This essay will be a report that discusses the following question 'Augusto Boal (1995, p.16) wrote that 'Theatre is the passionate combat of two human beings on a platform'. Consider this statement in relation to Forum Theatre and answer either of the following questions: What is the role of the 'platform' in Forum Theatre?' Augusto Boal is considered to be one of the most influential people to be apart of the theatre world. Boal was requested to work in the Arena theatre in Sao Paulo after he had finished his degree in Columbia. While working in the Arena theatre he began starting experimentation on how theatre could be performed in new, different ways.He first started to become known for his work as a playwright and director at the Arena …show more content…
Boal was an activist and wanted his theatre to revolve around the process of elimination, therefore the theatre of the oppressed allowed for humans to engage 'in discovery, critical reflection and dialogue' (The Forum Project, 2011). Boal believed that if the audience take part in performances they can observe themselves in action which gave them the ability to take action in the world. Boal said that 'Because we can observe ourselves in action, we can amend, adjust and alter our actions to have different impact and to change our world' (The Forum Project, 2011). Theatre of the oppressed became a way for people to learn how to fight back in society against those who they were being oppressed by. There are various tools and techniques that are apart of The Theatre of the oppressed such as game playing, image theatre, legislative theatre, rainbow of desire and Forum theatre (The Forum Project, …show more content…
Passion helps to create emotion on the stage which the audience can relate to. Passion is 'a feeling for someone of something, or an idea that we prize more highly than our own life' (Keefe and Murray, 2007). As Forum theatre is based on the idea that the audience are being given a voice, passion plays a large role in how the theatre is created as it is the intense feelings that the audience members will feel which will drive them into being part of the performance. Combat is another term in the quote which is worth considering. Typically combat is the act of fighting between two sources, in the case of theatre combat would happen between two people. Theatre can be described as a 'compact reflection on life. It is a powerful influence on the public' (Kezer, 1983). To create theatre that is 'a powerful influence on the public', would need the use of passionate combat to create the emotion that can be used to influence the audience. Using passionate combat to create this allows for Forum Theatre to influence the audience and stir emotions in them which will encourage members of the audience to feel connection to the issues that are being presented and will take part in the performance. The use of a platform to stage the passionate combat in Forum theatre allows for that combat to be the centre attention and highlight the importance of it to the audience. Having the combat be the main attention
The audience is an important factor to determine the success of a spectacle. It is known that there is no spectacle without audience. The musical theater presentations are known for their number of people, which according to the Broadway League (n.d.), the 2013 season reached attendance of 11.57 million. However, the number of spectators has been decreased in comparison with the peak of popularity for musicals in the last century. The first reason for that is that the spectators of musical theater presentations were a more specific group such as wealthy and intellectual people that used to go to this type of presentation, and this pattern has been consistent until now, as it can be seen in the price of a Broadway spectacle that is very expensive. Second, the spectators have to go where the spectacles are set up, which makes the live presenta...
Pause for a second and think about a play or musical that you have seen. Consider the plot, whether you liked it or not and if the experience was positive or negative. Think about the characters, the costumes, and the emotions that were emitted. The discourse community of theatre is unique in the way that it is so complex and there are many different parts that ultimately come together to create a dynamic whole. The term discourse community is rather broad, but John Swales in his article “The Concept of Discourse Community” gives six characteristics that define it. Swales lists them saying,
The duration and cost of the production have been compared to other media which provide entertainment, such as television and film. A theatre performance is more expensive to attend than cinema. The play only lasted for 85 minutes, a film can go on for two hours or even more. This can have a big influence on why people would choose one medium over the other. Accessibility has also to be taken into account when investigating the relevance of theatre in the 21st century. Television is a medium which can be accessed from home, and usually doesn’t cost a lot of money, whereas theatre costs money and is harder to access. Although the production was Australian, the actors talked with an American accent. Bearing in mind that the play was written in America, which could make it harder for an Australian audience to familiarise with the dilemmas going on, on stage, while the themes discussed seem to be more relevant there than in Australia. Overall this play doesn’t contribute to the relevance of Australian theatre in the 21st century, due to the many other sources people can access for entertainment, and because the play seems to be more relevant for an American audience rather than an
years ago the word "theater" possessed a different meaning than it does in today's society. The
...o the performer, as a creative artist, but it also helps to bond the group of collaborators to create a more dynamic and personal relationship, which is reflected in performance. Every single devised theatre company is different from one another because the works created by the company are unique to the performers and collaborators for the company. “Devised theatre offers the performer the chance to explore and express personal politics or beliefs in the formation and shaping of the piece.” (Alison Oddey 11). Devised theatre holds importance today because it gives an outlet to the performer to be able to express their political views which is relevant to the climate of the time. This type of theatre is often about more than performing pieces that are created by the group, there are often elements of current culture, whether they are political, social, or economic.
