What awaits the reader in this guide is actually an ambitious initiative. It is based on years of experience of the Association A.R.T. Fusion (Romania) in working with Theatre of the Oppressed and it’s inspired by the project Africa - Europe focused on Forum Theatre: “Act for What You Believe”.
The manual gives the reader a chance to know in detail the methodology Image and Forum Theatre, elaborated and applied in recent years by A.R.T. Fusion; concrete examples of FT and IT; detailed guidelines for working with Forum Theatre and Image; detailed guidelines for the Joker role; contact details of multipliers with experience in Europe and Africa that can provide free advice in working with these methods for beginners.
2. 2
„Act For What You
Believe”
Methods for Social Change
- Image and Forum Theatre-
-2013-
3. 3
This material was created as a dissemination publication in the “Act for What You Believe” project (funded with
the support of the Youth in Action Programme of the European Union, through Action 3.2)
The opinions expressed in this material belong to its authors and do not reflect the position of the European
Commission.
This educational material was developed and edited by Andreea-Loredana Tudorache, founder
member of A.R.T. Fusion Association (Romania) based on the field experience of A.R.T.
Fusion in Theatre of the Oppressed projects (with focus on Forum and Image Theatre)
and on their partners in “Act for What You Believe” project: Kuku (Slovenia), Ideas Factory
(Bulgaria), Hopespring (Ghana), TAYCO - Tanzania Youth Cultural Organization, Youth Plus
Policy Network (Uganda)
Proofreading: Monica Constantinescu
Graphics design and layout: Iulia Ignat and Anca Hurubaru (anca.hurubaru.com/2hands.
carbionmade.com)
Photos: from project activities
2013 A.R.T. Fusion Association
All correspondence related to this publication should be addressed to:
A.R.T. Fusion Association
I.D Dobrescu Street, nr 15, sc 3,Et 5, ap 80, sector 1,
Bucharest , Romania
Email: art_fusion_romania@yahoo.com Web: www.artfusion.ro
ISBN 978-973-0-15698-09
-the printed version of this pubblication is made of recycled paper)-
Copyright of this publication belongs to A.R.T. Fusion Association. Partial reproduction of this material for
non-profit reasons is allowed together with mention of the source; In the case of a profit making aim the written
permission of A.R.T. Fusion is compulsory.
4. 4
Introduction
“Act For What You
Believe” Project
Theatre of
the oppressed
methodology –
brief overview
Forum Theatre
Method –
presentation
Forum Theatre
Examples
Forum Theatre
Curriculum
Evaluation in
Forum Theatre
Joker Role in
Forum Theatre
-guidelines
Image Theatre
presentation
Image Theatre
examples
Image Theatre
Workshops examples
Consultants
(Europe and
Africa)
Resources
„A c t F o r W h a t Y o u B e l i v e ”
table of contents
6
8
10
14
22
37
123
127
144
149
151
154
6. 6
The toolkit that awaits the reader after the introduction part is in fact an ambitious
initiative. It is based on years of experience of the A.R.T. Fusion Association (Romania) in
working with Theatre of the Oppressed methods but inspired by the first Africa-Europe youth
cooperation project focused on Forum Theatre: “Act for What You Believe” (details about the
project will follow as well).
The reality is that in the world there are a huge number of practitioners in the Theatre
of the Oppressed field (as it will be highlighted in the specific chapter) and maybe even a higher
number of various institutions, organization representatives or individual activists that will desire
to work with the methods. What are missing from this huge invisible network are standardization
and a common methodological approach that could be easily shared and introduced to the
newcomers in the field. As by “wireless phone”, these methods have been transferred, replicated,
adjusted and adapted in multiple ways everywhere in the world in the last 30 years.
In every capacity building project (focused on Forum or Image Theatre) implemented
by A.R.T. Fusion we were confronted with requests (based on genuine needs) for more specific
guidelines and tools that could give more support for becoming Independent Multipliers.
Based on these aspects in this manual the reader will get to know in details the following:
Description of Forum Theatre and Image Theatre Methodology as it was developed
and applied in the last years by A.R.T. Fusion groups (small warning in this regard: it may
certainly differ from how other practitioners use it)
Concrete examples of FT and IT (for a deeper understanding of what the methodology
looks like in practice)
Detailed Curricula for working with Forum and Image Theatre (with specific instructions
for beginners in the field)
Detailed guidelines for the role of Joker
Contact details of experienced multipliers from Europe and Africa that can provide
free consultation in working with these methods for beginners.
This represents an ambitious initiative not only because it is first of this kind that will
be freely shared with anybody interested but also because it includes considerations related to
different cultures where the methods could be used. The inspiration for this product came from
an intercontinental project that provided a reasonable amount of reflections related to what can
work or not in very different cultural settings.
Who are the persons that this toolkit is addressed to?
Practitioners in Theatre of the Oppressed field ( to enrich their toolbox, to diversify
their understanding of these methods, to deepen their methodological competencies, to
get inspired);
Beginners in the field (to have a concrete hands-on manual that could guide them in their
work, to fill the gaps in their understanding and approach, to sharpen their facilitation skills,
to contribute to their independence as users);
People interested to work with these methods (it will provide an almost complete
Introduction
7. 7
understanding of how the authors work with the methods, a detailed curricula designed to
help newcomers to the field as well and free consultation opportunity)
Curious people (it might inspire them to start working with these methods BUT a mention
needs to be made: this is not a novel, it is quite a technical material- not quite a before
naptime reading option)
The readers are invited and encouraged to share their views, opinions, feedback,
comments, criticism, etc. after exploring everything that this toolkit includes and we thank you in
advance for taking the time to do that.
Enjoy the reading,
Andreea-Loredana Tudorache
A.R.T. Fusion Romania
8. 8
„A c t F o r W h a t Y o u B e l i v e ”
-Overview-
A.R.T. Fusion Association created the “Act for what you believe” project as an answer to
the needs of civil society representatives across Europe and Africa. They are dealing with diverse
social problems and need competencies in new alternative methods for improving the situation
of young people facing these various problems.
(The project took place between December 2012 and December 2013)
AWB was developed as a capacity building project and youth workers coming from the NGOs
(partners in the project) from Romania, Bulgaria, Ghana, Slovenia, Tanzania and Uganda
developed practical competencies in working with Image and Forum Theatre for dealing more
efficiently with social problems, conflicts and oppression from their community.
The main goal of the project was to increase the capacity of various youth organizations
to raise the participation and involvement of young people in social processes and change.
The project achieved the following objectives:
o To develop and improve skills in non-formal education in general, and in particular in
Theatre of the Oppressed methods for youth workers from Europe and Africa;
o To develop a network of Forum Theatre multipliers in various regions of Europe and
Africa;
o To develop pro-active attitudes among the partner NGO members and also among the
beneficiaries of the partners;
o To gain awareness of similarities and differences in social problems and kinds of
oppression in different European and African countries;
o To develop a sense of common responsibility for the future of their local communities
as well as the whole global community.
The project beneficiaries took part in a long term training course focused on developing
practical working competencies in working with forum and image theatre methods. The training
approach was designed as follows:
1) An initial training for developing basic competencies in forum theatre method (took place in
South Africa- May 2013),
2) A practice phase in each of the partner countries (Romania, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Ghana (joined
the project later), Tanzania, Uganda) where the multipliers prepared and implemented forum
theatre initiatives for more than 700 young people in each community. The topics tackled
were: school bullying; discrimination of HIV infected persons, gender discrimination, child
labour, peer pressure, family psychological violence, sexual harassment, and gentrification.
Some of these performances (and the public reactions and interventions) are described in the
Forum Theatre examples chapter for a better understanding of the methodology.
3) The practice phase was followed by a second training (in Romania- September 2013), for
evaluating the practice phase and for developing advanced skills as multipliers in Image and
Forum Theatre. The main aim of the training was to complete the set of competencies of
the beneficiaries to become independent users of these methods. The training focused on
9. 9
sharing practices, feedback, upgrading skills in facilitation and jokering (as a crucial role in
this methodology)
4) A final evaluation meeting was organized in Tanzania in order to evaluate and assess
the impact of the whole project and to plan how the network can continue to work in a
coordinated manner from now on.
5) Each partner also disseminated in their communities (among other organizations and
interested people) the project results (including the movie and the toolkit) to increase the
interest in their civil society toward this methodology.
The main project results included:
A network of Forum Theatre multipliers active in Africa and Europe;
More than 700 direct beneficiaries of the local projects, which we empowered and
motivated to make a change in their lives (in connection with the social issues relevant for them);
A resource movie based on the project development and experience (available online on http://
www.youtube.com/user/artfusiontv );
This manual (which you are reading at the moment) represents a tool that could be used
by any person interested to work with Forum or Image Theatre provides specific guidelines in this
sense.
10. 10
Theatre of the Oppressed is a type of theatre methodology developed
by Augusto Boal (1931 – 2009) in the 1960s inspired by the critical pedagogy and pedagogy of the
oppressed concepts of Paulo Freire (1921 – 1997). Both of them were based in Brazil at the time
and the social-political context of those days (post-colonialist era and authoritarian military junta
regime) significantly influenced the development of these concepts, approaches and methodology.
In the resource chapter of this material you can find references for the titles of the most relevant
works of these authors which you can purchase (also online) or freely download (some of them)
in order to read in detail the ideas and the original thoughts regarding the concept of oppression,
pedagogy of oppression, critical pedagogy and theatre of the oppressed.
