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Augusto Boal (1931 – 2009) Brazil
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Augusto Boal was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1931. He studied drama
and chemistry at Colombia University and between 1950 and 1960 developed a new
form of acting, O Teatro
do Oprimido (“Theatre of the Opresssed”),
which soon became famous all over Latin America and later in Europe. He also
created a series of new acting techniques, which are explained in Jogos Para Atores e Não-Atores (“Games For Actors
and Non-Actors”). O Arco-íris do Desejo (“The Rainbow
of Desire”) summarises both the theory and the exercises and has become a
standard work in theatre pedagogics worldwide. The
author received innumerable prizes for both his plays and his textbooks,
including the Pablo-Picasso-Medal
from UNESCO for his work in 1994, and he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008. Augusto Boal is internationally
considered the most important contemporary drama educator.
Boal’s most important
work, O Teatro
do Oprimido, briefly explains the basic idea of
this new form of politically and socially motivated acting techniques. Above
all, Boal wanted to contribute to diminishing
injustice and defend Human Rights. Together with the Forum Theatre system, the
Theatre of the Opressed is trying to initiate a
democratic political process, “using the stage to empower the disempowered”. He
wanted to reverse the political and social situation in Brazil and thus prevent
the already reigning mass oppression that was taking place in order to
establish stability for a few privileged citizens.
Boal believed that
with acting, people would be able to make a difference, and by applying certain
acting techniques and games, everyone could rediscover their inner actor. Boal regarded the Theatre of the Opressed
as a rehearsal for real life, where people can learn to be sensitive to how to
feel, how to act and react without having to fear the consequences they might
trigger if this was reality. By analysing their acting, the participants have
the possibility to simultaneously analyse their pasts and consequently, taking
into account what they have learned, to change their futures.
Another important issue for
Boal is dialogue instead of monologue, the latter
creating a relationship of oppressors vs. oppressed, as the person talking
forces his counterpart into listening. This is what Boal
tries to prevent with his acting method, by consciously enacting what every
individual wants to express. He turns the spectator into an actor and allows
the scenes and plays to be determined by the participants, not the director,
thereby reversing the roles of oppressors and oppressed usually found in
acting.
O Teatro
do Oprimido has been translated into 25 languages and
has been regularly reissued and revised. Acting groups and initiatives
worldwide work on the basis of Boal’s methods.
Jogos
Para Atores e Não-Atores is a collection
of Boal’s most important exercises and games, in
which the participants consciously recreate and confront problems such as
sexual harrassment, homophobia or racism. After a
short introduction to his theory, illustrated with stories and examples of his
work with different groups in Europe, Boal describes
the exercises he has found most useful, dividing them into body monologues,
body dialogues, techniques from Image Theatre and rehearsal techniques. These “gamesercises” can be used by both professional and amateur
actors, by teachers and therapists, in political, pedagogical or social areas.
Their main aim is to convert the spectator into a spect“actor”,
contributing ideas and converting roles. While dealing with problematic topics,
it is of great importance to Boal that acting should
always be fun, leaving out any negative notions like competition, envy or
rivalry.
This classic has already
been translated into numerous languages and updated several times, now
including over 400 exercises. The latest edition comprises Boal’s
experiences with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1997 for the creation of
various characters from Hamlet.
Boal's
analysis of the art of the Actor makes [Games
for Actors and Non-Actors] compulsory reading.
Plays and
Players
This is an
inspiring and powerful book, a lucid account that will be of substantial use to
people already using Theatre of the
Oppressed. It should also act as an excellent introduction for those new to
the system.
Artscene
This is a
useful handbook for those who want to explore Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed and as such is
greatly to be welcomed. Boal's work deserves and
demands emulation.
Theatre Research
International
O
Arco-íris do Desejo is a handbook
of exercises split into a theoretical part explaining the basics of Boal’s understanding of theatre, and a practical part
presenting some of his newer acting techniques. Starting again from the
principle that by acting we can free ourselves from external oppressions we
have internalised, Boal’s aim is to reduce inner
restraints and inhibitions and to alert a consciousness for the actor’s
surroundings and his own person, which might ultimately lead him to change his
life. In the exercise The Rainbow of Desire, for instance, a participant is
asked to improvise a conflict from his daily life, represented by five
different emotions and desires to be expressed with his body. Subsequently, the
other participants assume his poses, while the improvisor
steps back to see how others perceive him. He then has the chance to reflect on
his behaviour and his reactions to others and possibly even change his
demeanour. Other exercises are: The Cops in the Head and Their Anti-bodies, The
Screen Image and The Image of the Future We Are Afraid Of. O Arco-íris do Desejo is one of the
standard works of therapeutic theatre worldwide.
More information on Boal’s acting methods can
be found on the homepage of the International Theatre of the Opressed Organisation: http://www.theatreoftheoppressed.org
Augusto Boal was for the theatre what Paulo Freire
was for education: Both learned while teaching, both listened while talking.
Eduardo Galeano
Rarely has a
dramatic adviser and stage director left such a deep and lasting impression in
the lives of so many people around the world as the Brazilian Augusto Boal.
Südwind
Boal
has managed to realize what Brecht only dreamed of
and wrote about: a joyful and instructive form of theatre. A
kind of social therapy. More than anyone else in the world of living
theatre, Boal is having an enormous impact worldwide.
