Solo Theater Piece
10/11/2020-Starting the theorist research on context
This week, I decided who I am going to do my theorist research for the Solo theater piece on: Augusto Boal(1931-2009), who was a Brazilian theater practitioner, theorist, and activist, and he founded the Theatre of the Oppressed. I chose him as the theorist because I want to discover into the Theatre of the Oppressed that contained a lot of new theater techniques, and actively took part in social changes. Augusto Boal's works always focused on fighting the oppression that people faced through demonstrating representations of the oppressed facing social and economical problems. He encouraged direct reactions from the audience through techniques such as invisible theater. During his time at the University of Brazil, he became strongly engaged in theater and chemistry and met the Brazilian playwright Nelson Rodrigues. Later when he moved to Columbia University in New York in 1952 to continue studying Chemical Engineering and theater, he met a critic called John Gassner, who introduced theater techniques of Stanislavski and Brecht to Boal and suggested Boal relate with theater groups such as the Black Experimental Theatre. These experiences helped to form his pursuits of asking for social changes and portray solutions for the oppressed proletariats. Just like Stanislavski, Augusto promoted the understanding of inner emotion of the characters to portray "the final form of the actor’s interpretation".(Smith) He then staged his first two original plays in 1955 called The Horse and the Saint and The House Across the Street. In the exploration on next week, I would continue to research on his theoretical, cultural, and history context.
10/16/2020-Continue to research on the Context of the Theatre Theorist
Continued where I left of in the last journal, Augusto Boal started to work in the Arena Theatre of São Paulo in Brazil in 1956. ("Augusto Boal") In there, he started to develop his own theater theory that is applicable to Brazil taking inspirations from Stanislavski. In the late 1960s, he used a Living Newspaper theatre approach(Newspaper theater) and created "Invisible Theatre pieces in the streets of Brazil" as well as holding performances in unions, churches, factories. (Eckersley) Because of the changes in power and instability in Brazil around the 1964 Brazilian coup d'état and the increasing influence of Augusto's left-wing thought as a cultural activist, the military junta arrested Augusto in 1971, and Augusto was "exiled to Argentina, then self-exiled to Europe."(Paterson) During this period of time, he established many the Theatre of the Oppressed centers and made the tradition internationally with his revolutionary approaches. He exchanged ideas closely with the Brazilian educator and philosopher Paulo Freire who was also in his exile and was known for his book "Pedagogy of the Oppressed"(1968). Although through different methodologies, they both had the idea of revealing oppression, and not being afraid of liberation. During his exile, he gained more insights about the Brazilian military regime and imported his experience's reflection into the development of the theater of the oppressed. His theater ideas focused more and more on audience's interactions for educational purposes and developed important theater techniques of Image Theatre and Forum theatre concept along the way.
Next week, I would discuss more about the context of the theorist.
Next week, I would discuss more about the context of the theorist.
10/23/2020-Finishing the Context of the Theatre Theorist
At this point, I further researched into the context of the theorist for my solo project. Augusto believed that the audience shouldn't just be spectators because the ideas only flow in one way for performances, instead, the audience should be "spect-actors" who can take part in the conversations of finding the social solutions to the oppressions and incorporate them into the exercise in real life. (Baraúna) The theatrical entertainer(like a session organizer), called "The Joker", on the other hand, was developed when he was in the Arena Theatre. (Robinson) The Joker is the conductor of the activities with theatrical and pedagogic functions such as Brechtian estrangement(the alienation effect, proposed by Bertolt Brecht) and intercontextual translation(explanation of current relevance as well as the context).
After Boal's exile of 14 years, Boal returned to Brazil in 1986. He later served on Rio de Janeiro’s city council from 1992 to 1996 and expanded his political ideas. Through the Theater of the Oppressed, he facilitated his Legislative theatre movement and advocated his explorations of freedom(Paterson). His son Julian Boal inherited his theory and furthered the theater tradition too.
Augusto Boal developed and used methods like Newspaper Theatre, Image Theatre, Forum Theatre, Invisible Theatre, and Legislative Theatre for social changes. I decided to choose Newspaper Theatre for my theatrical aspect on the project because of its relevance to current events as well as its feasibility(It's the only theatrical aspect that can be demonstrated by only one person.) Moving forward, I will expand my knowledge upon Newspaper theater as well as finding my applications on this project.