As it was mentioned, in the 1960s Augusto Boal experimented with theatre in order to
give voice to the oppressed, to empower them to fight the oppression in their life. He was active at
first in Brazil then he was forced to leave the country and he continued to work with the methods
predominantly in Europe. During his lifetime he got in contact with many theatre practitioners
as well as other people interested in working with theatre for social change and he trained and
worked together with them in various countries in the world. During this time the initial methods
developed, were transformed and new methods emerged as well. The people that he got in touch
with continued to work with the methods in their communities, adapting and adjusting them to
their own contexts.
It is estimated that from the ‘60s to today the methods included under the umbrella of
theatre of the oppressed have probably reached more than 100 countries although in fact it is
difficult to monitor this aspect because there is no coordinated monitoring system that can track
down all the practitioners around the world. Due to various factors that pushed the methods to be
transformed, upgraded, adjusted, adapted, changed, etc. at the moment there is no set of concrete
and specific criteria that could attempt to define or standardize this methodology. The richer
arsenal of approaches and the complete freedom in terms of working with these methods allowed
the beginners and experienced practitioners to work in various settings, types of communities
and beneficiaries which lead to different levels of impact. The down side of this “freedom” also
lead to practices which could be categorized as potentially dangerous, for the team or public, for
their emotional and sometimes physical wellbeing, regarding the message that they sent across
(sometimes reinforcing oppression or promoting violence) and doing more harm than good.
Very often the practitioners in the field use the same terminology (which is often taken
for granted) but refer to different things and there is no concrete reference point to be used.
Although the methodology was developed initially as a community based approach (for
community intervention and empowerment) in these days you will find types of theatre of the
oppressed being used in workshops or training courses (as a tool for debating on specific topics
or to introduce them), or as a method of teambuilding in the corporation sector.
We make these mentions in order to be aware of them while referring or exploring
Theatre of the Oppressed, in this education material and also in other contexts.
Theatre of the Oppressed Methodology
– Brief overview
11. 11
Main features of Theatre of the Oppressed
Methodology
(*note-should not be confused with criteria for defining TO-which doesn’t exist)
o Is an interactive type of theatre – the public will be engaged actively and can participate in
the process and become “spect-actors”;
o Tackles real life oppression in its various forms (the discussion here could be vast as very
often oppression can be interpreted in endless ways and can be applied to almost all areas of
life) ;
o Aims to bring along a change in relation with the specific oppression approached – mostly
by empowering the oppressed and people around.
Main types of methods included under Theatre of the Oppressed umbrella (the
description provided here is simplified and for sure will not provide enough understanding
regarding the methods but rather give a basic idea):
Forum Theatre
o It is one of the most popular types of TO. Often in a Forum theatre performance we see
a real life case depicted (which reflects a situation of oppression) and in which the public is
invited to participate actively by coming on the stage to propose solutions to the exposed
examples of oppression. Based on the proposals, ideas, interventions of the public, a
discussion (forum) will take place with the public;
o In the long term it aims that the public will apply the proposed solutions in their real life (if
the topic depicted is relevant for them);
o The process is facilitated, moderated by a Joker who makes the connection between the stage
(actors) and the public;
o Being so popular, it is also one method that is being applied in an extremely large number
of approaches. In the Forum Theatre section of this toolkit you will find one approach of
working with the method described in detail.
12. 12
Legislative Theatre
o It often follows the same structure as Forum Theatre but aims to extract ideas from the
public in order to draft proposals for a law or changes in a law (at local, regional or national
level);
o These events can be organized in partnership with the institutions which are responsible
with taking the proposed drafts further (municipalities, local councils, schools, parliaments,
etc.) or not. In the latter option the organizers follow the steps for the proposal to reach the
responsible institutions.
o There is no guarantee that the ideas of the citizens will actually make it into the final version
of the law.
Image Theatre
o The main characteristic of this method is that it works with body statues/postures (images)
to depict aspects related to oppression in certain forms. This technique can be used as a
supporting exercise in the process of development of the other methods (Forum, Legislative,
Newspaper, Rainbow of Desire) or as a separate method in interaction with the public.
o Working with images also leads to a variety of approaches as it is very easy and leaves a lot
of space for creativity and imagination.
o In the Image Theatre section in this toolkit you will find one approach of working with the
method described in detail.
13. 13
Newspaper Theatre
o The same as image theatre, it can be used as a technique –exercise for the development
process of the other methods or as an independent method.
o The main characteristics are that a core source of information (which later will be used in its
process) are newspapers. These can be used as inspiration or providing the main material for
the outcome.
o It can aim to open a debate about the media as an oppressor (or source of manipulation) or
to tackle the examples of oppression included in newspapers.
o Newspaper theatre can take diverse forms: it can be a performance, it can be exhibitions,
dynamic installations etc. (it’s quite open in this sense based on how the newspapers inspire
the working team).
Invisible Theatre
o It is implemented in public places (usually streets, but not only) and it’s based on a planned
initial scenario which then is changed by the people from the public space (the initial scenario
can have included in the planned part how to naturally engage the public);
o The action looks natural and passers-by shouldn’t realize this in fact was directed before.
According to them they truly believe this is a real life situation;
o It can tackle examples of oppression that are happening in public places (but usually nobody
intervenes- and in this way they are stimulated to do so) or oppression on a bigger scale from
the society (in order to open a debate in this regard);
o This method has the highest level of risks for the team as the unpredictable factor is huge
and therefore the preparation process is crucial;
o Some groups decide to inform the public in the end that it was a directed performance,
others do not.
Rainbow of desire
o This method mainly tackles the inner oppression which exists within us from various past
events and relationships;
o It has a therapeutic approach and it does not aim to be exposed to the public. It is designed
mainly for a personal inner process within a trustworthy group which through different
exercises (mainly based on image theatre techniques) will lead the group members to empower
themselves (by reducing or eliminating the inner oppression);
o Among all the methods developed by Augusto Boal, this is the most developed
methodologically – as there is a manual which specific guidelines;
o Bearing in mind the extremely personal approach of this technique it should be used with
extreme care and by professionals that can handle strong emotional processes within a group.
Around the world there are various formal and non-formal educational programs (of various
lengths (delivered by various institutions, organizations, theatre groups, etc.) aiming to train
different professionals in TO methods (to introduce these methods or to build the capacity to
apply them in their communities). This methodology is not standardized or safe guard through
14. 14
any coordinated system and this means that none of these available options (of education in the
field) have more authority than the others. There is also the option (which many professionals
pursue) to try out working with some of these techniques without participating in an educational
program, and even this specific educational material will provide guidance to such individuals.
Therefore the practitioners who picked it up filled the gaps while working with the method.
While we acknowledge the importance of being flexible, adjusting to a specific context and
upgrading based on the concrete experience it is important to be aware that what we call Forum
Theatre around the world might refer to very different things (even if at its core, hopefully, it
tackles oppression of some sort).
In A.R.T. Fusion Association we have been working with Forum Theatre from 2004 and
in all these years we have transformed the method that was originally transferred to us, based
on our experience in Romania and abroad (on 3 continents). The transformation aimed always
to maximize the impact among the public and to make it easier for the volunteers to learn and
become independent Forum Theatre practitioners.
In this chapter we want to introduce Forum Theatre as we use it, as we train our multipliers
and how it has been used in all our projects with more than 5000 beneficiaries along the years.
From the beginning we want to warn the readers who are familiar with Forum Theatre that
in the following pages they might discover details and aspects of Forum Theatre that they
might not agree with, or are (very) different from what they know. They might call it the A.R.T.
Fusion approach or just another Forum Theatre approach. We certainly desire more and more
practitioners to use it, that’s why we created this very specific methodological toolkit.
Forum Theatre Method
–presentation
Forum Theatre is the most popular form of Theatre of the Oppressed worldwide and also
the oldest, as it was the first one to be experimented by Augusto Boal. Due to this popularity,
very often Forum Theatre practitioners use the terminology of Theatre of the Oppressed (TO)
as having the same meaning as Forum Theatre when in fact TO is just an umbrella of methods
and Forum Theatre is one of them.
At the same time it is also probably the
method that has the highest diversity in terms of
how it is structured or what rules are used in its
implementation phase due to its large history and
ramifications around the world and also due to the
lack of an initial specific methodology.
15. 15
Defining Oppression and Forum Theatre
(in this approach)
First of all we define oppression as power abuse and in Forum Theatre we
focus on very concrete examples of oppression which happen between people that have a
sort of relation in a certain situation (colleagues, neighbours, relatives, in-laws,
friends, etc.). We do not work with abstract forms of oppression or hidden
oppression (that is not explicit) as we choose to depict aspects of reality that
happen in front of our eyes (or of our target group’s) and change is needed.
A real life case is used for the Forum Theatre play- so the main source of information
is reality, either of the team members (if they are faced with that specific
problem) or from discussions with people who experience that specific
oppression. We do not invent, use rumours or our own assumptions. The
play is focused on only one specific example of oppression (not more), it has
only one oppressed character, only one oppressor, (there is a relation between
them), each of them has 1-2 allies/supporters on their side and there are also
1-2 neutral people in the story. It has a length of between 12 to 15 minutes, 3-4
scenes and shows the process of oppression and how it increases in intensity.
The play has a negative ending (the oppressed makes a wrong decision).
The play is showed to a public who is connected to the problem (they are
victims of it, or are connected in some way to the problem – as allies of the
victims or oppressors, or they are neutrals).
The performance is showed the first time so the public gets to understand
what is happening and what the end of the story is. The performance will
be shown a second time (after a discussion with the public takes place) and this
second time the public is invited to make changes so the ending of the story will be
different. The public will have to come with ideas to reduce or to solve the
oppression depicted on stage (by balancing the power relations among the
people involved in that specific situation). In the next chapter you can read
more concrete examples of Forum Theatre from 5 countries and how the
public intervened to change the story end.