At a hundred and four years old, the State Theatre still stands as one of Bay City's most recognizable landmarks. Despite floods, fires, and a century's worth of history, the theater proudly remains and operates on Washington Street. Dozens of events are put on there each year. Orchestras, Vaudeville, various musical groups, and comedians are just a few of the thousands of acts that have been housed within its walls. The building inside has been remodeled various times over the last few decades, and each time parts of the past have been found. Though there's a haunting presence, the six hundred seat house is still full for most events. The theater may not be run by the same employees, and the jobs have changed, but the theater is still as loved by many as it was when it was first opened. The State Theatre of Bay City has one thrilling past from its century of being alive!
Community performance can include political debates, social commentaries disguised as autobiographical self-debasing monologues as well as Renaissance Faires with their celebratory and informative performances. Each example can be said to include elements of Brechtian Alienation, even if they are not, perhaps, the performances that Brecht himself had in mind. However, the performances are important in that they force us to examine our own place within both the world of the theater and within our respective realities.
However it is Augusto Boal who is often cited as the most influential practitioner, applied theatre professionals drawing on his Theatre of the
Brechtian theatre, also known as epic theatre, strives to keep the audience members objective and prevents
Applied Theatre work includes Theatre-in-Education, Community and Team-building, Conflict Resolution, and Political theatre, to name just a few of its uses. However, Christopher Balme states that “Grotowski define acting as a communicative process with spectators and not just as a production problem of the actor” (Balme, 2008: 25). Applied Theatre practices may adopt the following “theatrical transactions that involve participants in different participative relationships” such as Theatre for a community, Theatre with a community and Theatre by a community Prentki & Preston (2009: 10). Whereas, applied theatre one of its most major powers is that it gives voice to the voiceless and it is a theatre for, by, and with the people. However, Applied Theatre practitioners are devising educational and entertaining performances bringing personal stories to life and build
“Theatre makes us think about power and the way our society works and it does this with a clear purpose, to make a change.”
Theatre as we know it now was born more than two thousand years ago and has gone through many streams until it reached the current modernity. Among these streams is the avant-garde theatre. This theatre achieved a break in the traditional theatre and became the forefront of a new experimental theatre. Therefore it is necessary to ask how this theatre started, what impact it had on society and if this type of theatre is still common in our modern era.
The survival of theatre lies in the very nature of humankind: its inner voyeuristic drive. The desire to watch other people dealing with their conflicts and fates challenges as well as reinforces values and the morality of society. The theatre provides an exciting opportunity to watch stories and situations as if they were real life, showing us the truth of our nature.
For thousands of years, people have been arguing that theatre is a dying art form. Many people think theatre is all just cheesy singing and dancing or just boring old Shakespeare, but there is much more to theatre than those two extremes. Theatre is important to our society because it teaches us more about real life than recorded media. Theatre has been around for thousands of years and began as a religious ceremony that evolved into an art form that teaches about the true essence of life. Theatre can incorporate profound, and provocative, observations of the human condition that can transcend time; lessons found in Greek plays can still be relevant to the modern world. People argue that the very essence of theatre is being snuffed out by modern