Boal in Practice

Aim of the project is to make drama tools more accessible for youth workers, believing that this methodology enhances creating intercultural understanding, and helps working with internally diverse groups. The main activity of the project is a training course presenting drama tools, specifically games and role playing activities described in the book: “Games for actors and non-actors”, which is considered a manual for drama trainers. We will take it as a resource to share and practice with our participants. The specific games which participants will learn during the course can serve as tools for youth workers to address topics such as communication, community, values, conflicts, violence, status, and oppression. The specific of applied drama lies in using creative and engaging working methods: creating stories, metaphors, symbols and role playing. Those elements make a drama workshops “a live experience" and an unusual inspiration for participants. Hence, the workshop content is remembered better and participants have deeper reflections than in the case of traditional educational methods.

OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE:

• getting to know and experiencing the games of Augusto Boal; enriching trainer’s set of tools with new, unconventional and engaging tools/ methods to work with a group;
• deepening the knowledge on workshop/ training facilitation using theatre methods, including criteria for choosing appropriate methods for the group;
• enhancing the competence of participants to be able to choose theatre activities and games according to the purpose and needs of the group, to lead them and facilitate reflection afterwards;
• creating space for networking and peer support;
• improving professional English language skills.

Around one week before the course participants will receive materials for online exploration and learning which will help us to start the course with a common idea about the methods which we will explore during the course.

After the course participants will have the possibility to get one hour of online (Skype) consultation with the trainers as a support to their follow-up activities. Each national team should do at least one follow-up activity which could be a workshop with their target group or with colleagues from their organisation, where they will use the games and facilitation skills developed during the training course.

This offer of the training is for trainers, teachers, educators, group leaders, facilitators who:

• want to learn new methods to activate the groups they work with
• are beginners in using drama and theatre in group work who find it important to develop further their competence
• haven’t practised drama activities yet but already acknowledge the value they could bring to their work
• want to learn games developed by Augusto Boal, how to introduce them to a group, when, in which context, and how to follow it with reflection process afterwards.

Please, find more information in the PDF call.