TheprocesswiththepublicismanagedbyaJokerwhofacilitatesthediscussions
with the public and stimulates them to reflect on and critically analyse the
proposals for change, how realistic they are and also how they can transfer
them to reality. Forum Theatre is a very powerful tool for empowerment on
different levels in a community as it brings attitudinal changes among the
public members and also among the team members.
16. 16
Methodological, technical aspects and rules used in
Forum Theatre
It is preferable to work with non-actors (as actors in our experience end up
focusing on the artistic part of the work and not on the social change part)
but nobody is excluded from the process;
Team members should be volunteers that are genuinely interested in making a
change in society with their involvement in the Forum Theatre project;
The scenes are shown in chronological order;
If there is a different time or different location/setting then it is a different
scene. We do not show 2 scenes in parallel;
We do not show psychical violence on stage – we can suggest it (that it is
happening in that specific context) but we do not show it explicitly – because
it can actually be reinforced as acceptable behaviour, it can scare or shock
public members (as it can be too strong for them, it can inhibit them from
coming on stage, being afraid to face physical violence)
One actor has one role – we do not use anyone two times (same person
having multiple roles) ;
We do not use the travesty approach – one person playing a different gender
role (unless we do have a performance about this aspect);
If possible we do not use microphones – to keep the play as simple as
possible and also because in reality people do not talk into microphones
among themselves (but if we have a large crowd in the public of course it
will be needed)
We do not use music or special lights (this doesn’t happen in reality either);
The public has free access to the performance - we do not ask for money from
the public as this will restrict their access and therefore reduce the impact;
Usually the process takes 1.5 hours – even 2 hours, depending on how many
solutions the public proposes. We do not speed the process by approaching
it superficially – it takes so long as it goes more deeply into the issue and it
contributes to a longer-term impact on the public.
It is better to not have more then 50-60 people in the public as then the
discussions with such large crowds will be less deep than with a smaller
public.
The public needs to be informed if photographs are taken or video is shot
and if they ok with that or not.
18. 18
The rules for interventions from the public
The Oppressor cannot be changed;
Everybody else can be changed (oppressed, all the allies, neutral people);
If you want to change: clap your hands one time– the people on stage will
freeze;
If you want to get off the stage (once you finished you intervention): clap –
the people on stage will freeze;
No violence is allowed on the stage – the public is encouraged to come with
alternative solutions;
No magic solutions – the public is encouraged to come with realistic
solutions.
Process with the public
The second time, the play starts from the beginning and the public needs to
intervene at any moment they feel the people on stage should act differently
(in order to reduce/solve the oppression). If we get to the second scene we
do not go back in time for the first scene. Whenever they feel a change needs
to be made they need to clap at that moment.
After each person from the public makes an intervention the Joker discusses
it with the public, its realism and what change it made. The public takes the
decision (by voting) if the change is to be kept (and the actor who was changed
will continue to act as the spect-actor suggested) or is not to be kept and then
another person from the public shows a different alternative that maybe will
be assessed as more realistic by the public.
Every change needs to be decided with the public (by voting).
The Joker is neutral – he/she just asks the questions and never says his/
her own opinion about anything (more details about the Joker in the specific
chapter from this manual).
The actors on the stage will improvise based on the changes made by the
public members in harmony with their roles, realistically reflecting the reaction
towards the new proposed change.
19. 19
We do not close the process without having an acceptable ending – it will send
across a negative message with the public who tried to make changes and they
cannot see the outcomes of their efforts.
The actors do not interact with the public – it is only the Joker that talks
with the public; the only space and context where the actors and the public
members interact is during the play if they make interventions.
Steps in Forum Theatre development
For a deeper understanding we concentrated the process of developing a
Forum Theatre project in 6 process phases explained briefly in the following
lines. Each phase depends on the previous one and none of them should be
taken out from the process
First phase - the basis
This phase is focused on finding answers to the following questions – the
order can be different based on the type of project:
Who is the team?(it can be part of the oppressed target group or a team
of volunteers who believes in change using this method)
What are the budget and the structure of the project? (if there is an
existing project)- it will influence time allocation;
What are the social problem approached and the aim of the Forum
Theatre project? (aim is in relation with the social problem - to bring
a change in relation to the problem)- Sometimes the topic is proposed
by the organization (based on the program and projects they are dealing
with) but it can also be decided together with the team.
Second phase – group/team development
This phase is focused on the team of volunteers, to work on their group
dynamics, getting to know each other, teambuilding, etc. It’s an important
phase to set out the foundation of the team that is going to create a Forum
Theatre play together.
Getting to know each-other
Teambuilding exercises
Trust exercises
Communication exercises
Energizers/Ice breakers/ etc. Introducing the Forum Theatre method
(information, videos, some exercises)
20. 20
Third phase – Forum Theatre Preparation
If the topic is already given (from a third party) it is important to do
research on the oppression problem (understanding more deeply,
research, direct contact with people affected or working with the theme,
interviews, talking to specialists, etc.)
Preparatory games, exercises, activities on:
Attention, coordination, focus, space, body, speeds, movements, emotions
(expressing emotions), rhythm, voice, imagination, creativity, decision making,
etc.
Specific forum theatre (and other theatre of the oppressed) exercises:
power exercises, exploring and understanding oppression, imitations,
improvisations, image exercises, image theatre.
Fourth phase - Development of the Forum Theatre Play
(*very important note: decisions are taken by consensus)
Sharing/working with concrete stories reflecting the concerned social
problem;
Choosing the story that is the most relevant to the problem and that
more people (from the target group/public could identify themselves
with);
Structuring the performance (3-4 scenes connected between them that
have a dramatic ending (the oppressed character makes a bad decision),
10-15 minutes maximum;
Role distribution (based on personal preferences, not allocated – they
could change in the process);
Female roles are distributed to women, male roles are distributed to men,
no travesty (only if the play is about it);
Exercises for developing the characters;
Exercises for developing the script;
Fifth phase- implementation of the Forum Theatre performance
Introduction (from the Joker) (energizers with the public- to warm them
up).
The play is performed the first time.
Discussion with the public (about the problem, characters, connection
with reality, discussion about the idea of change).
Explaining the change process and the rules (clapping for making
interventions, change of any characters except the oppressor, only one
person at a time, no violence, no magic solutions).
Interventions from the public and management of the interventions
until the oppression is reduced, the oppressed character doesn’t make the
bad decision anymore.
21. 21
interventions, change of any characters except the oppressor, only one
person at a time, no violence, no magic solutions).
Interventions from the public and management of the interventions
until the oppression is reduced, the oppressed character doesn’t make
the bad decision anymore.
interventions, change of any characters except the oppressor, only one
person at a time, no violence, no magic solutions).
Interventions from the public and management of the interventions
until the oppression is reduced, the oppressed character doesn’t make
the bad decision anymore. For each intervention there is a discussion
(about the change produced and its realism) and a decision made with
the public if the change is kept or not!
Summary of discussions and solutions proposed.
Transfer – the public is asked what they can transfer to their lives.
Conclusion.
Closure.
Sixth phase – evaluation and follow-up
Team evaluation, evaluation of the public (short and long term);
Decision with the team on how to proceed next – another FT play or
another type of intervention.
In the next pages the readers can understand even more deeply the Forum
Theatre method and process of developing such plays because:
- In the next chapter they can see concrete examples of Forum Theatre
plays that were implemented in 2013 in 5 countries ;
- In the following chapter they can access a detailed curriculum that
provides supplementary information regarding the method explained
step by step;
There is also a chapter about the Joker which will detail with adequate
information the role in Forum Theatre context.
22. 22
The play was performed in August 2013 for 113 people in Dar es Salaam (98% of them
below 30 years)
The Topic of the play: Gender Discrimination
Roles: Oppressor: FATHER – Mr .Rashid/ Oppressed: DAUGHTER – Mwajuma/ Ally
oppressed: NEIGHBOR SISTER – Sophia/ Ally oppressor: SON- Abubakar/ Neutral:
MOTHER - Mrs Rashid
At home: The father is reading the newspaper showing the aggregate statistics in
recent years of girls who become school dropouts due to pregnancy. Suddenly the
daughter enters with excitement telling her dad that she has been selected to go to
secondary school, but father takes it as nonsense in a manner that she cannot go
to school any more as she should stay home and wait for marriage.
Father calls the rest of the house mates, which are mother and son, telling them that he will never
allow any topic with regard to taking the girl to school in his house. The wife remains quiet out
of fear to converse with her husband and the son supports his dad for such a stand, the daughter
cries.
At the Well: The neighbour sister meets the daughter Mwajuma while in the
process of fetching water and informs the youngster that she is going for her
university studies in the capital city. She encourages the girl to study hard so that
someday she can be like her but the daughter sadly tells the neighbour sister that
although she has been selected for secondary school the father refuses to take her and moreover
wants her home as a female nowhere to go, according to the culture of the clan.
The neighbour sister feels sad about that but gives her support and promises she will come by her
home before she goes to university and advise the father. She tells the daughter not to lose hope
as she has the right to study like any other people in the world.
At home: The house mates relax having some evening talks all together when a
knock is heard as the neighbour sister comes in and greets the parents. She has
come to say goodbye because she will be leaving the village to the capital city
where she has been selected to take a degree in law. The father is annoyed, the
reason behind that being that he does not believe in education for girls.
On top of that she insists that the father allows the daughter to go for secondary studies so
that someday she can become just like her. The father wants to throw her out of the house but
the conversation becomes serious, the son keeps boosting his father not to support girls, the
wife trying to please the daughter and the husband at the same time. The neighbor turns to the
mother and tells her that she should be wise enough to know that women need revolution and
education is the way. The daughter agrees with this standing therein.
