"The theatre of the Oppressed is a system of physical exercises, aesthetic games and special improvisations whose goal is to safeguard, develop and reshape this human vocation, by turning the practice of theatre into an effective tool for the comprehension of social and personal problems and the search for their solutions. "

Augusto Boal, Founder, Theatre of the Oppressed

The Principles

The Theatre of The Oppressed provides a framework through the medium of theatre, whereby issues of bullying, discrimination and oppression can be examined, discussed and experimented with providing the possibility of transformation. It provides hope where situations appear hopeless.

The Theatre of the Oppressed has three fundamentally linked principles:

1. To help the spectator transform him/herself into a protagonist of the dramatic action and rehearse alternatives for his situation so that he may then be able to

2. Extrapolate into his real life the actions he has rehearsed in the practice of theatre.

3. The audience observes the theatre model of oppression to destroy it and rebuild it to provide alternatives for the oppressed.

The Forum Model

This is an extraordinarily successful theatrical model which has
its origins in the medium of dramatic performance first
developed by August Boal of Brazil.

Unlike any other dramatic form, Theatre of the Oppressed
engages and involves the audience from the very beginning.
Remarkably, the play is devised and developed based entirely on
the experiences of the attendant audience.

After the drama has been presented for the first time, the
audience then revisits the play. During the second presentation
audience members, through active intervention in the drama,
are empowered to test and experiment with their own responses
to the oppressive situations presented to them, thus creating the
possibility for change and liberation. They can extrapolate these
experiences into their own real life situations.

Group and individual personal development can occur through
the construction and dramatic presentation of models of
oppression and the invited intervention of the audience into the
dramatic space to influence the outcome of the performed model.

It is important to realise that experiences of oppression are both
internalised and externalised.

These are empowerment strategies that facilitate change in
behavioural patterns for people who oppress and those who are
oppressed by them.

The environment is secure and supportive faciltating the
willing and enthusiastic entry of audience mebers into the
theatre space.

A theatre strategy whereby authentically enhanced levels of
self esteem become a reality."