Augusto Boal
“All activities of man are political and theatre is one of them.”
Augusto Boal is a Brazilian director and the founder of the theatre of the oppressed.
Boal was born in 1931 in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. When he began working at the Arena theatre of São Paulo. Boal’s teachings were considered too controversial and he was labelled as a “cultural activist”.
Political background In the early sixties there was a military coup which was the political mobilization of the rural lower classes. As a result, the military took power, inflicting twenty-one years of military dictatorship, which would be marked by further involvement of the state in economic development and political repression; Boal noticed that society was not fair with a split and creation of lower and middle classes and as a result, Boal was imprisoned for his work in São Paulo and tortured in 1971, when he was released he fled with his family to Peru.
He wanted to make a difference, as the government that ruled had ruined education and pulled the country down into the slums. Shanty towns were considered the norm, children bathed in dirty water and no one knew how to read.
I find Boal fascinating and so very easy to admire, he like me is always open to change that is going to benefit those around me. Without even knowing it i believe Boal to be inclusive, he longed to help others but used the gift of theatre. I often use his workshop ideas and adapt them accordingly to the age group I am delivering to. His workshop activities are so useful at engaging people and giving out lots of information and making people work really hard without them even knowing it. He believed in the body being so caught up in what you are doing that you become the character and your body should adapt accordingly naturally. I use this method when I perform and I try to clear my head of anything other than the character I am playing, a mild form of method acting if you will.
This link gives some more knowledge to oppressed theatre
http://www.theatreoftheoppressed.org/en/index.php?useFlash=1
There are four stages to Boal’s work of turning the spectator into the actor
(1) Knowing the body
(2) Making the body expressive
(3) The theatre as a language
(4) The theatre as a discourse
My peers and I have been devising a workshop on Boal’s methods for the foundation degree students at Chicken Shed.
The session plan Is as follows.
Boal workshop for the foundation year ones
Length of workshop- one hour and a half
Participants-foundation year one
Aim of workshop-to educate them about Boal and his methods
Possible activities- to develop or disguard
the circle and cross activity- with one arm draw a circle and whilst doing this with the other try drawing a cross at the same time. This is a pure psychological Mechanization; a further development of this is with feet. (2 minutes)
Equilibrium of an object-Give them an object and in groups they must find as many ways of holding it. (1-2 minutes)
Abstract emotion with numbers-they must act out a given situation using numbers instead of dialogue, variation on this activity is they make up their own situation, or instead of numbers they use animal noises.(2 minutes)
Animals or plants in emotional situations- for example a palm tree on a beach on a hot summer’s day, then the weather changes and a storm appears and the tree is destroyed. (3-5 minutes)
The circle exercise- similar to the 1-10 exercise, but instead walk into the circle one by one and no one can move at the same time. (No time)
Boxing match-In pairs they must box, BUT under circumstances can they touch each other, they must mimic being hit and hitting. (3-5 minutes)
Slow motion race- the last person in the race is the winner. (3-5 minutes)
The demon- participant hops from leg to leg and waves their arms manically as if they are chasing out a demon. (1 minute)
The blind car-one person stands behind the other (who is the car) from behind the driver guides the blind car by gently pressing a finger in the middle of the back for straight on, the right shoulder for right and left for left, the harder they press the faster the person must move. (3-5 minutes)
Draw your body- participants lie on the floor and shut their eyes and think about their body and its parts- arms, legs, elbows, torso and back. They are given a sheet of paper and asked to draw their own body with their eyes firmly closed. Then to write their own names.
Complete the image- A pair of actors shakes hands. Freeze the image. Ask the watching group what the possible meanings the image might carry, business meeting, lovers parting, a drug deal etc. Then in pairs given image and they must decide what happens next. This could be developed to a further activity so I cannot give this a time limit. It conveys the power of an image and how anything is truly open to interpretation. Workshop leader illustrate this.
Forum theatre- Think of a scene that could be played out in public, for example the bar, every time the overhead sound is stated everyone must shout biscuits really loudly.
Simultaneous dramaturgy-this gives the participants to intervene without being present onstage. They can give suggestions about, how a scene should be played out.
The child’s dream- half the group imagine who their childhood hero was, and then move around the space as that character, only using facial expression and body language. They write their name and their childhood heroes on a piece of paper. After a minute ask them to pair up with a partner who was observing and talk to them not giving away any obvious clues about their hero. Then that partner must try to guess who that person’s hero is. At the end we read out the names and show them who they were.
What am I, what do I want- the participants are given a piece of paper and asked to write, what am I; a man/woman and what they do student politician etc and what they want; to be happy, to own a monkey, to be rich whatever they want.
Lee Evans
Lee Evans was born in Bristol England on the 25th February 1964. His occupation is Actor, Comedian, Singer and writer. Lee Evans shot to fame in the early 1990’s where he became known for his gift of standup comedy. His main theme is slapstick and he has been compared to characters such as Norman Wisdom. He has very physical way of delivering to an audience often darting from one of the stage to the other and from that he is known for excessive sweating! He is constantly pulling different faces and doing different voices allowing the audience to not only laugh his humour but be a part of it by associating yourself with the different characters. He is very character based and the theme of most of his jokes is day to day life. I believe this to be why he is so successful, anybody can relate to his jokes and even when it seems like something actually quite serious he can help you find a funny way of seeing it.
I would say his humour is innocent 99% of the time which makes him such a family brand Name. I admire lee Evans as a famous person because he does “his thing” and when he does, he does it extremely well but you do not see him in the newspaper starting fights or fashioning the latest trends. He is very much what you see is what you get. I admire this because if I was ever to be in the public eye that is the way I would like to be portrayed as somebody who knows their craft and does it well.
I can also appreciate how hard he works in terms of each show, and although his show isn’t word for word he is having to take in and remember a lot of information for a show that is an hour and a half maybe two hours. The work prior to the show I researched can take up to two years to write. As performers I think we all see ourselves as perfectionists and Lee Evans is a classic case of this.
Chicken Shed Theatre Company
i have been a member of chicken shed theatre company over four years, but I feel like I have always been there. Right now I cannot imagine not being where I am and practicing their inclusive method of performing.
We are a theatre company. We make theatre. Extraordinary, pioneering, challenging, dynamic, moving, groundbreaking, genuinely inclusive, beautiful theatre.
This is a quote from their website and being a student there for over four years I almost feel part of that quote, because I with the help of every other member help make this. It’s something I hold close to me and wherever I am I can always take with me. Chicken Shed are an organization that use an inclusive process which means that whoever you are if you want to be a part of it nothing and nobody in our company will stand in your way. Skys the limit with this company and more often than not with every show they out on the roof is blown right off!
With hundreds of members that start from the ages of 5 to 21 plus. The different age groups are split into different children’s theatre sessions and then from the ages of 16 up they come members of the youth theatre and then from there when you reach 21 they can become a member of the Luna theatre which is for those who are not working there or studying there but still want to be part of the Chicken Shed experience firsthand. They have numerous courses for students (such as myself) I started my BTEC national diploma in performing arts and then went on to gain a foundation degree in inclusive theatre. Two things that I am most proud of because they mean more to me than a qualification. The piece of paper that says what I have gained my look flat but runs deep and never ends, because chicken shed will never stop.
We are all so committed to the work that we want to make it the way the entire world works because it is the right for the world in this day and age we live in. with numerous shows, outreach projects, student shows, gala performances going on every year you never should find a dull moment, there’s always new material to be learnt and new faces to help learn it.
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