Forum Theatre Examples
Tayco- Tanzania – “Badilika”
23. 23
Interventions:
Scene 1
The oppressed daughter was changed with the reason of showing reality to the sense that
the exact message can be delivered and bringing the sensitivity of how the oppressed daughter
should appear in a real sense.
The neutral mother was changed as well, turning to the side that the mother is a
confident woman and able to assist the daughter in most instances, rather than remain silent and
follow everything that the oppressor says. The intention was to raise the power so the oppression
can be eliminated by increasing the number of the people with strong arguments against gender
discrimination.
Scene 2
The ally of the oppressed, the neighbour sister, was changed to the point that she can be in a
position to reflect the actual sense of the sister in the village with concern for what exactly is
happening once the elder sister spoke to the young sister. She also gives spirit to the oppressed
one upon the rights of girls, just like the rights of any other people in the world.
Scene 3
Once again the ally of the oppressed was changed with the moral target of not threatening the
oppressor but being in a position to converse and change the wrong perspective that the father had
with facts, not with provocations. This meant mutually giving the benefit of doubt accordingly.
The ally of the oppressor, the son, was also changed in a manner that he could be neutral to such
a degree so as to reduce the energy of the oppressor for the sake of eliminating the oppression
and being the matter of point where the very best there is can be achieved as much as the society
desire to the better solutions.
24. 24
Conclusions
The oppressor finally agreed that a girl has equal rights to a boy and moreover the
daughter deserves to study and attain all other preferences, like all other children receive regardless
of gender.
Morally, the solution was obtained without use of violence, as well as not changing the
oppressor with the due concern of following and obeying the rule of the game which was clearly
described by the Joker to the audience.
The play was performed in August for 50 people (in Sofia)
Topic of the performance: Gentrification - The place is the oldest market in Sofia, and the
last one of its kind. It is also a big issue – there are several groups of people that have interest in
it – to save it as it is now, or to go for reconstruction (complete change).
Roles:
-Oppressor – the municipality man, Mr Stefan Gospodinov, second director of Vazrazhdane
markets.
-Oppressed – active merchant and shop-owner, who is not from Sofia, Hristo Hristov, selling
shoes for more than 20 years. He has a family to support with this job.
-Ally of the oppressor – local resident (person who lives at the market), Tatiana Markova, interior
designer, has kids who are in school, she is concerned about crime on the streets of the city where
three generations of her family have lived.
-Ally of the oppressed – the young girl, Mariana. She has graduated from university and has a
job, but she still prefers to shop at this market for its low prices and the unusual atmosphere there.
-Neutral – passive merchant, the other shop owner, Ivanka, selling fruits and vegetables. She
doesn’t rely on this job to support her family and it’s just something she does to earn some extra
money, though she spends a lot of time there.
-Neutral – the old lady, Mariika, who has a pension of 85 euro, lives with her daughter and her
family, because she can’t survive without their support.
The usual atmosphere at the market
There are the two merchants – Ivanka (the passive one, neutral ), and Hristo, (the
active one, the oppressed). Mariika the old lady is buying fruits from Ivanka; they
have a small chat that shows how important the market is for the old lady. The old
lady likes the market because she enjoys the company of the merchants, because
her family is busy a lot so they don’t spend so much time together. She likes the
low prices and the overall positive atmosphere here, and she also feels like she is helping her family
by buying cheap goods for them with her own money. She has no idea however of any plans to
change the market. At the same time the young girl appears – Mariana (ally of the oppressed), she
helps the old lady collect the coins she just dropped on the ground, in a very informal manner,
Ideas Factory – Bulgaria –
“To be or not to be”
25. 25
which is typical for this market (speaking like you are at home to strangers, closeness). The old
lady leaves, Mariana tries to start a conversation with Ivanka about the future of the market, but
Ivanka is not interested and she has no idea, like the old lady, on what’s going on in the media or
the municipality. In the next focus Mariana moves to the next place where Hristo is, they know
each other as a seller and a buyer, they talk about the market’s future, he is worried, he can sense by
the way that his boss at the municipality talks to them when they pay rent that something is going
on, but he can’t find any information about the future of his workplace. Almost at the same time
the local resident, Ms Markova (ally of the oppressor), passes by and gets into the conversation
– nagging the merchant about crime and the horrible infrastructure of the market, blaming the
merchant for all these things without listening to his answers. She remembers a time when the
market wasn’t in such a bad shape, and she associates the worsening with the arrival of the new
(from 20 years ago) merchants. She leaves, mumbling something. Mariana, confused, wishes the
best of luck to the merchant and goes about her way.
Hristo is at Mr Gospodinov’s office to bring the rent of the stalls he has. After he
gives the money, Mr Gospodinov informs him, verbally and among other things,
that the renovation of the market may start any day now, so the merchants must
pay the rent weekly and need to be prepared to leave the market at any given time,
and he refuses to go into any details. The news comes to Hristo like a cold shower,
and he doesn’t know how to react. He just says ok and leaves the office.
Both merchants are at their stalls, in the morning, preparing for a hard day of
work (because working at a market selling vegetables and shoes is not an easy job).
Hristo informs Ivanka about the new conditions of paying the rent. They talk to
each other about the coming change. It is still not clear to them what exactly and
when is going to happen, even though Hristo tried to find out, but, like all of Sofia,
he couldn’t find any new information. At that moment Mr Gospodinov appears and announces
the start of the reconstruction, and that the merchants need to move out in two days. Nobody
makes a sound in the first moment, and the two merchants stare into Gospodinov’s face, until he
asks “Is everything clear? Be gone with all your merchandise by Friday. Have a productive day!”,
and Hristo, devastated, mumbles a short “Okay, boss...”. They both exit the stage with their heads
down and holding some merchandise.
The discussion with the public was focused on exploring what is realistic to do in such situations.
Most of them agreed that they need to unite and to make some sort of union in order to claim
and protect their rights
27. 27
The play was performed in September 2013 for 20 people in Maribor.
The performance talks about psychological violence in the family that can be seen as invisible or
‘not important’ violence in society.
The characters: Mother Valerija, business woman- oppressor / Daughter Hana (27), student,
volunteer in NGO- oppressed / Family friend of Hana – Živa (26), just finished her studies, she
has moved in with her boyfriend in the flat that her mother bought her – ally of the oppressed /
Živa’s mother, member of charity organisation – ally of the oppressor / Seller in the shopping
mall- neutral
Scene: Hana and Živa are having a coffee and friendly conversation (what is
going on, what are the news etc.). We can see how different the girls are. Živa
finished her studies and works, she has just moved in the flat (bought by her
mother) with her boyfriend. Hana is still studying, writing her dissertation and is
occupied with the work in the NGO as a volunteer. Hana’s mother calls and orders
her to come home.
Scene: Family shopping in the shopping mall Europark. We see Valerija and
her friend shopping for clothes for the charity dinner. The friend and her daughetr
Živa are very happy to shop together. Valerija calls Hana and starts to insult her
about how badly she’s dressed, how ugly she looks, that no one would even look at
her etc.
At Valerija’s home. Valerija and her friend are drinking a coffee and having a
small talk. Hana enters and wants to go to the NGO where she works. Mother
starts to shout at her that she is incompetent, doing nothing all the time, not
working yet or doing her studies, not having a boyfriend, being a loser etc. She is
humiliating Hana from all aspects and they have a big argument. Mother asks Hana
to leave the house.
Hana is in the park; she calls her friend Živa and tells her about the big fight.
She feels completely undermined and doesn’t know what to do.
Kuku- Slovenia – “Slovenian Mother and
Daughter”
28. 28
Interventions
• In the first scene: Hana becomes more powerful. When mother calls her and orders
her to come home soon she doesn’t take it so seriously. She says she will come but she is
more relaxed and takes some things in her hands. She is showing her rebellion in the way
that she is not coming home when her mother wants it but a bit later.
• In the third scene: the mother’s friend starts to support Hana. She says it’s good she
has lots of activities as a volunteer and supports her. (The public didn’t approve of this
intervention as being realistic.)
• In the third scene: Hana becomes more independent. She says she did all the work at
home, explains to her mother that she has a job and that she can go live on her own. She
tells the mother that she doesn’t agree with her rules.
• The last scene: Hana calls her friend and tells her she is going for EVS for one year to
get more space for herself and her mother.
The last scene: Hana is going to move in with her friend. The point is not to finish her
studies right now but to get more experience for the job later.
29. 29
The performance was implemented in September 2013 at a correctional institute for
young boys, for 44 boys serving time.
The characters
Young boy – Oppressed
Ally Oppressed – Counselor, Teacher
His friend – Oppressor
Ally Oppressor – Ju-Ju Man, Mother
Neutral –Colleagues from school
The boy comes home from serving his sentence in a correctional institute. The
mother is alone at home, cleaning and complaining about the hard life they have.
She is surprised to see the boy and she treats him indifferently. She clearly states
she doesn’t trust him and she sees him more as a problem now that he came back
home. The boy promises that he has changed and he will be a good boy from now
on. The mother sends him off and continues to clean the house complaining about the poor life
she has and the problems with the boy.
After one week he goes to school together with his counselor. He is now going to
a different school after finishing his sentence. The counselor introduces him to the
teacher and she explains his situation and the trust she puts in him, and asks the
teacher to pay closer attention to him and respond to his needs. The teacher looks
friendly and willing to help the boy. She introduces the boys to the 2 colleagues but
she shows extra effort or attention to the boy and his new arrival in the class.