After Boal's exile of 14 years, Boal returned to Brazil in 1986. He later served on Rio de Janeiro’s city council from 1992 to 1996 and expanded his political ideas. Through the Theater of the Oppressed, he facilitated his Legislative theatre movement and advocated his explorations of freedom(Paterson). His son Julian Boal inherited his theory and furthered the theater tradition too.
Augusto Boal developed and used methods like Newspaper Theatre, Image Theatre, Forum Theatre, Invisible Theatre, and Legislative Theatre for social changes. I decided to choose Newspaper Theatre for my theatrical aspect on the project because of its relevance to current events as well as its feasibility(It's the only theatrical aspect that can be demonstrated by only one person.) Moving forward, I will expand my knowledge upon Newspaper theater as well as finding my applications on this project.
10/30/2020-Aspect of the theory for my solo project.
This week, I introduced my project to my peers and get a better understanding on where to improve my project as well as the direction it is going. I explored further into the theatrical aspect I chose(Newspaper Theater of the Theater of the Oppressed), and this is what I found at this point:
Augusto viewed "the theater as language, capable of being utilized by any person", and the use of the poetics of the oppressed provided as an expressing, discovering, and thinking tool both physically and mentally. (Bal 121) The action taken by a spectator(actor) is trained by himself, and the spectator internally tries out solutions too. Augusto compared theater with using photography as a language too. Theater communicates with the audience not through a camera, but through ourselves. The "first word of theatrical vocabulary is the human body".(Bal 125) In Augusto's theory, after controlling our bodies to become more expressive, we will be able to transform ourselves from the position of a spectator of the world to a storyteller on stage as a freed actor. Through that, the actor "is changed from a witness into a protagonist."(Bal 126)
This process of this transformation from the spectator to an actor can be outlined with four stages according to Boal. Newspaper Theater is one of the products from applying to the four stages.
The first stage is called "Knowing the Body."(Bal 126) It contains a series of feasible exercises to understand their bodies as well as their relations with theater. This step assists people to notice the influence of their "work or social status" on their bodies. (Bal 127) This influence takes place physically called "muscular alienation", meaning that the natural postures and muscle characteristics of the spectator are pre-determined by their living situations. The exercises in the first stage analyze and study "the muscular structure of the participants" to free the spectator from his/her muscular structures that were determined by his/her jobs and status. (P128) By being conscious of our own muscular structures and disjoint them, a spectator could then "assemble structures characteristic of other professions and social classes", therefore earning the ability to embody other characters physically.
I find it interesting how Augusto pointed out that theater can be used as a language just like other languages. In the following week, I would introduce a theatrical exercise/game to the class for experiencing the theories first handed with deeper understanding. I will continue research the rest of the stages of getting to Newspaper theater according to Augusto Bal's theories.
Augusto viewed "the theater as language, capable of being utilized by any person", and the use of the poetics of the oppressed provided as an expressing, discovering, and thinking tool both physically and mentally. (Bal 121) The action taken by a spectator(actor) is trained by himself, and the spectator internally tries out solutions too. Augusto compared theater with using photography as a language too. Theater communicates with the audience not through a camera, but through ourselves. The "first word of theatrical vocabulary is the human body".(Bal 125) In Augusto's theory, after controlling our bodies to become more expressive, we will be able to transform ourselves from the position of a spectator of the world to a storyteller on stage as a freed actor. Through that, the actor "is changed from a witness into a protagonist."(Bal 126)
This process of this transformation from the spectator to an actor can be outlined with four stages according to Boal. Newspaper Theater is one of the products from applying to the four stages.
The first stage is called "Knowing the Body."(Bal 126) It contains a series of feasible exercises to understand their bodies as well as their relations with theater. This step assists people to notice the influence of their "work or social status" on their bodies. (Bal 127) This influence takes place physically called "muscular alienation", meaning that the natural postures and muscle characteristics of the spectator are pre-determined by their living situations. The exercises in the first stage analyze and study "the muscular structure of the participants" to free the spectator from his/her muscular structures that were determined by his/her jobs and status. (P128) By being conscious of our own muscular structures and disjoint them, a spectator could then "assemble structures characteristic of other professions and social classes", therefore earning the ability to embody other characters physically.
