of practicality.
A good description of Boal's forms of theater can be found at Mixed Company of Toronto's home page. Groups which use Boal's methods vary widely and are listed below. CENTERS for Theater of the Oppressed workers exist in several cities.
CENTERS
C.T.O. - BOAL
Rua Francisco Otaviano 185/41
CEP 22080, Ipanema, Arpoador
Rio de Janeiro, RJ
BrazilFor information, please send a self-addressed envelope and two international reply coupons.
CENTRE DU THÉÂTRE de l'OPRIMÉ
78/80 Rue de Charolais
75012 Paris, France
THEATER OF THE OPPRESSED LABORATORY (TOPLAB)
122 West 27th St.
New York, NY 10001-6281
USA
(212)674-9145
(212)674-6506 (fax)
e-mail: toplab@nyxfer.blythe.org
CTO - Omaha
Metropolitan Arts Council
1209 Harney, Suite 110
Omaha, NE 68102
CTO- Omaha, an arm of Omaha Public Theatre in our Neighborhood (OPTION), publishes a quarterly newsletter called Staging Areas. Contact Brent Noel at:
OPTION
c/o Metropolitan Arts Council
1209 Harney St., Suite 110
Omaha, NE 68102Other Boal-related groups are described in Playing Boal, (Routledge, 1994), eds. Cohen-Cruz and Schutzman. The editors are active in the field and frequently travel to do workshops around the country. Contact Jan Cohen-Cruz at NYU or Mady Schutzman at California Institute of the Arts.
SEATTLE PUBLIC THEATRE
Mark Weinblatt of Seattle Public Theater tells of a vast and extremely active array of TO programming, including workshops, Forum performances (both with their professional troupe as well as with workshop participants).
Recent events include a Theater of Liberation performance and demonstration in Nov 1996 and a weekend workshop on Theater, Therapy, and Tranformation entitled Sacred Theater.Seattle, in conjunction with Evergreen State College will host a series of workshops in May 1997 led by Boal.
"Rainbow of Desire" -- two-day workshop from Saturday, May 24-Sunday, May 25, 1997. Interpersonal and intrapersonal sources of oppression including "Cop in the Head." Registration limited to 50 people--no experience necessary. Cost US$200
T.O. Master Class--3 day advanced workshop with Boal, Wednesday, May 21 - Friday, May 23, 1997. For experienced practitioners of Theater of the Oppressed only. Cost US$200Contact Mark by e-mail for information. Public events during the residency include a Forum Theater performance/demonstration, facilitated by Boal, on May 23, 1997 at 7:30 PM.
The Seattle Public Theatre hosted a 6-day Theater of Liberation Workshop entitled "Men and Women: Can We Hear Each Other?" Co-sponsored by the National Organization for Women and the Men's Evolvement Network, the workshop used TO techniques to empower a theatrical dialogue.
Contact: Mark Weinblatt
Seattle Public Theatre
915 E. Pine St., #426
Seattle, WA 98122
Phone: (206)328-4848
HEADLINES THEATER, VANCOUVER, BC
David Diamond and Headlines Theater have been doing TO work (they now call it Theater for Living) in Canada for the last 11 years. They do 15-20 sessions per year, including a recent series on gay and lesbian youth and homophobia. They have also done work about biodiversity, AIDS, and racism. Their recent announcements include:
-- a series of workshops, using Cop-in-the -Head and Rainbow of Desire techniques to present a a Power Play on racism, focusing on the Tl'atz'en Nation, in central British Columbia, with workshops in Campbell River, Vancouver, Mount Currie, and Tofino/Ucleut; --a Skill Development Workshop on techniques for anti-racism and multicultural workers in Vancouver in November 1995;
--youth workshops in substance abuse, teen pregnancy, racism, and violence in Hazelton and Fort St. James in Oct. 1996.
