Invisible Activism - Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed PART 1 of 3

Augusto Boal was an innovative director from Brazil who developed new forms of theatre which act as powerful tools for the Activist, in the empowerment of people and the development of ideas and change.
It is theatre by the people for the people.

I wanted to vlog on one type of theatre style he developed as part of his 'Theatre of the Oppressed' way of working. This form being Invisible Theatre.
Its a hugely broad topic so forgive me for being long winded, but for those who ARE involved in activism, I wanted to explain it enough that you can walk away with ideas that can be used in your activism work.

This is Part 1- a breakdown of how invisible theatre works and the theory behind it.

Part 2 is an example of an Invisible Theatre piece that was performed in New York in the wake of 9/11

Part 3 is my story of a Boal style theatre piece and how it escalated into violence, but also REAL understanding and change.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_of_the_Oppressed

Interview with Boal:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOgv91qQyJc

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Augusto
• Boal
• Theatre
• of
• the
• Oppressed
• Invisible
• theatre
• Rainbow
• Desire
• Activism
• Tools
• for
• Activists

[CosmicDramaQueen]

I kind of do this on a day to day basis, but usually as a one woman show.....I have shocked, amused and offended many:) If I am with friends...they get scared...lol

[TheSpartacat]

@CosmicDramaQueen I don't doubt it for a second... and its FUN!!!! :-)

[MrTearsintherain]

Theater, when it was done right, is always slyly subversive. Ignore the blunt propagandistic shyte, all great theater is challenging and who best to challenge but the powerful? Most times, the challenge was delivered in a hidden way, the challenge of the challenge was to do so and avoid becoming a head shorter.

[TheSpartacat]

Absolutely! Have you seen the Yes Men? They do it so well (i'm uploading one of their vids to direct people to watch what they do... subversive, funny and thought provoking!)

[elainefromireland]

Well hello!! :) This vlog is a LONG time coming!! I remember you mentioning it when Boal died!!!

It's great to see you!! ;)

[TheSpartacat]

ROFLMAO... what can i say... i am waaaay too chilled out for my own good!!! :-D (and my computer is still quite fraggled- its been on good behaviour today!)

[tomasbarao]

I love you.

[wonkitated]

thankyou so much for this video! i'm doing an assignment on Boal and in all the research i've done, no one has spoken about Boal quite as well as you have, you obviously have a profound appreciation for the subject. so again, thankyou.

[Ipluckithard]

sounds like this guy Boal found a way to wake the dead.

[MikeRadmann]

I know this will lead you somewhere wonderful; release to it ;-)

[smileykai77]

1 cont. As for "Invisible Activism" I think this is absolutely magic.. to engage and allow people to make up their own mind.. waaiit a darn second, don't we do this already?!!! Sadly, no.

lol.

Government/Money is a Theater that I no longer wish to believe in.

:P

Freeman on The Land baby!

[smileykai77]

It took like FOREVER for this video to load up!! Is it my connection or is my bandwidth being unfairly repressed?! o0 *chin scratch*.

That was very enlightening to say the least. First thoughts: Sounds like Augusto was a pranksta ^^, kinda like Jeremy Beadle but without that weird hand thingy.

I've seen clips on the net of people performing and engaging in this Invisible theater and even went to the last Secret Cinema which it's ploy is very similar to this type of theatre. tbc

[rageunderground]

my favorite activism is called tactical media, where spectacle is created to attract attention, and i feel a lot of the roots come from Boal, tactical media often aims to do the opposite of the media it penetrates: it shocks and reveals an antithesis. research French philosopher Michel de Certeau.

good vlog kelly

[rageunderground]

thanks for talking about a subject very close to my heart, and i agree completely that this kind of theater can change things for the better. In a way what cveitch does is very close to this, especially when they tell people to keep shopping and stay scared :)

it also reminds me of the zapatistas struggle, who said they were going to attack the mexican with their airforce, and on that day they all lined up against armed soldiers with paper airoplanes.

[gadzometer]

I had no idea about this guy.  Thanks for the info Spartacat.. It is indeed a powerful tool.