Theater of the Oppressed as a Tool for Inclusion of Young people with Disabilities

Aims of the tool

To further the artistic expression of people with both hidden and visible disabilities.
To promote disability as a natural and valuable variation of the human form; affirmative disability identity is intertwined with racial, gender, social, and economic justice.
To support the creative expression of people with disabilities, utilizing the TO as a method of examining disability in relation to society.
nfluence individuals in ways that educate and create long and lasting change in our communities.
To bring young people with and without disabilities together to experience and challenge the inclusion of the YPD.
To discuss via art the ways that disabled people are, and are not, included in social justice movements and dialogue around culture; the ways that we can use the arts to tell our stories, engage people on our terms, honor each other’s differences and bring people together in community and solidarity.

Description of the tool

The session focuses on introducing the methods of the Theatre of the Oppressed (TO) as tools for inclusion of young people with disabilities.

TO describes theatrical forms that the Brazilian theatre practitioner Augusto Boal first elaborated in the 1960s, initially in Brazil and later in Europe. Boal was influenced by the work of the educator and theorist Paulo Freire.

Boal's techniques use theatre as means of promoting social and political change. In the Theatre of the Oppressed, the audience becomes active, such that as "spect-actors" they explore, show, analyse and transform the reality in which they are living.

Theatre of the Oppressed (TO) is widely regarded as one of the most powerful tools available to empower and stimulate positive change in disadvantaged individuals and minority groups in modern society.

Participants (a group between 20 and 50 people) at beginners level are introduced to the main branches of the TO such as Image Theatre, Invisible Theatre and Forum Theate and given the chance to explore the methods in small groups.

The session is divided in 5 sections:
1. Introduction of the TO method
2. Warm up and art-group-building
3. Work out and debriefing on Image Theatre on Oppression of young people with disabilities
4. Introduction to Forum Theatre
5. Work out and presentation of short (up to 5 min) stories, based on Forum Theatre method.

Learning outcomes:
Social work practitioners, facilitators, educators, community and youth workers, disability rights activists and anyone who is interested in using theatre as a tool for debate and action for inclusion will obtain basic knowledge and practical experience of Theatre of the Oppressed, participatory approaches or similar techniques.

Appendix:

A Theatre of the Oppressed Glossary

Like any profession or educational system, Theatre of the Oppressed has its own terminology.

Some terms are derived from more traditional forms of drama, others from other modes of anti-oppression pedagogy, such as popular education.

One of Theatre of the Oppressed's goals is to "multiplicate" (from the Portuguese verb "multiplicar"—to multiply), meaning to make its language and methodology accessible to as many people as possible.

Terms Commonly Used in Theatre of the Oppressed:

Actor: A person who performs an action, whether onstage or off.
Antagonist: A character in conflict with the story’s protagonist.
Cop in the Head: A Theatre of the Oppressed technique aimed at dismantling internalized oppression.
Difficultator: A facilitator who offers challenges to a group as part of a workshop process.
Dynamization: The process of adding movements, sounds and words into a piece of Image Theatre.
Facilitator: A person who directs the flow of a discussion or workshop. Literally “one who makes things easy.”
Forum Theatre: A play performed in front of an audience in which audience members can step onstage, take the place of a character or characters and change the story’s outcome.
Games/Gamesercizes: Group activities that get people comfortable with themselves and each other, build trust and develop skills necessary for working with the language of Theatre of the Oppressed.
Ideal image: A desired, improved variation on the Real Image in Image Theatre.
Image: A motionless sculpture made from human figures.
Image Theatre: A form of Theatre of the Oppressed that uses collectively constructed still images to convey meaning.
Joker: The facilitator/difficultator in a Theatre of the Oppressed workshop.
Kinesthetic: Relating to the body and/or movement.
Mask: An image that an actor takes on to embody a character.
Mirror: When an actor or actors take on the image, movements, sounds, words, characteristics and/or actions of another actor.
Objective observation: Responding to an image with commentary on its physical nature alone.
Oppressed: Anyone who is subject to others having power over them.
Oppressor: A person who has power over another person.
Pedagogy of the Oppressed: A practice of teaching and learning developed by Paolo Friere that inspired his friend Augusto Boal to create Theatre of the Oppressed.
Player: Participant in a theatre workshop.
Protagonist: A main character from whose perspective a story is told.
Rainbow of Desire: A specific therapeutic theatre technique, and also a family of techniques, aimed at dismantling internalized oppression.
Real image: A representation of an oppressive situation as seen by the people who create the image.
Sculpt: The process of creating images with people’s bodies.
Self-sculpt: To create an image with one’s own body.
Spect-actor: A participant in the Theatre of the Oppressed, both spectator and actor.
Subjective observation: Responding to an image with commentary based on perception, speculation and intuition.
Technique: An intricate Theatre of the Oppressed exercise, more complicated than games.
Theatre of the Oppressed: A system of theatrical games and techniques that examine and dismantle dynamics of oppression.
Theatre pedagogy: The use of theatre to develop language and social awareness; Theatre of the Oppressed is a form of theatre pedagogy.
TO: Abbreviation for "Theatre of the Oppressed."