--a workshop for docents at the Vancouver Holocaust Center to help students comprehend the current exhibition in a non-threatening way;
--"Reclaiming Our Spirits," a community-based theater project which helps individuals and communities deal with the effects of Canada's Indian Residential School legacy. From February to May 1996, The Theater for Living project visited eleven First Nations communities in British Columbia under the sponsorship of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, Native American Families in Crisis, Health Canada, and Kawakis Family Development Center. Week-long workshops in each community preceded the presentation by the community of the play they develop. Media phone contact for this project is Moira Keigher at (604)251-2119. The program continues in Oct. 1996 with workshops in the First Nations communities of Gold River and Campbell River
--a site-specific program called "Safer Communities, Safer Campuses," which developed a forum play, then toured it to several communities from late February through March 1996. Their college work continues with a personal safety workshop at Capilano College.
In February 1996 David Diamond of Headlines was given the City of Vancouver's First Cultural Harmony Award for his work in community-based theater, used to explore such issues as diversity, racism, homophobia, and refugee concerns.
Contact:
David Diamond by e-mail at 76150.127@compuserve.com
or Headlines Theater for Living
101-1416 Commercial Drive
Vancouver, BC, Canada V5L 3X9
Phone: (604)251-2006 Fax: (604)251-4104
PEACE TROUPE, FRONT ROYAL, VAGary Wood began working with Boal techniques and community-based theater applications around issues of homelessness in Atlanta and recently moved near Washington DC. His group traveled to Bosnia to work in Sarajevo and Banja Luka in late November 1995. The publish a quarterly newsletter called The Cultural Animator.
They will offer an extensive series of workshops in 1996 and 1997:
Jan 5-12, 1997 Using Arts in Family and School Conflict
Jan 19-26 Culture in Motion
Feb. 1-8 Community Activism Using Cultural Arts (This features an optional trip to Cuba to experience community-based arts)
Mar. 9-16 Opening the Forum, Reading the Image
Mar. 29-Apr. 5 Integrating the Arts, Conflict, Curriculum and Community Programs
Contact:
Gary Wood
233 Blue Ridge Ave.
Front Royal, VA 22630-3003
Phone: (540)622-5944 Fax (540)626-6513
e-mail: PTroupeHQ@aol.com
e-mail: ptroupe@concentric.net
Visit their home page
Ronaldo Morelos of the Academy of the Arts in Queensland, AU, has released his video of Boal's latest work as a Municipal Councilor in Rio. Entitled Como Querem Beber Agua:
Augusto Boal and the Theater of the Oppressed in Rio de Janeiro the work is being released at the Chicago Performance Studies conference and the Omaha Pedagogy of the Oppressed Conference in March 1996. A Web Site describing the film has been established. This includes photographs and ordering information.
Contact: Ronaldo by e-mail
PORTLAND OREGON
Aaron McEmrys reports that a TO group in Oregon is establishing their own Web Site. Portland Interactive Theater should be at http://www.teleport.com when it is open.
HOPE IS VITAL
is a national, Washington, DC based Prevention/Education, Community Dialogue and Outreach program that uses Boal techniques and other methods to develop interactive workshops exploring specific community needs. Michael Rohd works with youth and adults on a variety of issues, including AIDS, conflict resolution, and substance use.
Contact:
Hope Is Vital
204 Primrose
Chevy Chase MD 20815
Phone: (301)718-2089, (541)341-0747
e-mail: mrohd@aol.com
RECENT CONFERENCE
Augusto Boal, Paulo Freire, and Peter McLaren were the featured speakers at a conference on "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" held in Omaha, Nebraska From March 21-23, 1996. This was the first ever appearance of Freire and Boal together. The conference featured over 350 workshops, performances, demonstrations, debates, and dialogues. Doug Paterson coordinated a parallel series of TO workshops led by Boal before and after the conference period:
Post Conference quotation from Doug: "The conference was extraordinary...Perhap upward of 900 people, perhaps as much as 25% people of color including a contingent of 20-25 First Nations people. There was tension, distrust, joy, insight, pressure, confrontations, dialoque, and a final sense of genuine achievement, if I may be so bold as to characterize a larger experience from my own personal one."
The Summer 1996 issue of High Performance magazine has an interview with Boal conducted during the conference.
NEW YORK CITY
WORKSHOPS on Interactive Theater for social change will be sponsored by TOPLAB on November 8 and 9, 1996 at Hunter College and at the Brecht Forum on December 6 and 7, 1996.Contact:
Toplab for information and registration:
Phone: (212) 924-1858; Fax: (212)741-4563;
e-mail: toplab@nyxfer.blythe.org
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