Richard Schechner, director of The Drama Review
Augusto Boal reinvented the political theatre. On an international
level, he is as important as Brecht or Stanislawski.
The Guardian
Rights Sold (selection)
Theatre:
Marido Magro, Mulher
Chata
Germany:
Verlag der Autoren 1957
José, do Parto à
Sepultura
Germany:
Verlag der Autoren 1961
Revolução na América
do Sul
Germany:
Verlag der Autoren 1960
Arena Conta Zumbi
Germany: Verlag der Autoren 1965; Eirich Verlag 1965 (1985)
Tempo de Guerra
Germany:
Verlag der Autoren 1967
Arena Conta
Tiradentes, 1967
Arena Conta Bolivar, 1969/1970
Torquemada,
La Habana: Casa de las Américas 1972, 310 p.
Germany: Verlag der Autoren 1971;
Henschel Verlag 1975
Crônicas de Nuestra América: O "Gato," a
mulher de Johnny e a bicicleta a motor.--O homem que era uma
fábrica.--Processo ao macaco ou ser animal não é atenuante.
Nossa Senhora dos Oprimidos.--O cachorro da Rainha e outros cachorros.--O
coronel de Maracaibo.--Os ratos e o altar do marido morto.--Acabou a
censura.--A gente acaba se acostumando.--A morta imortal,
Rio de Janeiro: Codecri 1973, 167 p.
Germany: Verlag der Autoren 1993
Tio Patinhas e a Pílula, 1974
As Aventuras do Tio Patinhas,
in Teatro de
Augusto Boal, São Paulo: Hucitec 1986-88
Técnicas Latino-Americanas de teatro popular: uma
revolução copernicana ao contrário
São Paulo:
Hucitec, 1975, 175 p.
Argentina: Ediciones Cepe 1972,
Corregidor 1975 ● Spain: Arte Acción
Teatro do oprimido e outras poéticas políticas,
Rio de Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira 1975, 303 p.
France:
La Découverte 1985 (4th edition) ● Germany:
Suhrkamp 1979 (actually in its 12th edition), Schauble 1982 ● Indonesia: Kelola Foundation ● Italy:
La Meridiana 2011 ●
Norway: (publishing house unknown) 2001 ● Spain:
Ediciones De La Flor 1974,
Alba Editorial 2009 ● UK: Pluto
Press 1979, 2008 ● US: Theatre Communications
Group 1985, 2011
Jane Spitfire,
Rio de Janeiro: Codecri 1977; São Paulo: Moraes 1977, 204 p.
A Barraca Conta
Tiradentes, 1977
A Tempestade: duas peças, Lisboa:
Platano editora 1977, 204 p.
Mulheres de Atenas
Murro em Ponta de Faca, São
Paulo: Hucitec 1978, 195 p.
Germany: Verlag der Autoren 1990
Categorias do teatro popular,
São Paulo: Hucitec 1979, 212 p.
Spain: Ediciones Cepe 1972
Milagre no Brasil, Rio de
Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira
1979, 291 p.
Stop: c’est magique, Rio de
Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira 1980, 163 p.
France: Éditions Hachette 1980
O Corsário do Rei, Rio de
Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira
1986, 132 p.
O arco-íris do desejo: método Boal de teatro e terapia, Rio
de Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira
1990, 220 p.
Germany: Suhrkamp; Kallmeyer 1999; Schibri-Verlag 2006 ● Denmark:
Drama 1995 ● France: Éditions
Ramsay 1990; La Découverte 2002 ● Norway:
(publishing house unknown) 1995 ● Spain: Alba
Editorial 2004 ● UK: Routledge 1995
O Suicida com Medo da
Morte, Rio de Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira 1992, 258 p.
Teatro legislativo, Rio de
Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira
1996, 150 p.
UK: Routledge 1998
Aqui Ninguém é Burro!,
Rio de Janeiro: Revan 1996, 142 p.
Jogos para atores a não-atores, Rio
de Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira,
1998, 347 p.
Germany: Suhrkamp 1989 ● France: Éditions François Maspero 1978; La Découverte 1997 ● Greece: Sofia Publications
● Norway: (publishing house unknown) 1992 ● Spain: Ediciones
de Crisis 1975; Alba 2004 ● UK: Routledge 1992
Hamlet e o filho do padeiro, Rio de Janeiro:
Record 2000, 350 p.
UK: Routledge 2001; Taylor & Francis, Inc. 2001
O teatro como arte marcial, Rio de
Janeiro: Editora Garamond 2003, 2011, 204 p.
Denmark: Drama 2004
Teatro de Augusto Boal Vol. I: Revolução na América do
Sul ; As aventuras do Tio Patinhas ; Murro em Ponta de Faca, São
Paulo: Hucitec 1986, 261 p.
Teatro de Augusto Boal Vol. II: Histórias de nuestra
América ; A lua pequena e a caminhada perigosa ; Torquemada,
São Paulo: Editora Hucitec 1990, 152 p.
A estética do oprimido, Rio de
Janeiro: Garamond 2009, 254 p.
Italy: La Meridiana ● UK: Routledge 2006