· 2020· Book chapter
Theatre of the oppressed
- 1,506citations
- 2020year
Short summary
This chapter proposes using theatre to empower the oppressed, transforming passive spectators into active participants who can discover new concepts and express themselves through a new language.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Theatre can serve as a platform for the oppressed to express themselves and discover new concepts.
- The objective is to transform passive spectators into active participants and transformers of dramatic action.
- Forum theatre and similar forms aim to evoke a desire for real-world action through theatrical rehearsal.
- Effective communication with mass audiences requires using symbols meaningful to them.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
In this chapter, the authors show how the theatre can be placed at the service of the oppressed, so that they can express themselves and so that, by using new language, they can also discover new concepts. In order to understand this poetics of the oppressed one must keep in mind its main objective: to change the people– 'spectators,' passive beings in the theatrical phenomenon into subjects, into actors, transformers of the dramatic action. The spectator's thoughts are discussed theatrically on stage with the help of the actors. It happens many times that well intentioned theatrical groups are unable to communicate with a mass audience because they use symbols that are meaningless for that audience. Forum theater, as well as other forms of a people's theater, instead of taking something away from the spectator, evoke in him a desire to practice in reality the act he has rehearsed in the theater.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source., 2020 · DOI ↗
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Field: Visual Arts and Performing Arts
Visual Arts and Performing ArtsArts and Humanities