Some Discussion Points on the Politics of the Theater of the
Oppressed to be Considered by TO Practitioners
The questions below, concerning the political framework and
function of the Theater of the Oppressed, are some that
Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory members have considered
during the ten years our project has been functioning. TO
practice varies from group to group, community to community,
and country to country. These questions are posed primarily
to TO practitioners in the advanced capitalist countries; we
hope people in the Third World and in the developing nations
would join us in this dialogue. We invite other
practitioners and interested parties to share some of their
ideas and conclusions with us.
Augusto Boal has defined Theater of the Oppressed as a
rehearsal for revolution. What does this definition imply?
On the one hand, it implies that Boal's own historical
practice of the theater is revolutionary, to the extent that
it is at the service of revolution. On the other, it invites
all Theater of the Oppressed practitioners to reflect upon
the meaning of revolution in their own societies as well as
upon the revolutionary potential of their own work.
What it does not imply, however, is that Theater of the
Oppressed, despite its name, is an inherently revolutionary
cultural practice.
Theater of the Oppressed practices can cover a wide
political spectrum, ranging from the radical to the
reactionary.
Despite the revolutionary political vision that gave rise to
and nurtured the development of Theater of the Oppressed, it
is a fallacy to believe that simply practicing the forms--
exercises, games and techniques-- creates political vision.
From a purely formal standpoint, Theater of the Oppressed is
a repertory of aesthetic activities, the political content
of which depends on the political vision it serves. In turn,
the political vision depends upon the model of cultural
practice in which it is embedded.
In North America, the dominant model of cultural practice is
the capitalist, or corporate model: one that creates the
illusion of embodying democratic process while actually
reproducing and promoting monologic, exclusionary and
competitive social relations antithetical to transformative,
participatory democracy and the creation of an egalitarian
society; one that can be bought and sold as a commodity in
the "free market of ideas"; one that often does not
seriously question the identification of democratic process
with the global "free market" economy. The political vision
inherent in the capitalist model is a packaged appearance
of revolution, democracy and respect for human rights--but
merely at the service of bourgeois reform, i.e., more flexible
forms of capitalism and the strengthening of the
military-prison-industrial complex and all the other political,
social and economic institutions that sustain it.
A counter-model that allows for revolutionary, anti-
capitalist cultural practice is the one that we are
exploring in our group: the popular education model.
Cultural practices informed by this transformative model are
first of all activist in nature: they are committed to on-
going, long-term support of communities in need, to
community organizing and to solidarity among communities.
Next, they both embody and promote popular culture, i.e.
cultural action of, by and for the people in the form of
grassroots, participatory democratic process at all levels
of civic interaction. Correspondingly, the social relations
they reproduce are based on dialogue, inclusion, cooperation
and consensus. Moreover, they do not take the form of
commodities to be bought or sold in the "market of ideas";
they function primarily as processes that respond to human
needs. Finally, the political vision inherent in the popular
education model is the reality, not just the appearance, of
a revolutionized, just and egalitarian society based on
participatory democracy, social and economic justice and
respect for human rights.
It is this model that, historically, is at the root of the
Theater of the Oppressed as a revolutionary approach to
theater. It is also a model that challenges current North
American practitioners of the Theater of the Oppressed to
ask themselves the following questions:
1. In the spirit of clarity, since it is important to
reflect collectively on the potential of Theater of the
Oppressed as a revolutionary cultural practice, what might
be some solid and viable operating definitions of the
following key terms: revolution, democracy, democratic
process, oppression, community?
2. In North America, what does it take for the Theater of
the Oppressed to function as a revolutionary cultural
practice?
3. a) When we practice Theater of the Oppressed, what model
of democratic process do we bring to the communities we
serve?
b) What model of democratic process should a radical
practice of Theater of the Oppressed entail?
4. What vision of democratic process informs the day-to-day
workings of our Theater of the Oppressed groups?
5. Under what conditions can Theater of the Oppressed become
a force of oppression or reaction?
6. In North America, under what conditions does Theater of
the Oppressed become a commodity? And what would it take to
de-commoditize it?
7. How can the popular education model of cultural practice
help radicalize the practice of Theater of the Oppressed in
North America?
8. Why should grass-roots organizations be interested in the
Theater of the Oppressed?
Capitalism is by nature exploitative (no worker receives the
full value of the product of his-her labor); and capitalist
relations of production are inherently undemocratic, due to
the private ownership of the means of production, and to the
class system this private ownership has bred.
If a Theater of the Oppressed group owes its existence to a
capitalist institution (educational or financial), can this
group ever be a force for revolution? Could it ever bite the
hand that feeds it, or has it been recuperated from the
beginning?
The Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory
can be contacted at
c/o The Brecht Forum
122 West 27 Street 10 floor
New York, New York 10001
Phone (212) 924-1858; fax (212) 674-6506;
http://www.toplab.org