I find it interesting how Augusto pointed out that theater can be used as a language just like other languages. In the following week, I would introduce a theatrical exercise/game to the class for experiencing the theories first handed with deeper understanding. I will continue research the rest of the stages of getting to Newspaper theater according to Augusto Bal's theories.
11/4/2020-End of the mod, continue researching the aspects
This week, I introduced my theatrical exercise Columbian Hypnosis to the class. The exercise demonstrates how Augusto Bal used some exercises to let the actors be aware of using the muscles that they were not familiar using with. Columbian Hypnosis is in the "Knowing the Body" stage of Augusto's theory. It works by some people move their limbs while others follow the same distance and position of the movements.
I further my research on the aspect too: The second stage is called "Making the body expressive". (Bal 130) It is to exercise the ability to express oneself through the body instead of only words. Augusto explored that through games that people engage to "play" in order to "interpret" characters better. (Bal 130)
The third stage is called "The Theater as Language". It is divided into three parts.
The first degree is called Simultaneous dramaturgy. For instance, when the actors perform a scene ("improvise with the aid of a script prepared", or "compose the scene directly"), they advance the scene until the main issue of the scene reaches its peak and requires a solution. (Bal 132) Then, the actors ask the audience for solutions to the problem proposed. As the audience suggests the solutions, the actors immediately improvise out the advice. In this process, the audience is allowed to interrupt the performance "to correct the actions or words of the actors." (Bal 132) Therefore, the audience is not restricted in the role of a spectator, instead, the audience takes part in the creation of the performance with the performers simultaneously. The exchanges of ideas fully take place in a theatrical form.
Moving on, I will finish my exploration of the aspects and start practical exploration on the Newspaper Theater.
I further my research on the aspect too: The second stage is called "Making the body expressive". (Bal 130) It is to exercise the ability to express oneself through the body instead of only words. Augusto explored that through games that people engage to "play" in order to "interpret" characters better. (Bal 130)
The third stage is called "The Theater as Language". It is divided into three parts.
The first degree is called Simultaneous dramaturgy. For instance, when the actors perform a scene ("improvise with the aid of a script prepared", or "compose the scene directly"), they advance the scene until the main issue of the scene reaches its peak and requires a solution. (Bal 132) Then, the actors ask the audience for solutions to the problem proposed. As the audience suggests the solutions, the actors immediately improvise out the advice. In this process, the audience is allowed to interrupt the performance "to correct the actions or words of the actors." (Bal 132) Therefore, the audience is not restricted in the role of a spectator, instead, the audience takes part in the creation of the performance with the performers simultaneously. The exchanges of ideas fully take place in a theatrical form.
Moving on, I will finish my exploration of the aspects and start practical exploration on the Newspaper Theater.
Context of the Theatre Theorist formal Journal
Augusto Boal(1931-2009) was a Brazilian theater practitioner, theorist, and activist who founded the Theatre of the Oppressed. (Eckersley) His works always focused on fighting the oppression that people faced through demonstrating representations of the oppressed facing social and economical problems. He encouraged direct reactions from the audience through techniques such as invisible theater. During his time at the University of Brazil, he became strongly engaged in theater and chemistry and met the Brazilian playwright Nelson Rodrigues. ("Augusto Boal"). Later when he moved to Columbia University in New York in 1952 to continue studying Chemical Engineering and theater, he met a critic called John Gassner, who introduced theater techniques of Stanislavski and Brecht to Boal and suggested Boal relate with theater groups such as the Black Experimental Theatre. These experiences helped to form his pursuits of asking for social changes and portray solutions for the oppressed proletariats. (Teodo) Just like Stanislavski, Augusto promoted the understanding of the inner emotion of the characters to portray "the final form of the actor’s interpretation".(Smith) He then staged his first two original plays in 1955 called The Horse and the Saint and The House Across the Street.
