7. Presuppositions
3.2. Drama: as a means of conscientisation
3.2.3 Freire's philosophy and methodology
3.2.4.2 Boal'smethodology in Community Theatre
Boal outlines the following four stages for transforming the spectator into an actor:
Stage one: Knowing the body
In this stage, people are sensitively encouraged to use that which they are most familiar with _ their bodies. Through a series of relevant and appropriate exercises, they are able to discover their bodies and their limitations and possibilities. And because theatre may appear foreign to some people, Boal suggests that the initial "knowing the body" stage should deliberately avoid the imposition oftheatrical techniques and theatre language that most people are unfamiliar with.
This stage should aim at raising people's levels ofconsciousness with regards to their bodies and their capabilities.
.From Boal's examples of disjunctive exercises, the following two stand out as unconventional but effective exercises:
• slow motion race, aimed at getting participants to run as slowly as they can, and at the same time try to maintain their balance at various levels ofmovement, without standing still at any point in the race. The last participant who reaches the finishing line is the wmner.
• hypnosis, aimed at getting participants to assume different bodily positions from those they are familiar with in their daily lives.
The maintenance of a creative and democratic atmosphere is important at every stage. One way of getting participants to further commit themselves to the planned activities is by asking them to describe their experience of the activity they were involved in or to contribute any exercises which they knew of and which they felt were relevant to the present activity. An acknowledgement and interest in participants' contributions will further encourage them to engage themselves more fully in future activities (1985: 126-130).
Stage two: Making the body expressive
This stage focuses on developing the body to be more expressive.Inmost cases, people are used to verbal expression only, which leaves the body's ability to express itself in an undeveloped state. Like stage one, a series of exercises can help participants to use their bodies for self- expression. Participants are encouraged to focus on play instead of interpreting the characters whom they play. Here too, participants should be encouraged to create other exercises / games ofsimilar appropriateness. These exercises should not be aimed at competitively reaching correct answers or solutions, but should focus on participants trying to use their bodies to express their characters. An example ofthis could be, trying to get participants to show that they are different animals in search of their mates, without making any animal sounds or verbal communication.
Without realizing it, participants will be engaged in what is known to us as "dramatic performance" (1985: 130-1).
Stage three: The theatre as language
Unlike stages one and two, which focuses on the knowledge and use ofparticipants' bodies, this stage is the actual practice of theatre as a language for the oppressed. Boal uses three forms of theatre, namely:
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Simultaneous Dramaturgy
Inthis type of dramaturgy, a short rehearsed scene which deals with a theme / issue that affects the spectators present is presented. The scene is developed to the point where the . protagonist has to make a decision. When this crisis point is reached, the audience are asked to provide possible solutions. On stage, the performers would improvise each of the suggestions provided by the audience. Thus, the discussion itself is not made in verbal form, but in theatrical form, and this process happens simultaneously. This form of theatre usually breaks down the barrier that exists between the conventional actor and spectator. The actor must be willing to change his actions almost simultaneously without protesting, while the spectator has the right and the freedom to give his version of a solution in its "bare-truth" form (1985: 132-4).
Image Theatre
This form oftheatre requires more direct participation from the spectator. The spectator expresses his views on a common theme or issue. The participant is asked to express his opinions in a non-verbal form, that is, in theatrical form, whereby he sculptures the bodies of other participants in the group. The group sculpture should reveal his opinions on the issue at hand. Only after the sculpture is made, can he (the spectator-sculptor) verbally question the others concerning his opinion. The sculpture can be modified in part or as a whole. When the group reaches an agreement on their sculptured image as being a good enough portrayal of their problem, the spectator-sculptor is asked to construct the following three images:
a) the actual image b) the ideal image c) the transitional image
Each person has a chance ofproposing ways to change the actual situation ofoppression to ideal images oftheir choice. Special attention is given to the transitional image as this image may be one of the most difficult to come up with in comparison to the previous two images. This form of theatre can be stimulating because it is easy to practice and through it, thought is made more visible and concrete (1985: 135-9).
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Forum TheatreBoal (1995) maintains that forum theatre is not didactic, but pedagogic because of the element of collective learning present in it. In this fonn of theatre, the spectator intervenes directly into the dramatic action and acts, thereby changing the actions.
Participants are required to firstly tell a story containing a common problem. A short skit is improvised around that problem and a possible solution is presented. After the skit is perfonned, participants are asked if they agree with the solution that was presented.
Those who disagree are asked to replace any actor on stage and to continue the actions as appropriate to them. Participants are not allowed to dictate to others what should be done but must engage themselves in the dramatic activity. Anyone may suggest solutions but only in action on the stage.
In forum theatre, the spectators should be given an opportunity to tryall their ideas in practice. While engaging oneself in dramatic, fictional activity, the spectator-actor is practising a real act. This practice oftheatrical fonn can create in the spectator a need to take real action so that he may fulfil a sense of incompleteness within himself (1985:
139-142).
Stage four: The theatre as discourse
This stage focuses on the use of simple fonns in which the spectator-actor creates "spectacles"
according to his specific need. Some of these are:
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the newspaper theatre which consists of several simple techniques whereby daily news items are transfonned into theatrical perfonnances;
the invisible theatre which consists of a scene presented in a place other than the theatre, such as the market-place or a taxi rank. The people who witness these perfonned scenes are taken by surprise as they were there by chance. People automatically congregate around these perfonnances and unconsciously involve themselves in the presentation.
The impact created by this fonn oftheatre is far more powerful because the environment and the atmosphere within which it is perfonned helps liberate the theatrical energy;
breaking the repression, a technique which requires participants to remember moments when they felt repressed and acted against their own free-will. This story is dramatised by other participants chosen by the story-teller. The spectator-participants come out of their experience feeling enriched by this rehearsal to resist oppression (1985: 142-150).
Inall ofthe above forms oftheatre, one knows before hand how the experiments will begin but the [mal scene is never known until that moment when it is presented in a form that people can easily identify with - in popular form.