Legislative Theatre: Using Performance to Make Politics (Augusto Boal) - Softcover

Boal, Augusto

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0415182417 ISBN 13: 9780415182416

Publisher: Routledge, 1998

Synopsis

Augusto Boal's reputation is now moving beyond the realms of theatre and drama therapy, bringing him to the attention of a wider public. Legislative Theatre is the latest and most remarkable stage in his work. 'Legislative Theatre' is an attempt to use Boal's method of 'Forum Theatre' within a political system to create a truer form of democracy. It is an extraordinary experiment in the potential of theatre to affect social change.
At the heart of his method of Forum Theatre is the dual meaning of the verb 'to act': to perform and to take action. Forum Theatre invites members of the audience to take the stage and decide the outcome, becoming an integral part of the performance. As a politician in his native Rio de Janeiro, Boal used Forum Theatre to motivate the local populace in generating relevant legislation. In Legislative Theatre Boal creates new, theatrical, and truly revolutionary ways of involving everyone in the democratic process.
This book includes:
* a full explanation of the genesis and principles of Legislative Theatre
* a description of the process in operation in Rio
* Boal's essays, speeches and lectures on popular theatre, Paolo Freire, cultural activism, the point of playwrighting, and much else besides.

About this title

Review

""You have achieved what Brecht only dreamt of and wrote about: making a "useful theatre that is entertaining, fun and instructive. It is a different kind of theatre -- a kind of social therapy... it focuses the mind, relaxes the spirit, and gives people a new handle on their situations..""
-Richard Schechner on Boal

From the Publisher

Can Performance Influence Politics?
Can Theatre Influence Politics?

"Boal has achieved what Brecht only dreamt of and wrote about: making useful theatre that is entertaining, fun, and instructive. It is a different kind of theatre -- a kind of social theatre...it focuses on the mind, relaxes the spirit, and gives people a new handle on their situations." -- Richard Schechner, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University

Legislative Theatre

Using Performance to Make Politics

Augusto Boal

Augusto Boal -- Brazilian dramaturg, theorist, writer, teacher and politician -- has long been creating a stir in both the worlds of theatre and politics simply by fusing the two together in his own unique and revolutionary way. LEGISLATIVE THEATRE: Using Performance to Make Politics (Routledge; January 25, 1999; $22.99; Trade Paperback Original) is the latest stage in the remarkable Augusto Boal project. This work is an attempt to use theatre in a political context to create a truer form of democracy -- a method to engage the populace. LEGISLATIVE THEATRE is an extraordinary experiment in the potential of theatre to effect social change.

At the heart of Boal's method of Forum Theatre -- which is already used in diverse contexts -- is the dual meaning of the verb "to act": to perform and take action. In LEGISLATIVE THEATRE, he takes one stage further his concept of the "spect-actor" -- the spectator who intervenes in an unresolved scenario on stage and attempts to break a depicted cycle of oppression. As a politician in his native Rio de Janeiro, Boal demonstrated that his ideas of mixing theatre and politics could generate needed legislation and social change.

This amazing work includes full explanation of the development and principles of legislative theatre and a description of the process in operation in Rio. Also included are essays, speeches, and lectures on Popular Theatre, Paolo Friere, cultural activism, and the point of playwrighting that Boal has written since his involvement with Brazilian Parliament. -- more --

LEGISLATIVE THEATRE is an insightful handbook for anyone interested in the possibilities of social change through theatre.

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"Hamlet says in his famous speech to the actors that theatre is a mirror in which may be seen the true image of nature, of reality. I wanted to penetrate this mirror to transform the image I saw in it and to bring that transformed image back to reality: to realize the image of my desire. I wanted it to be possible for the spectators in the Forum Theatre to transgress, to break the conventions, to enter the mirror of a theatrical fiction, rehearse forms of struggle and then return to reality with the images of their desire. This discontent was the genesis of the Legislative Theatre in which the citizen makes the law through the legislator." -- Augusto Boal

About the Author: Augusto Boal is a theatre director, dramatist, theorist, writer, and teacher. He is the founder of the international movement 'Theatre of the Oppressed' and was Vereador (Member of Parliament) for Rio de Janiero from 1993 to 1996. He is the author of Theatre of the Oppressed, Games for Actors and Non-Actors, and Rainbow of Desire. He lives in Rio de Janiero.

About the Translator: Adrian Jackson is Associate Director of the London Bubble Theatre Company, Artistic Director of Cardboard Citizens, and a freelance director and teacher.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0415182417
• ISBN 13: 9780415182416
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272