After some more weeks the boy meets by coincidence on the street one of his
previous close friends. His friend mocks him for going to school and clearly states
that it is stupid, nonsense and only for losers. At the same time the friend shows
off with his richness and success and the boy is attracted to it (especially as he
comes from a poor background and he would like to get to have money faster).
The friend tells him that with school he will never have money and in fact he can suggest exactly
what he needs to do if he wants money. He lures the boy to go and see a ‘Ju-Ju’ man or a
spiritualist in order to gain wealth through illicit means. They go together to the ju-ju man right
away. The boy is afraid but his friend reminds him that if he wants money this is the way he made
the money. The Ju-Ju man requires some items from the boy together with an initial amount of
money (which the friend provides).
After a couple of weeks the boy desperately goes to see his friend. He tells him
that he is very afraid of the Ju-Ju man, that he went a couple of times there and
every time the man asked for new things and threatened him that if he doesn’t
provide those things it will be very bad for him. The friend explains to him that he
needs to do everything the Ju-Ju man asked, he did the same thing (he even killed
Hopespring Ghana –
“Freedom comes with a cost”
30. 30
people) because he wanted what he asked for. The boy says he needs more money to pay the Ju-Ju
man but the friend becomes angry as he already needs to pay back the initial amount – he tells him
to make sure he will give everything to the Ju-Ju man and to pay him back his money.
Scene 5
The boy goes again to the Ju-Ju man (very scared and desperate) and he tells him he doesn’t have
the money. The Ju-Ju man tells him that in these conditions the spirits are angry (because he didn’t
do what was requested) and he will have to do something to make them calm down- he needs to
make a ritual sacrifice of his mother. The boy is shocked – Ju-Ju man warns him that if he doesn’t
do that he will go crazy.
The boy is in a dilemma because he is very afraid for what might happen but in the end decides
to pursue with the ritual involving his mother.
Interventions
Scene 1
- The mother was changed to pay more attention to her boy, to give him another chance and to
trust him; to encourage him in his plans for life.
Scene 2
- The teacher was changed to be more interested in the boy’s story and to make a warmer
introduction of the boy to the class, also to encourage them to talk more and become friends.
Scene 3
- The boy was changed 2-3 times to show different approaches in talking with the friend and to
reject the offer to go to the Ju-Ju man.
The forum with the boys was focused a lot on the support needed in the family and also the
strength they need when they go back to their neighborhoods and to stay focused and say no to
these friends with bad influences.
31. 31
A.R.T. Fusion Association- Romania-
„I don’t want to see you again!”
The play was performed in September for 2 classes (13-14 years old) from a primary school
(with mix ethnic groups- Romanian and Roma children) from Bucharest.
This play is about bullying in schools and it was inspired from different stories from
schools, from our experience and from the school where we performed. The aim was to reduce
bullying situations among students and to make students understand that their words have a big
influence on others’ lives, and can even lead to dropping out of school.
Characters: Oppressed – Maria: a 13-year-old girl, Roma, she doesn’t have very good
grades at school because she doesn’t have enough support from her family, but she is good at
Chemistry. Oppressor – Petra: a 14-year-old girl, she is the bully type and one of the reasons why
she oppresses Maria is because she is Roma. She is in the same class with Maria.
Ally of oppressed – Mihaela, a 13-year-old girl /Ally of oppressor – Roxana, a 13-year-old girl
/Ally of oppressor – Teacher of Geography: he is the type of teacher that makes differences
between Roma and Romanian students. Neutral – Maria’s mother: divorced, she works in a
supermarket; she is concerned only about earning money for a living.
Scenario:
At Maria’s home
Maria and her mother are in the kitchen and having a usual chat. The mother
is preparing the food; the daughter asks if there is anything else to eat besides
potatoes and they argue a bit about money. The mother says: “Other girls at your age are already
bringing money home”. Suddenly the mother’s phone rings. It’s her boss, who is calling her to
work earlier. He does this all the time and she thinks it is because she is Roma. Before leaving,
Maria gives her a paper with her grade to sign. Her mother signs fast, without reading the paper.
At school, on the same day
Maria and Mihaela meet in the school yard and have a small chat about school.
Maria asks Mihaela if her uncle is still looking for people to distribute promotional
flyers because her mother is pushing her all the time to bring some money home.
They talk a bit about the next class, Geography, and Maria says that she is sure that
the teacher will evaluate her because he always does this.
Petra and Roxana come in the school yard, too. Petra starts to oppress Maria: “Hey! What have
I told you? I don’t want to see you here! You make me sick! etc.” She takes Maria’s backpack and
throws it on the ground.
Mihaela, Roxana and Petra go to the class because the bell is ringing. Maria stays to collect her
things from the ground.
In Geography class
The scene starts with the teacher, Petra and Roxana in the class. Mihaela enters the
class a bit late and the teacher tells her to take a seat. Maria comes and the teacher
tells her: “Ms Maria, do you think that it is polite to enter the class after me? Come
32. 32
in front of the class and show me on the map two important rivers from North America.”
This is how the oppression starts in this scene. Petra, together with Roxana, is mocking Maria and
the teacher doesn’t say anything about it. He pretends that he doesn’t see. He also has an exchange
of bad jokes (very subtle) about Maria with Petra. At the end of the scene, Maria goes to her
place, next to Mihaela and she says: “I told you that he would evaluate me. I cannot stand Petra
anymore…she is so mean to me”. Petra hears that and she says: “What did you say? I will show
during the break what it is to be mean!”
In school during the break
This scene has a very high level of oppression from Petra against Maria. She uses
lines like: “Do you hear me? I don’t want to see you anymore in here! Do you think
that a gipsy like you can finish school? Maybe you hope to go to high school…
Listen to me! You will never go to high school. You are a stupid gipsy. Do you
think that you can finish school? Tell me!! Listen to me! I don’t want to see you
again around here! Tell me! Do you plan to come to school much longer? Tell me!!!”
This is the moment when Maria says that she will not come to school anymore because she a
stupid gipsy who doesn’t have any chance to finish school.
33. 33
Interventions from public:
1. The mother in the first scene
The public chose to change the mother and to make her more interested in her daughter’s school
situation. When she had to sign the grades she looked before signing and she decided to go to
school to talk with the teachers about her grades and about how she can improve them.
2. Maria in the second scene
The public decided that the mother will come to school in the second scene, when Petra
is oppressing Maria. This is when they change Maria and make her tell her mother about the
situation with Petra and to ask for her help.
3. Roxana in the third scene
After the change from the second scene, the mother goes to the Geography teacher and tells him
about the situation with Petra. Petra denies everything, so the public decides to change Roxana,
and to make her realize that what they are doing to Maria is not right and that they have to stop so
she will tell the truth. Even though Petra is threatening her that they will not be friends anymore,
Roxana tells the teacher and Maria’s mother that it is true that they bullied Maria.
After these interventions, the public decided that now, with her mother’s support, with her attitude
changed and with Roxana not supporting Petra anymore, Maria will not drop out of school
anymore and she will not accept to be bullied again by Petra.
A.R.T. Fusion Association-Romania
“Only stupid people work”
The play was performed in September in one placement center for 30 abandoned/
neglected children/teenagers (mostly boys) from Bucharest
Characters:
Oppressor – A teenage boy (17 and a half years old) – MARIUS
Oppressed – A teenage boy (15 and a half years old) – IONUT
Allie of oppressor – A teenage girl, a friend (17 years old) – NICO
Allie of oppressed – A teenage girl who becomes a friend (16 years old) – Andreea; Neutral
character – A teacher/educator from the placement center – FLORENTINA
At the placement center – In the common room
The oppressor and his ally talk about the oppressor’s last deed (running away
from the placement center) and the punishment he received for that. He will be
in charge of cleaning the common room and the kitchen for a month. They talk
about running away together after they turn 18, soon. The teacher comes and
presents the new boy who is going to stay there. She presents him to the other children and
reminds the oppressor about the punishment he received. After the teacher leaves, the oppressor
fakes the intention of being friends with the new boy and lets him know the “rules” of the house
and that “it is HIS turn to clean the common room”. The ally of the oppressed character, tries
to say something but she is taken away by the ally of the oppressor, making her not influence the
oppressed in any way.
34. 34
After 2 days
At the placement center, in the evening, after dinner – In the dining room
The oppressor is congratulating the oppressed on the good job he did cleaning.
He is being nice to the oppressed making him think they are on the same side as
long as they work together. As a “bonus” for the work he is doing, the oppressor
tells the oppressed that if he ever has problems in school he can count on him to “fix them”. It
is known that everybody in the placement center is being picked on in school because they don’t
have parents, they are naïve, they don’t have a future. The ally of the oppressor supports him.
At the same time, the ally of the oppressed is trying to make the oppressed understand that he
should not listen to Marius and that he is not obliged in any way to help him with the punishment
he has been given. She is shut up by Marius. The teacher comes, interrupts their conversation and
tells them a new waiter-cook course is starting soon and that it would be good for them to attend
since it is nationally recognized. She presents the advantages that the course has. The oppressed
is really excited to take part. The ally of the oppressed is sure her mother will call her from Italy
and will take her to go to work with her there so she refuses to take part. The oppressor and his
ally make fun of the idea and don’t give an answer. After the teacher leaves they begin to make fun
of the oppressed because he wants to take part in the course and tell him that it is a shameful job
and that he will be no good for it. A real job means being a “boss”.