In 1956, he started to work in the Arena Theatre of São Paulo in Brazil. ("Augusto Boal") In there, he started to develop his own theater theory that is applicable to Brazil taking inspirations from Stanislavski. In the late 1960s, he used a Living Newspaper theatre approach(Newspaper theater) and created "Invisible Theatre pieces in the streets of Brazil" as well as holding performances in unions, churches, factories. (Eckersley) Because of the changes in power and instability in Brazil around the 1964 Brazilian coup d'état and the increasing influence of Augusto's left-wing thought as a cultural activist, the military junta arrested Augusto in 1971, and Augusto was "exiled to Argentina, then self-exiled to Europe."(Paterson) During this period of time, he established many the Theatre of the Oppressed centers and made the tradition internationally with his revolutionary approaches. He exchanged ideas closely with the Brazilian educator and philosopher Paulo Freire who was also in his exile and was known for his book "Pedagogy of the Oppressed"(1968). Although through different methodologies, they both had the idea of revealing oppression, and not being afraid of liberation. During his exile, he gained more insights about the Brazilian military regime and imported his experience's reflection into the development of the theater of the oppressed. His theater ideas focused more and more on audience's interactions for educational purposes and developed important theater techniques of Image Theatre and Forum theatre concept along the way. Augusto believed that the audience shouldn't just be spectators because the ideas only flow in one way for performances, instead, the audience should be "spect-actors" who can take part in the conversations of finding the social solutions to the oppressions and incorporate them into the exercise in real life. (Baraúna) The theatrical entertainer(like a session organizer), called "The Joker", on the other hand, was developed when he was in the Arena Theatre. (Robinson) The Joker is the conductor of the activities with theatrical and pedagogic functions such as Brechtian estrangement(the alienation effect, proposed by Bertolt Brecht) and intercontextual translation(explanation of current relevance as well as the context).
After Boal's exile of 14 years, Boal returned to Brazil in 1986. He later served on Rio de Janeiro’s city council from 1992 to 1996 and expanded his political ideas. Through the Theater of the Oppressed, he facilitated his Legislative theatre movement and advocated his explorations of freedom(Paterson). His son Julian Boal inherited his theory and furthered the theater tradition too.
In 1956, he started to work in the Arena Theatre of São Paulo in Brazil. ("Augusto Boal") In there, he started to develop his own theater theory that is applicable to Brazil taking inspirations from Stanislavski. In the late 1960s, he used a Living Newspaper theatre approach(Newspaper theater) and created "Invisible Theatre pieces in the streets of Brazil" as well as holding performances in unions, churches, factories. (Eckersley) Because of the changes in power and instability in Brazil around the 1964 Brazilian coup d'état and the increasing influence of Augusto's left-wing thought as a cultural activist, the military junta arrested Augusto in 1971, and Augusto was "exiled to Argentina, then self-exiled to Europe."(Paterson) During this period of time, he established many the Theatre of the Oppressed centers and made the tradition internationally with his revolutionary approaches. He exchanged ideas closely with the Brazilian educator and philosopher Paulo Freire who was also in his exile and was known for his book "Pedagogy of the Oppressed"(1968). Although through different methodologies, they both had the idea of revealing oppression, and not being afraid of liberation. During his exile, he gained more insights about the Brazilian military regime and imported his experience's reflection into the development of the theater of the oppressed. His theater ideas focused more and more on audience's interactions for educational purposes and developed important theater techniques of Image Theatre and Forum theatre concept along the way. Augusto believed that the audience shouldn't just be spectators because the ideas only flow in one way for performances, instead, the audience should be "spect-actors" who can take part in the conversations of finding the social solutions to the oppressions and incorporate them into the exercise in real life. (Baraúna) The theatrical entertainer(like a session organizer), called "The Joker", on the other hand, was developed when he was in the Arena Theatre. (Robinson) The Joker is the conductor of the activities with theatrical and pedagogic functions such as Brechtian estrangement(the alienation effect, proposed by Bertolt Brecht) and intercontextual translation(explanation of current relevance as well as the context).
After Boal's exile of 14 years, Boal returned to Brazil in 1986. He later served on Rio de Janeiro’s city council from 1992 to 1996 and expanded his political ideas. Through the Theater of the Oppressed, he facilitated his Legislative theatre movement and advocated his explorations of freedom(Paterson). His son Julian Boal inherited his theory and furthered the theater tradition too.
