For our fourth weekend, we had another guest facilitator. Mary came to us from Crooked House Theatre Company in Kildare. This weekend, Mary took us through topics and techniques of a genre of theatre called Theatre of the Oppressed.
Mary explained a bit of the rich history of this genre, which started with the work of Augosto Boal in the early 1970's in Brazil. Theatre of the Oppressed started when Boal, a Worker's Party activist, performed plays about the injustices farmers faced in Brazil to actual farmers in Brazil. Theatre of the Oppressed has become a type of rehearsal theatre, where the actors are the people from the areas of the oppression being addressed, in which the oppressed peoples act out solutions and strategies to better their situation.
To get the group comfortable with theatre work, we started out with many entertaining warm-ups
In one exercise, Mary walked around the outside of the seated group. Mary asked us to observe the body language of each seated person as Mary passed behind them. We discussed Focus, and how expecting something can make a person act or react strangely. Everyone was focused on Mary walking around the group, and when Mary came close to passing behind someone, they generally would exhibit particular body language, like tensing their bodies or even closing their eyes, momentarily. We discussed the insecurities we feel when being focused on. We all became more aware of our body language after this brief exercise.
To get energized, the group stood in a circle with one chair in between each person, and one person in the middle of the circle. The person in the middle needed to grab an open spot when pairs from around the circle switched spots, usually by running across the circle. People in the periphery needed to swap spots by consenting silently with someone across the circle, usually with head shakes or certain eye contact. After many turns, everyone had the experience of standing in the middle and seeking a spot in the circle. The point of this game was to avoid focus. The game was definitely energizing!
Then the group split into two groups to practice Image Theatre. Image Theatre is when the participants' bodies are the only materials with which to create images. Usually, the groups needed to express objects, like "Something inanimate you see in nature, An object from the kitchen you usually don't think about," etc. For example, as pictured above, the participants needed to figure out how to position their bodies to collectively create an "airplane"...
A rolling pin...
A seashell...
A mountain...
And to even express concepts. Concepts are harder to depict with the participants' bodies in Image Theatre, because participants first usually need to debunk the images audiences might think of when attempting to portray a concept like "Violence." Mary explained the difference between making the form of a gun when depicting Violence--the gun as an image is not violent, the intentions of people are what make the gun a tool of violence.
One group attempted to depict "Sexism." The other group attempted to depict "Corruption." This group did an excellent job in using their number of participants as spots along a possible trail of Corruption. As pictured above, the group created a dynamic line that started with a very low, fallen figure with an out-turned hand. At the opposite end was a standing and smiling figure shaking an in-between figure's hand. The in-between figure was connected to a few others, whose faces were turned down and their hands were reaching into each other's hands. Those figures in the middle of the line seemed to be taking and passing something, which travelled all the way to the smiling and standing figure. It was easy for the observing group to assume that the figures were passing money, or resources, from the bottom of a chain to the top. It was easy for the observing group to guess almost right away that the image was of "Corruption." The group creating the image did a great job at expressing the image through depicted actions, rather than objects, for a change.
"Corruption," as seen from the back.
In our last exercise of Image Theatre, the group broke into pairs to try a type of Image Theatre called "Sculpting." Sculpting essentially involves one partner sculpting the other into whatever image they aim to express. One partner was to sculpt their partner into an image of "victory." The sculpting partner could do so by moving their partners limbs and explaining how to hold facial expressions. The sculpting partner has to manipulate their partner to show exactly what they mean and the partner being sculpted cannot influence the image. The can only do what their sculpting partner instructs them to do. Then, the partners switch. The second sculptor needed to sculpt their partner into an image of "powerless."
One pair demonstrated a particularly disturbing representation of "power" and "powerless." The image of "power" was sculpted like a figure stomping the ground. The image of "powerless" was sculpted like a figure crouching on the ground. When positioned together, the image created "oppression," as pictured above. Putting the two sculptures together created a very strong image of oppression and the opposition of power and the powerless. While very serious, this activity was helpful for the group to understand how Image Theatre can be used to address more sensitive topics.
After Image Theatre, we began plans for our two plays for Theatre of the Oppressed. On the second day of the weekend, we would plan, rehearse, perform, and alter our plays in the participatory fashion of Theatre of the Oppressed.
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