After 2 weeks
At the placement center – in the common room, after they finished dinner
The oppressor complains that the oppressed did not do his job cleaning as well
as he used to. The oppressed tells him that he’s been busy with the waiter-cook
course that he is attending, with school and homework and that he didn’t have
so much free time. The oppressor gets mad, his ally makes fun of the oppressed and supports
the oppressor in his attitude. Each time the ally of the oppressed wants to defend him, she is
shut off by the oppressor. She is weak and lacks self-confidence and she is easily manipulated
by the “strong ones”. The oppressed tries to explain why he wants this so badly (He wants to
have a job when he goes out of the placement center, he wants his parents to be proud of him
when and if they see him sometime etc.) but the oppressor makes fun and interrupts him. The
“disadvantages” of the waiter-cook course come again into discussion, now even more detailed
(He is stupid for wanting to work. It is hard to have a job – you have a tight schedule, you don’t get
to see your friends, you have a boss etc.). The oppressor attacks him with personal stories about
his parents and the fact that he doesn’t know where they are and that they will never know that he
wants to be a responsible kid. After that, he threatens him to give up the stupid dream, otherwise
“they will not be friends and that is not good”.
2 weeks after
At the placement center, in the room of the oppressor and oppressed.
The oppressed comes into the room looking for his robe and his note-book, on his
way to the course. He is in a hurry and he cannot miss any more meetings because
he will be thrown out. The oppressor gets mad and the oppression reaches the last
level of tension. He uses all his “arguments” and mostly the ones emphasizing the
shame this job brings, emphasizing the fact that he is not made for it and convincing him that
he really is not suitable for this kind of job. Last but not least the oppressor reminds him of the
35. 35
fact that his parents didn’t want him. He tells him that he is stupid to think that he will ever meet
his parents and that they will ever be proud of him. The oppressed eventually quits, discouraged
and hopeless.
Interventions
Scene 1
1.The ally of the oppressed – making her more courageous and making her stand by the oppressed
more in order for him to feel he has someone on his side. Now, with the change, the ally of the
oppressed tries to tell the teacher that she should pay more attention to the behavior of the
children, mostly Marius.
2. The oppressed – in the discussion with everybody, and the teacher is present. The change is
made after the teacher leaves the stage. The oppressed is more courageous than he used to be at
first.
3. The Ally of the oppressed – After the teacher leaves, she is more on the side of the oppressed
and calls back the teacher. She says that as far as she knows, she is the one responsible to show the
oppressed around; she tries to make the teacher understand that there is a problem in the centre.
The ally of the oppressed is even more courageous and does not leave the oppressed and the
oppressor alone. Although she is a girl, she can have a little more power.
36. 36
Scene 2
4. The teacher – She is changed in order to pay more attention to what is happening and not
letting the ally of the oppressor and the oppressor make fun of the enthusiasm the oppressed has
when listening to the announcement about the course. She explains in a more detailed way why
they all should attend and supports the oppressed more in his decision to take part.
5. The ally of the oppressed – After the teacher comes, she once again tries to talk to the teacher
and make her take more action against the situation of oppression. The teacher becomes more
interested in the situation and asks question in order to find out more information before acting.
6. The oppressed – He is more courageous and directly confronts the oppressor regarding the
fact that he does not want to be the only one cleaning, since it is not his punishment. He offers
to work together with the oppressor but not alone. Being cornered by a more courageous ally of
the oppressed and oppressed, the oppressor lived into his room, having still a superior attitude.
Scene 3
7. The ally of the oppressed – States that the oppressed should follow his dream to become a
cook or a waiter if he wants to and if that is his dream.
8.The oppressed – she tries to make the oppressor understand that he should not behave the
way he is behaving with his friend (the ally of the oppressed) and that he really wants to continue
taking the course of waiter-cook. He is supported by his ally in the discussion with the oppressor.
The oppressor starts listening more actively and lacks arguments against the situation.
9. The oppressed – Believes in his dream even more and is not so intimidated by the oppressor,
being supported by his ally at the same time.
37. 37
There are many factors that influence the exact steps that a group needs to go through
in order to develop a Forum Theatre Play:
Whether the group members know each other or not from before;
Whether they have experience with Forum Theatre or not ;
Whether the topic of the performance is already known/or proposed to the group or
the group needs to make their own analysis/research on the target community and its
needs;
Whether the group members are facing/experiencing the problem they will work with
or not;
How much time is allocated for the preparation process;
The age of the participants.
Of course there are many possibilities based on these factors for a forum theatre
facilitator to develop a schedule and process step by step.
This specific curriculum is addressed to new Forum Theatre facilitators or not yet fully independent
in developing FT performances with different kinds of groups. It will propose a structure that has
the following assumptions:
that in the group there are new people who don’t know each-other;
that they are new to the forum theatre field;
Forum Theatre Curriculum
38. 38
that they will choose the topic by themselves (based on their realities-maybe their own
problems or not);
that there is no time pressure for the group to work out the performance;
that the age group is minimum of 16-17 years old – no upper limit
Of course the following activities could be used as well with other groups (on different levels in
their process in working with this method) and an experienced facilitator will be able to extract
the right activities for the groups he/she is working with.
The units are divided in 2-3 hours and they are split in bigger categories in order to
understand more deeply the „philosophy behind” and why such an order is proposed. These units
could be implemented in a 5 days intensive training course (following the order proposed) or 1 or
2 units per week. Based on experience (if possible), it is suggested to use the second approach in
order for the group members to digest the process more easily, to better assimilate the learning
outcomes and to have more flexibility in terms of time allocated to various FT needs of the
group.
The units do not include breaks – but of course 3 hour long sessions could be rather
tiring so the facilitator is invited to provide a break after 1 hour/1 hour and a half – depending on
the structure of the unit.
Depending on the group dynamic it might happen that in a certain stage you need
to work more than the number of units suggests in this curriculum. The facilitator should pay
attention to the dynamic and group needs in order to assess the speed of the process.
As you will see in the structure below it might be that the group needs more time for team-
building before getting into Forum Theatre work, or more time for exploring social issues in
Methodological aspects
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Please note that at the end of this manual you can find the contacts of some of the Forum Theatre facilitators
(engaged in this project) who are willing to provide online guidance and consultancy to new facilitators (with or
without experience in Forum Theatre).
If you never worked with this method and you don’t have anybody around you that has this experience (willing to
help you out) – please contact the resource persons mentioned at the end of the toolkit!
The activities suggested for this curriculum
are mostly based on non-formal education
principles and experiential learning. They aim
to be highly participatory, active and to provide
a space for participants to reflect and extract the
learning outcomes from their own experience.
They also make use of previous life events and
learning outcomes that people are bringing
into the process. They will often challenge the
participants outside of their comfort zone in
order to expand it and prepare the participants
for later stages in the process, as well as for
performing for an unknown public (that will be
interacting with them). The process is intense,
personal (especially when the time will come
for working with various social problems-
often personal or from their own realities)
and often changes the attitudes of the people
engaged- they will come out different people.
In each session there will be space allocated for
processing/debriefing of what happened so
that the participants could
maximize their own learning and to assimilate
the changes produced in themselves (in the
curriculum there will be also guiding questions
that could be used in this part).
Very often the debriefing will include
questions related to the feelings that the
group members experienced in some specific
activities. From our experience it has been
observed that participants tend to reply to such
questions with answers which don’t reflect
their feelings (thoughts, their interpretations,
etc.). The facilitator needs to be very careful
at this stage and to remind the participants
that the question was about feelings and
therefore to insist so that the participants who
want to verbalize them to have a secure space
to express themselves (which is important
before advancing to the rational analysis of the
process).
The activities presented here were used in
practice over the last years by the authors and
other partners’ members with various groups
their community and deciding on one problem as well as maybe more time for improvisational
skills. The number of units (and time division) is based on the previous experience of the partners
and authors but nevertheless there are groups that need more or less time (for various aspects)
and this is not a criterion for judging their competence in the Forum Theatre field. It is very
important for the facilitator of this process to be flexible, plus ready to change and adjust their
own curriculum if it is necessary.
For the person who will facilitate these sessions it is strongly advisable to have been part of a
forum theatre group before, to have had the chance to experience the process and the method
personally (as an actor). It could be helpful for the facilitator to have been previously in the
position of the Joker with a public but nevertheless it is not a compulsory condition – every Joker
starts from somewhere!
If the facilitator doesn’t have experience with the Forum Theatre method (as mentioned before)
then it is very important for him/her to be in touch with an experienced FT facilitator for advice
and assessing if the process is going in the right direction.
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Please find below the structure of the units and after it a detailed description of each unit,
one by one.
Team development - Introduction, Getting to Know Each-Other and Team-Building
Intro to the Forum Theatre Method and Preparatory Exercises
Preparatory Exercises – part 2
Power and Oppression Concepts
Oppression Exercises and Oppressions in Our Community;
Transferring the Social Problem in Forum Theatre Play Format;
Improvisation Exercises and Other Preparatory Exercises.
Exercises for Getting Into Character and Developing the Play
Rehearsals – with different exercises
Preparing the Team for The Performance
1-Team development - Introduction, Getting to Know Each-Other and Team-Building
Intro – 5 minutes
Shaking hands – 5 minutes
Cross the line – 30 minutes
3 truths and 1 lie - 25 minutes
Project Introduction – expectations/contributions – 25 minutes
Blind square – 50 minutes
Blind counting – 30 minutes
Final comments, announcements – 5 minutes
2-Intro to the Forum Theatre Method and Preparatory Exercises
Introduction (explaining the context and what will happen in this session) – 3 minutes
Energizer (look at the resources area for examples of materials where you can find lots
of examples of energizers)– 5 minutes
Carousel-getting to know each other – 20 minutes
Introduction of Forum Theatre - Movie /simulation FT -1h/1.5h
Structure of the units
in different countries (in Europe, Asia and
Africa). They were often inspired by or taken
out from various methodological books (some
of them can be found at the end in the resources
part), adapted and changed over time or from
other projects from different practitioners that
shared some of their tool box activities. The
selection here includes the activities which had
good feedback and strong impact regardless
of the type of group and country where they
were used. Nevertheless, any facilitator who
wishes to use them needs to assess in advance
if a specific activity is appropriate or not for
the group they are working with.