Aspect of the Theory formal Journal
Augusto Boal developed and used methods like Newspaper Theatre, Image Theatre, Forum Theatre, Invisible Theatre, and Legislative Theatre for social changes. I decided to choose Newspaper Theatre for my theatrical aspect to focus on the project because of its relevance to current events as well as its feasibility(It's the only theatrical aspect that can be demonstrated by only one person.)
Newspaper Theatre was initially developed during his time with "the Nucleus Group of the Arena Theater of San Paulo" in Brazil inspired by Paulo Freire's theory. (Bal 143) Augusto later continued his experiments "in People's Theater in Peru" after he was exiled. (Bal 120)
Augusto viewed "the theater as language, capable of being utilized by any person", and the use of the poetics of the oppressed provided as an expression, discovering, and thinking tool both physically and mentally. (Bal 121) The action taken by a spectator(actor) is trained by himself, and the spectator internally tries out solutions too. Augusto compared theater with using photography as a language too. Theater communicates with the audience not through a camera, but through ourselves. The "first word of theatrical vocabulary is the human body".(Bal 125) In Augusto's theory, after controlling our bodies to become more expressive, we will be able to transform ourselves from the position of a spectator of the world to a storyteller on stage as a freed actor. Through that, the actor "is changed from a witness into a protagonist."(Bal 126)
This process of this transformation from the spectator to an actor can be outlined with four stages according to Boal. Newspaper Theater is one of the products from applying to the four stages.
The first stage is called "Knowing the Body."(Bal 126) It contains a series of feasible exercises to understand their bodies as well as their relations with theater. This step assists people to notice the influence of their "work or social status" on their bodies. (Bal 127) This influence takes place physically called "muscular alienation", meaning that the natural postures and muscle characteristics of the spectator are pre-determined by their living situations. The exercises in the first stage analyze and study "the muscular structure of the participants" to free the spectator from his/her muscular structures that were determined by his/her jobs and status. (P128) By being conscious of our own muscular structures and disjoint them, a spectator could then "assemble structures characteristic of other professions and social classes", therefore earning the ability to embody other characters physically.
The second stage is called "Making the body expressive". (Bal 130) It is to exercise the ability to express oneself through the body instead of only words. Through theatrical language, the opinions will be visualized and avoid the distortions that occur in regular vocal languages with people's different perceptions of the same words. Augusto explored that through games that people engage to "play" in order to "interpret" characters better. (Bal 130)
The third stage is called "The Theater as Language". (Bal 131) It is divided into three parts.
The first degree is called Simultaneous dramaturgy. For instance, when the actors perform a scene ("improvise with the aid of a script prepared", or "compose the scene directly"), they advance the scene until the main issue of the scene reaches its peak and requires a solution. (Bal 132) Then, the actors ask the audience for solutions to the problem proposed. As the audience suggests the solutions, the actors immediately improvise out the advice. In this process, the audience is allowed to interrupt the performance "to correct the actions or words of the actors." (Bal 132) Therefore, the audience is not restricted in the role of a spectator, instead, the audience takes part in the creation of the performance with the performers simultaneously. The exchanges of ideas fully take place in a theatrical form, and the performances are not fixed without barriers between the actors and the audience. The actors as the interpreters aim to "interpret the group." (Bal 134)
The second degree is Image theater. The spectators(the audience) now take the role of sculptures. They give their own opinion on the given theme discussed through theatrical language--sculpting the whole group of participants on specific positions and expressions. Each view on the themes mainly gets the sculpted grouping three times: an "actual image" of the current situation, an "ideal image" as the desired result, and a "transitional image" as the proposed solution via demonstrating this potential transformation. (Bal 135) In the process, one person may disagree with another. In this case, they act out the imagery of another solution. Therefore, discussions are initiated while the people deliver their own opinions and responses through sculpting the group. Not only can thoughts be visualized and exchanged in this degree, but people can understand their views and blindspots better through planning out the scenarios.
