Radha Ramaswamy, founder of Centre for Community Dialogue and Change, with her son Ravi, conducted a workshop on Theatre of the Oppressed (TO), from June 7 to June 12 at the Indian Social Institute.
There were 30 participants from different backgrounds and nationalities including the USA, Dubai, Muscat and Australia.
The role of Augusto Boal, the founder of TO, in empowering the Brazilian agrarian class using theatrical techniques to express their opinions has been documented. The workshop had a number of games.
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One of them was Columbian Hypnosis, in which one person led, while the other followed.
The next game was Image Theatre, played by two members, in which one would create an image, and the other would create another from his or her partner’s image. This brought forth creativity from within.
One of the most crucial parts of the workshop was the Forum Theatre Performance, which is open to audience members.
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In Forum Theatre, the participants perform five different plays, which depict only the problems faced by society and do not provide solutions. The best play among the five was selected by the audience through votes.
The participants performed the play again, but this time, the lead role of the play was replaced by any one of the audience members, which showed how the spectators transformed into ‘spect-actors’ to give creative solutions to the problems raised in the play.
The workshop turned out to be an effective one to express our feelings, which we often fail to do in our day to day life.
It also made us believe that everyone is equal and that no one is superior, thus helping us to move from feelings of helplessness to hope.