The authors of this manual are not
aware if there is any copy right for any of the
activities (from their initial developers) but are
of the opinion that the sharing of such tools
will increase the capacity of Theatre of the
Oppressed or Forum Theatre workers to be
independent facilitators and to contribute to a
more sustainable change in their societies and
communities.
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Forum Theatre process- remarks -10 min
Preparatory exercises 1h/1.5 h
Pass the beat- 10 minutes
Electric current – 10 minutes
Space exercises – 20 minutes
Back dancing – 10 minutes
Blind shake – 10 minutes
Mirrors – 15 minutes
Processing/ Discussion on all the exercises -15 minute
3-Preparatory Exercises – part 2
Introduction (explaining the context and what will happen in this session- following up
from the last session)- 3 minutes
Exercises – 2-2.5 hours
Samurai – 5 minutes
Magnet – 10 minutes
Trust Dancing – 25 minutes
Bears and Princes (or adapted versions)- 10 minutes
Hey You! Who me?- 10 minutes
1,2,3-4,5,6- 15 minutes
Exaggeration circle- 15 minutes
Statues and emotions – 15 minutes
Museum of emotions – 20 minutes
Processing the games and exercises/Debriefing
Final circle – announcements
4-Power and Oppression Concepts
Introduction of the day (explaining the context and what will happen in this session)- 5
minutes
The apple in the tree- 10 minutes
Stop and Action- 10 minutes
Circle of statues- 30 minutes (followed by a small energizer and/or break)
Power and more power (statues)- 40 minutes
What is oppression – discussion -20 minutes (followed by a small energizer)
Power and oppression (statues) – 30 minutes
Introduction of homework – 10 minutes
Final circle (evaluation, final announcements) -15 minutes
5-Oppression Exercises and Oppressions in Our Community
Introduction of the day (explaining the context and what will happen in this session)- 5
minutes
Talk and Listen– 15 minute
Group shower – 15 minutes
Balance Statues – 20 minutes
Homework analysis - 50 minutes
Images of oppression – 60minutes
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Final circle (evaluation, announcements) -15 minutes
6-Transferring the Social Problem in Forum Theatre Play Format;
Introduction of the day (explaining the context and what will happen in this session)- 5
minutes
Emotions Bus– 20 minute
Steps in Forum Theatre- 10 minutes
Oppression and sharing real examples-decision – 60 minutes
Run and Project– 10 minutes
Initial draft –real story in Forum Theatre structure - 60 minutes
Final circle (evaluation, announcements) -15 minutes
7-Improvisation Exercises and Other Preparatory Exercises
Introduction of the day (explaining the context and what will happen in this session)- 5
minutes
Forum Theatre- Story Line Review – 10 minutes
Hey (voice and emotions)– 10 minute
AEIOU- voice- 10 minutes
Market time – voice and expressing different roles - 15 minutes
Imaginary balls- 10 minutes
Different space-same actions-15 minutes
Imaginary objects – 10 minutes
Complete up to 3 – 20 minutes
Forum Theatre play – first improvisations- 60 minutes
Final circle (evaluation, announcements) -15 minutes
8-Exercises for Getting Into Character and Developing the Play
Introduction of the day (explaining the context and what will happen in this session)- 5
minutes
Music and action- 10 minutes
Finalizing the first round of improvisation of the play- 45 minutes
Getting into character (angels and demons, hot seat)- 45 minutes
Final rehearsals on the day- 1 hour
Final circle (evaluation, announcements) -15 minutes
9-Rehearsals – with different exercises
Introduction of the day (explaining the context and what will happen in this session)- 5
minutes
Rehearsals – Stop and Think – 40 minutes
Different kind of Rehearsals - 1.5 hour
Final rehearsal of the day -30 minutes
Final circle (evaluation, announcements) -15 minutes
10- Preparing the Team for the Performance
Introduction of the day (explaining the context and what will happen in this session)- 5
minutes
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Push Not to Win – 20 minutes
Come with me! No- 30 minutes
Brainstorming –Interventions- 20 minutes
Briefing on the Process of Forum Theatre with Public – 20 minutes
Open space session – based on the last session needs- 70 minutes
Final circle (evaluation, announcements) -15 minutes
1-Team development - Introduction, Getting to
Know Each Other and Team-Building
A Forum Theatre play requires (according
to the model of the method introduced in
this manual) a minimum of 5 characters (1
oppressor, 1 oppressed, 1 ally oppressed,
1 ally oppressor, 1neutral) going to a
maximum of 8 (if we add another ally to
each character and also another neutral).
It is therefore important to have these
aspects in mind when you select or form
your initial FT group.
You could work with more people – and have later doubles (for some roles) in case you
perform more than one time or even to have 2 completely different FT groups (working together
with them step by step but they develop different performances). Have in mind that if you will
have more than 8 people involved in the development of the same play it will be harder in the
decision making process and more time consuming in different phases of the process.
Also some other aspects that you need to consider from the beginning:
In Forum Theatre we do not work with the travesty approach – meaning that women do not
play the role of men and men do not play the role of women!
In Forum Theatre we do not have double or multiple roles for the same person (for example:
in one stage a person will be the Mother and in another stage she will play the role of the
teacher).
The main reason behind these mentions is that in Forum Theatre we want to develop a
performance as close as possible to reality and as concrete and explicit as we can. In reality one
person has only one position in the story we want to reflect (for example: she is the mother and
she is a woman).
This unit and phase of the process represents in fact the basis for future steps in FT
development. At the same time it is important to acknowledge that this is, in fact, a required phase
in any kind of group process or educational program (on any theme).
Therefore the area of activities that can be used in working with groups of different sizes and
backgrounds is very large and easily accessible (via internet). Please refer to the resource section
for many suggestions for various toolkits and manuals focused only on getting to know each other
and team-building).
45. 45
One thing that we need to mention and also to emphasize is that although there are
many examples of team-building activities that you could use they also have various aims and
focus on different dynamics of a group – (competition, collaboration, communication, decision
making, coordination, leadership, group feeling and awareness, frustration management, etc.).
We need to have a perspective of how this method works and to choose activities which help the
group to work on their
Collaboration
Group awareness and feeling of the group
Inclusive and consensus decision making
In Forum Theatre we don’t have directors or script writers - in the process each member is
equally important and valuable and everybody’s ideas will be included in the final shape of the play
(regardless of each member’s background or experience - each Forum Theatre process belongs to
each member of the group). There shouldn’t be any assigned leader who gives directions in terms
of task execution and very often in team-building activities groups have the impression that the
key for a successful result is to have a leader - at this stage the facilitator needs to be careful and
set the right tone in the group and to encourage the members to reflect on the dynamics of their
team in which everybody will feel included, everybody will have ownership of the process.
Even the role of the facilitator should never be perceived as one of a leader (either
for the facilitator himself/herself or for the group) - his/her role is to set up a structure for the
process in which the content is proposed and decided on by the group members. He or she might
have some extra input in terms of how the method works and its framework but in terms of
content – this all comes from the group members.
This in fact will also increase the motivation, feeling of ownership and dedication of the
participants in later stages of the process.
Rules discussion
In the next unit there is no special time allocated to setting-up rules for the group
process. This is in fact a debatable aspect which we leave to your own judgment whether you want
to take further. There are educational practitioners that in any session, workshop (especially when
the same group has to go through a longer process) set-up the rules for the working process with
the participants (usually aiming at aspects related to: punctually, mobile phones on silent mode,
talking in turn, etc.) and sometimes they also agree on a kind of “funny” punishment system for
the ones that break the rules: to give candies to everybody, to sing something etc.
The authors and their partners do not take this approach although in the early working
years it was used. Conclusions were extracted based on experience and this approach is not
implemented anymore. The main reasons are related mostly to the fact that the rules are often
not decided by real consensus (so there will be people who might not agree with some of them
but who are “forced” to follow), there are people who hate rules by default and might act in
46. 46
a rebellious way just to make a point or statement, that any idea of punishment (in a learning
context) could create inhibition, frustration and would go against flexibility and understanding-
and can affect the learning process.
At the same time the authors want to focus on creating an open atmosphere based on
the motivation and the personal responsibility of each member to advance in good spirit and
smooth working conditions. If at any time various problems occur in the process they can be
openly discussed in the group and it can be decided together where to go further – but not to put
them in frame (as rules) which could actually harm more than be beneficial.
It is important for the facilitator to have good observation and presence and to address
in real time any disturbing issues that might affect the group. (For example: people talking on their
phones during the sessions, people smoking if you do outdoor activities and some others being
disturbed by it, people expressing offensive (or perceived as offensive) things to each other, etc.
The activities explained here are some examples extracted from our experience.
Intro – 5 minutes
Shaking hands – 5 minutes
Cross the line – 30 minutes
3 truths and 1 lie - 25 minutes
Project Introduction – expectations/contributions – 25 minutes
Blind square – 50 minutes
Blind counting – 30 minutes
Final comments, announcements – 5 minutes
Detailed explanations
1- Intro – 5 minutes
Welcome your group; explain shortly why you are here and what will happen in this specific
session. Introduce yourself and who you are in this context. Mention that for the beginning you
want to provide a space for each of you to know each other better and then you will go into details
related to the project that gathered all of you together a bit later in the session.