The third degree is Forum theater. The participants perform a skit either rehearsed or improvised to depict a social or political problem "and the solution intended for discussion." (Bal 139) After the skit is presented, people who disagree with the solution proposed will have "the right to replace any actor and lead the action in the direction that seems to him most appropriate." (Bal 139) The person who intervened continues the actions of the replaced actor until the end of his/her solution while the rest of the group responds to the new situation. (As if they are the same character with alternative decisions.) The participants get to experience and discuss the character's dilemma, and try out their solutions first-handed. To some extent, the practice is "a rehearsal of revolution" because it gives people concrete experience on the seeking of changes and to consider the feasibility of these actions. (Bal 141)
The fourth stage of the Theater of the Oppressed is named "The Theater as a Discourse." (Bal 142) Augusto Bal agreed with George Ikishawa that the bourgeois theater presents the spectacle-theater which embodies their world and that the oppressed classes produce theater along with their ways like rehearsals because they "do not know yet what their world will be like." (Bal 142) Additionally, Bal pointed out that theater can portray "images of transition", and that people can try "more 'finished' forms if theater" too. (Bal 142) These forms include Newspaper theater, Invisible theater, Photo-romance theater, Breaking of repression, Myth theater, Trial theater, and Masks and Rituals respectively. For this project, I am going to elaborate on my chosen aspect(Newspaper theater), and the other branches of this stage won't be further discussed.
Newspaper theater transforms news items into the creation of theater. After reading the chosen news item, another related news item is read in order to add "a new dimension." (Bal 142) Then, more information and data on the topic are read to complement understanding. Next, the news is read in a rhythm to add musical elements into it. To visualize the news, the actor mimes parallel action while reading the news to get a better understanding of its context and senses. Improvisation of the news is then done on stage to explore the possibility of the performance. The news is evaluated in a historical sense too through demonstrating the data or similar events that happened before too. The musical elements can reinforce the performance when instruments or songs accompany the news. Notice that the abstract concepts such as "torture, hunger, unemployment, etc." should be transformed into concrete performance on stage. (Bal 143) The news is further demonstrated without the restraint of the context of the published newspaper, and the performance extract from the news to deliver the theme. Through this process, the media is demystified into a theatrical form.
Boal's theory aligned with some Marxist elements although with some controversies of if "Theatre of the Oppressed strays away from original Marxist philosophy". (Teodo) Boal's characters often represent the collective bodies and initiate the awareness of the proletariat for social reforms which are similar to Marx's theory. The joker system established boundaries for the expressions, "therefore supporting the Marxist concept of 'freedom.'" (Teodo) Some people like O'Sullivan and Dwyer disagree that Theater of the Oppressed fits into Marist philosophy because of Boal's oppositions on some usages of the media, and some of his theatrical methods such as the Rainbow of Desire are more focused on idealism than materialism.
Augusto Boal's theatrical theory is also seen as criticizing Aristotle's theory of theater and its influence. In Boal's opinion, theater forms such as classical theaters are "oppressive forms of theater" which use the audience's empathy towards the protagonists to instill morality and ideology of the creators into the mind of the people through "one-way, monological messages." (Robinson) He sees the elements of coercion and catharsis in these theater forms and the media. The audience learns passively of the world view of the presenters, and through the process of the adventures of the characters with flaws, "personalisation of blame for social problems" is made. (Robinson) The audience would also lose the dynamism to fight these social problems since they are solved on stage, and attention is driven away from the systematic issues to the personal issues of the characters. Boal suggests that revolutionaries should not use "the cathartic form of theatre" because the morals and worldviews should not be fixed. (Robinson) Instead, Boal thinks the spectators should use sympathy, "feeling with the character, rather than being emotionally led by them." (Robinson) Boal has a similar idea of detachment with Brecht, allowing the spectators to be aware of others' perspectives. But over-abstraction, on the other hand, is discouraged by Boal as he believes it reduces the connections of problems in reality.
Newspaper Theatre was initially developed during his time with "the Nucleus Group of the Arena Theater of San Paulo" in Brazil inspired by Paulo Freire's theory. (Bal 143) Augusto later continued his experiments "in People's Theater in Peru" after he was exiled. (Bal 120)
Augusto viewed "the theater as language, capable of being utilized by any person", and the use of the poetics of the oppressed provided as an expression, discovering, and thinking tool both physically and mentally. (Bal 121) The action taken by a spectator(actor) is trained by himself, and the spectator internally tries out solutions too. Augusto compared theater with using photography as a language too. Theater communicates with the audience not through a camera, but through ourselves. The "first word of theatrical vocabulary is the human body".(Bal 125) In Augusto's theory, after controlling our bodies to become more expressive, we will be able to transform ourselves from the position of a spectator of the world to a storyteller on stage as a freed actor. Through that, the actor "is changed from a witness into a protagonist."(Bal 126)
This process of this transformation from the spectator to an actor can be outlined with four stages according to Boal. Newspaper Theater is one of the products from applying to the four stages.
