Theatre of the Oppressed resource manual

Aims of the tool

The aim of this resource manual is for other organisations to have the tools to use Theatre of the Oppressed methodology in their work with young people and community groups.

Description of the tool

Section one of the manual outlines the activities that we ran initially with the participants upon their arrival. At the end of the resource you will find the programme of the week.

Section two outlines the drama based exercises and games that we ran with the participants for the remainder of the training. It was a seven day training and each day was built upon the previous day culminating in the showing of the forum pieces. The participants experienced through workshop format, Theatre of the Oppressed arsenal of games and how they can be used with groups around issue based work. Participants started to look at issues of power and status in society. They examined the power structures in which we live and the role they play and how they can empower the people they work with. The themes chosen by the pax and explored in the forum pieces were gay rights, discrimination and prejudice, gender violence & equality, bullying and abuse of power. The participants got the opportunity to facilitate some games / activities themselves and also got the opportunity to practice their joker (Theatre of the Oppressed facilitator) skills! All participants received a Youthpass and we allowed time for personal reflection, in pairs and in the large group. On the last day we looked at the further potential of the YiA programme (& Erasmus +) and started to build partnerships for further projects.
Section three outlines Legislative theatre. Legislative Theatre is an extension of Boal’s Forum Theatre techniques and functions to determine the need for, create, and enact laws. Beyond community building and issue awareness, Legislative Theatre uses theatrical techniques to create concrete and specific socio-political impact. It is a step in citizenship mobilization. Included in this section are steps to create a campaign using legislative theatre.