2- Shaking hands – 5 minutes
Aim- to stimulate the participants to get in direct contact with one another
Description- Each participant has the task to shake hands with everybody in the group. When
they do that they have to say their name (and one more thing – you can choose from the following:
where they come from, if it is an international or national group/ their profession/ what they are
studying/why they are here/ etc.). The trick is that once they have met a person and shake his/
her hand they cannot remove their hand until they do not connect with the other hand in another
shake with another person- only then they can release the first person from the shake. They
continue until they have met every person in the group.
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3- Cross the line – 30 minutes
Aims- to support the participants in knowing each other better and to have a better perspective
of the group
Description- The group is asked to write on 2 different papers 2 things about themselves – one
aspect that they think they have in common with everybody in the group and one aspect they
think makes them unique. It has to be more abstract and something that is not easily perceived
at first glance (for ex: I speak 5 languages, I have travelled on 3 continents, I want to change the
world, I am bisexual etc.). It is important to mention that they should write aspects that they
feel comfortable sharing with the others. They don’t have to write their name on the papers and
once they are ready they hand them to the facilitator. The group is asked to stay in one line and
to imagine that an imaginary line is in front of their legs. The facilitator then says: “Cross the
line if you….” – and mentions one of the things participants have written on the papers. The
participants that feel that it fits them (regardless of whether they wrote it or not) take a step
forward. They look at who crosses the line with them – who didn’t and they go back in line. The
facilitator continues with all the papers from the participants and tries to keep the similar aspects
out.
Recommendations
- The facilitator can have prepared some additional sentences that could be used in the purpose
related to the project (for ex. I have experience in Forum Theatre, I have never been a volunteer
before, etc.) or deeper aspects for the group to explore (for ex. I am religious, I don’t believe in
monogamy, etc.)
- After the facilitator finishes, participants can be invited to ask the group to cross the line for
something they are interested to ask the other members.
Debriefing/ Processing the activity
After this activity – especially if very deep and maybe provoking aspects were mentioned, ask the
group: What impressions do you have from this activity? How do you feel now after the activity?
Any other comments?
4- 3 truths and 1 lie- 25 minutes
Aim- to facilitate a deeper and more personal getting to know process in the group; to encourage
the participants to interact personally with everybody in the group;
Description- The group is instructed that now they will have the chance to get to know each
other in a more personal manner. Each person is invited to think about 4 aspects that they want
to share about themselves (it could be something related to what they like to do, what they did,
what dreams they have, something amazing they did in their life, something special and surprizing,
etc.) – they have to choose what they are ready to share with the others. The facilitator can provide
an example – which could also set up the tone of the kind of things that people are encouraged
to share (something more personal, deeper).
They can be drawn/written on a paper (which is divided in 4 squares/areas). Out of
these 4 aspects one thing must be in fact a lie (and it shouldn’t be something obvious – as any
of the other aspects as well). After everybody will have prepared their own papers (they should
also put their own name on it) they will interact with each other and they will try to guess which
49. 49
ones are right and which one is a lie. The aspects the people mentioned often lead to deeper
communication and contributes to a general good atmosphere in the group as everybody has the
chance to talk with the others.
Optional – you can provide each participant with a set of candies/small chocolates/dry fruits
(whatever you can) and give an extra flavour of competition to the game. Each participant can
have the same number of items and once they interact if they manage to guess from the first
(which one is the lie) they can take a candy from the other person. Same applies in return if the
other person also guesses from the first try.
5- Project Introduction – expectations/contributions – 25 minutes
Depending on the context and framework of the project or initiative in which this FT
group is involved, you need to provide information to the group about it.
For them it will be important to know:
• why and for what this project/initiative is (the reasons, the objectives);
• the timeline of activities,
• what their role in the project is and what is expected from them
(here it is important to add that the process is designed as a pack and it is important for everybody
to be present in all the meetings and sessions and if they cannot commit fully to reconsider now-
of course at later stages once the foundation is set up depending on circumstances some people
could miss a meeting-but the group needs to understand exactly what kind of commitment is
expected from them)
Clarify any potential questions or misunderstandings. It would also be good to ask the
group about their perspective of the project (to ask what their main expectations from their
involvement are and how they can contribute to make this project impactful).
You can use small papers, or post-its where they can write these aspects (anonymously
or not) and then to have them all collected so the whole group can read and have a picture of the
group expectations and contributions.
6- Blind square – 50 minutes
Aims – to stimulate the group to reflect and acknowledge what their instinctual/natural ways of
communication in the group are and what are the aspects needed to improve them.
Description – The group stands in the circle.
The facilitator hands the group a rope which will be held by each member of the group
(the rope has the shape of circle inside of the circle of people - so the facilitator will tie the ends
of the rope).
The facilitator doesn’t participate in the exercise. It is explained to the group that they
have to fulfil a task with their eyes closed but they are able to talk with each other. During the task
everybody has to be in contact with the rope. They are requested to close their eyes. Then the task
is given: “place the rope in the shape of a perfect square”.
The facilitator needs to be sure they have their eyes closed all the time (if you can use
blindfolds for everybody it would be even better). There is no time limit but if they take an
50. 50
extensively long time you can introduce a time limit at some point. Remind the group that they
first need to be sure they have a perfect square before they can open their eyes- so you can at one
time ask them if they are sure they have it or not. No other involvement or input is needed from
the facilitator’s side.
Once they are ready, they can open their eyes and see the result. At this stage it is important to
debrief/process this part of the activity. Suggestions for questions:
How did you feel in the activity?
What happened? How did you come up with this result?
What were the key aspects that helped you in the process?
What were the main difficulties that you encountered in this task?
How did you decide on a specific strategy?
How did you make sure everybody was included in the decision?
What could have been done differently?
Afterwards – process the activity (using some of the questions mentioned before) and also
focus on what were the main differences in their processes, also ask them if they put into practice
the things they said they would do differently or that are important for the group- and reflect on
it – why some of the things couldn’t be put into practice etc.
NOTE
Very often groups that have been in trainings or workshops previously tend to use the
cliché words without actually reflecting on the activity itself and what happened: “it was team
work”, “we all cooperated”, “leadership”…etc. This is why, as a facilitator, it is important to
push the group tendency (if this is happening) beyond this superficial layer and ask very specific
questions (Did everybody know what was happening all the time? Is there anybody that has
a different perspective on the exercise?) and you can also provide your observations from the
activity (if they don’t come from the group): “You say you all agree with that idea but you never
asked the group if they agree or not… You say you cooperated and communicated well but very
often there were many people talking at the same time” - and then go back to the questions and
make the group assume their behaviour and reflect on the ways to improve it.
If you have time you can ask them: “If you have to do it again what is the most important
thing that will help the group for a better process and result?” They will mention different aspects
and then you tell them that the second part will take place – they close their eyes and you give
them the second task “to make a perfect triangle” or a “star in 5 corners” or any other shape that
is challenging enough.
51. 51
At the end ask them to reflect on what the main learning outcomes are (from this exercise and
discussion) that could be used in further stages in working in this group. Optional- you can
write them down (together with the things mentioned before in terms of what is important for
the group etc.) and have them on a flipchart that can be a reminder for the group during other
sessions (if it becomes necessary).
7- Blind counting – 30 minutes
Aims- to stimulate the group to connect to the deeper layers of a group dynamic; to develop a
strong group feeling; to encourage the group to be more aware of each member of the group.
Description- The group is seated and it is explained to them that they will have a group task – tot
count to 20 (or 15 if there are less people in the group) in consecutive order, without repeating
one number and without 2 people saying the same number at the same time- if this happens then
the counting starts again from 1- the trick is that they have to do that with their eyes closed and no
time is allocated for discussion or strategizing – once the instructions are clear they will be asked
to close their eyes and whenever they are ready to start.
If the group asks questions related to potential strategies or if they are allowed this or that- just
explain that everything they need to know has already been told and they could start at any time.
Depending on the group there will be different times in which they manage to get to the number.
You can also optionally tell them that the number given is just the minimum and they can continue
until they make a mistake.
Debriefing/Processing the activity
Suggestion of questions to be used for the discussion after they finish the task (these are more
for the starting of the discussion – later depending on their answers you can focus on specific
aspects more)
What kind of feelings did you experience during the counting?
How did you manage to get to this result?
What were the key elements for achieving your aim in this exercise?
Did everybody say a number?
What is needed when you don’t have time to strategize in order to move forwards in
whatever you need to achieve? How do you cope with potential negative feelings that might
come along?
After the debriefing you can mention that, in Forum Theatre – especially because there is a lot
of unknown (mostly due to the fact that the public changes the story) the FT team needs to be
synchronized and to feel each other in order to react to the changes coming from outside- and
that’s why we have chosen this specific activity.
8- Final comments, announcements – 5 minutes
Time to mention: details about the next meeting, where, when it will take place; what will
happen next – if they have any questions/ remarks.
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2- Intro to the Forum Theatre Method and
Preparatory Exercises
The assumption made when the
curriculum was developed was that the group
is new to Forum Theatre and this aspect needs
to be carefully addressed. Being a complex
method, people usually understand it fully
only when they see it in practice. Even if you
provide lots of details and explanations in
advance (before they see it in real life), it often
makes people just more confused than when
they know just a little bit. In this session we
propose 3 alternative approaches of how to
introduce the method to the group so they can
have an idea of what they are embarking on.
Sometimes it is also possible that
some of the group members have been in the
public in some FT performance, or they have
worked with some other organizations with
the method. In those cases this session should
provide the same basis for the whole group-
for the purely new people to have an idea of
what the method is about and for the others to
actually have the idea of how the method will
be approached in this group (it might happen
that they have a different experience with the
method- as you know from the FT presentation
chapter there are many approaches).