The first stage is called "Knowing the Body."(Bal 126) It contains a series of feasible exercises to understand their bodies as well as their relations with theater. This step assists people to notice the influence of their "work or social status" on their bodies. (Bal 127) This influence takes place physically called "muscular alienation", meaning that the natural postures and muscle characteristics of the spectator are pre-determined by their living situations. The exercises in the first stage analyze and study "the muscular structure of the participants" to free the spectator from his/her muscular structures that were determined by his/her jobs and status. (P128) By being conscious of our own muscular structures and disjoint them, a spectator could then "assemble structures characteristic of other professions and social classes", therefore earning the ability to embody other characters physically.
The second stage is called "Making the body expressive". (Bal 130) It is to exercise the ability to express oneself through the body instead of only words. Through theatrical language, the opinions will be visualized and avoid the distortions that occur in regular vocal languages with people's different perceptions of the same words. Augusto explored that through games that people engage to "play" in order to "interpret" characters better. (Bal 130)
The third stage is called "The Theater as Language". (Bal 131) It is divided into three parts.
The first degree is called Simultaneous dramaturgy. For instance, when the actors perform a scene ("improvise with the aid of a script prepared", or "compose the scene directly"), they advance the scene until the main issue of the scene reaches its peak and requires a solution. (Bal 132) Then, the actors ask the audience for solutions to the problem proposed. As the audience suggests the solutions, the actors immediately improvise out the advice. In this process, the audience is allowed to interrupt the performance "to correct the actions or words of the actors." (Bal 132) Therefore, the audience is not restricted in the role of a spectator, instead, the audience takes part in the creation of the performance with the performers simultaneously. The exchanges of ideas fully take place in a theatrical form, and the performances are not fixed without barriers between the actors and the audience. The actors as the interpreters aim to "interpret the group." (Bal 134)
The second degree is Image theater. The spectators(the audience) now take the role of sculptures. They give their own opinion on the given theme discussed through theatrical language--sculpting the whole group of participants on specific positions and expressions. Each view on the themes mainly gets the sculpted grouping three times: an "actual image" of the current situation, an "ideal image" as the desired result, and a "transitional image" as the proposed solution via demonstrating this potential transformation. (Bal 135) In the process, one person may disagree with another. In this case, they act out the imagery of another solution. Therefore, discussions are initiated while the people deliver their own opinions and responses through sculpting the group. Not only can thoughts be visualized and exchanged in this degree, but people can understand their views and blindspots better through planning out the scenarios.
The third degree is Forum theater. The participants perform a skit either rehearsed or improvised to depict a social or political problem "and the solution intended for discussion." (Bal 139) After the skit is presented, people who disagree with the solution proposed will have "the right to replace any actor and lead the action in the direction that seems to him most appropriate." (Bal 139) The person who intervened continues the actions of the replaced actor until the end of his/her solution while the rest of the group responds to the new situation. (As if they are the same character with alternative decisions.) The participants get to experience and discuss the character's dilemma, and try out their solutions first-handed. To some extent, the practice is "a rehearsal of revolution" because it gives people concrete experience on the seeking of changes and to consider the feasibility of these actions. (Bal 141)
The fourth stage of the Theater of the Oppressed is named "The Theater as a Discourse." (Bal 142) Augusto Bal agreed with George Ikishawa that the bourgeois theater presents the spectacle-theater which embodies their world and that the oppressed classes produce theater along with their ways like rehearsals because they "do not know yet what their world will be like." (Bal 142) Additionally, Bal pointed out that theater can portray "images of transition", and that people can try "more 'finished' forms if theater" too. (Bal 142) These forms include Newspaper theater, Invisible theater, Photo-romance theater, Breaking of repression, Myth theater, Trial theater, and Masks and Rituals respectively. For this project, I am going to elaborate on my chosen aspect(Newspaper theater), and the other branches of this stage won't be further discussed.
