Respond to the prompt below in no more than 200 words. Boal says: “the theatre of the oppressed is an unfinished theatre.” What does this mean? Why is it “unfinished”?
The Theatre of the Oppressed was created by Boal to provide people with the opportunity to deal with and potentially work out solutions to problems in their lives and in society. Boal specified these problems affecting the people as societal and political ones. Since the function of Boal’s theatre was based on issues that are constantly changing, it made sense for the theatre to adjust to those changes, thus being referred to as unfinished. Boal wanted people to recognize the core issues of these political and societal problems that plagued their lives. For this reason, Boal chose to structure the exercises in his theatre so that they could always be adjusted or added on to in accordance with who and why was going to make use of them. Boal created a basic pattern that people could copy and change as they saw fit.
An important concept surrounding the Theatre of the Oppressed would be the collaborative aspect of it. Not only did Boal structure the Theatre of the Oppressed in a way that would make it easy for people to make adjustments but because he wanted to encourage people to get involved. The Theatre of the Oppressed was, after all, considered the people’s theatre. Their contribution to the techniques and exercises implemented in it were just as important as the ones Boal came up with. This aspect of the Theatre of the Oppressed highlights how even those involved are not a fixed structure. People from different backgrounds and ages will continue adding to the Theatre of the Oppressed.
Another thing to note regarding why the Theatre of the Oppressed is unfinished or lacks a fixed structure would be the changing of time. Boal was able to recognize that if he had given the Theatre of the Oppressed a ‘fixed’ structure, it would not accomplish much beyond his time. The reason being that what may have worked for him during one specific moment in human history might not work for someone twenty years down the line. Boal also had to take into account setting and culture. He had to recognize that if he wanted the Theatre of the Oppressed to work, it had to work in different geographical and cultural settings from his. This is why there is such a huge emphasis on the Theatre of the Oppressed being the people’s theatre. Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed will not look the same everywhere. It will always be forever changing and will always be referred to as unfinished.
Sources
Boal, Augusto. “Experiments with the People’s Theater in Peru.” Theatre of the Oppressed, ProQuest Ebook Central, 2019, pp. 120–156.