Newspaper theater transforms news items into the creation of theater. After reading the chosen news item, another related news item is read in order to add "a new dimension." (Bal 142) Then, more information and data on the topic are read to complement understanding. Next, the news is read in a rhythm to add musical elements into it. To visualize the news, the actor mimes parallel action while reading the news to get a better understanding of its context and senses. Improvisation of the news is then done on stage to explore the possibility of the performance. The news is evaluated in a historical sense too through demonstrating the data or similar events that happened before too. The musical elements can reinforce the performance when instruments or songs accompany the news. Notice that the abstract concepts such as "torture, hunger, unemployment, etc." should be transformed into concrete performance on stage. (Bal 143) The news is further demonstrated without the restraint of the context of the published newspaper, and the performance extract from the news to deliver the theme. Through this process, the media is demystified into a theatrical form.
Boal's theory aligned with some Marxist elements although with some controversies of if "Theatre of the Oppressed strays away from original Marxist philosophy". (Teodo) Boal's characters often represent the collective bodies and initiate the awareness of the proletariat for social reforms which are similar to Marx's theory. The joker system established boundaries for the expressions, "therefore supporting the Marxist concept of 'freedom.'" (Teodo) Some people like O'Sullivan and Dwyer disagree that Theater of the Oppressed fits into Marist philosophy because of Boal's oppositions on some usages of the media, and some of his theatrical methods such as the Rainbow of Desire are more focused on idealism than materialism.
Augusto Boal's theatrical theory is also seen as criticizing Aristotle's theory of theater and its influence. In Boal's opinion, theater forms such as classical theaters are "oppressive forms of theater" which use the audience's empathy towards the protagonists to instill morality and ideology of the creators into the mind of the people through "one-way, monological messages." (Robinson) He sees the elements of coercion and catharsis in these theater forms and the media. The audience learns passively of the world view of the presenters, and through the process of the adventures of the characters with flaws, "personalisation of blame for social problems" is made. (Robinson) The audience would also lose the dynamism to fight these social problems since they are solved on stage, and attention is driven away from the systematic issues to the personal issues of the characters. Boal suggests that revolutionaries should not use "the cathartic form of theatre" because the morals and worldviews should not be fixed. (Robinson) Instead, Boal thinks the spectators should use sympathy, "feeling with the character, rather than being emotionally led by them." (Robinson) Boal has a similar idea of detachment with Brecht, allowing the spectators to be aware of others' perspectives. But over-abstraction, on the other hand, is discouraged by Boal as he believes it reduces the connections of problems in reality.
Formal Journal Solo Project Explorations B1 and B2
Explorations & Intentions
I began my exploration by reforming and understanding my body as an expression of communication. Specifically, I held a workshop to teach some theatrical exercises like the "Colombian hypnosis". (Boal 51) I divided everyone into teams of two. One partner holds out his/her hand from a specific distance and angle to the other partner's face. The leader with the hand stretching out then moves their hand in any direction and position. The follower keeps the same distance and direction between his/her face with the leader's hand. Thus, the follower reformulates his/her body in ways that he/she never thinks about and explores new forms and possibilities of using the body as an expression. I also tried out some variations of the Colombian hypnosis such as having more followers, using two hands, and multiple body parts. Through this exploration, I noticed how the rhythm of movements can vary the emotion it portrays, and how there are many ways to structure our body to impersonate characters depending on their personalities, jobs, daily lives, and situations they are in.
To develop my solo theater piece in the aspect of Newspaper theater, I first browsed through many mainstream media. From all the political advertising, COVID-19 statistics, celebrity gossip, and massive violence, I find very little news portraying common individual people. There is even some absurd news, such as "Covid-19 Pandemic Likely Improved Your Commute to Work" which partly ignored how hollowed-out cities made common people suffer more. (Calvert 1) This researching process sets up my determination of portraying how oppressed individuals suffer from the pandemic. Eventually, I found one interview article on Aguirre who lost his eight family members and his food truck business. (Marquez et al. 1)
Using Augusto Bal's theory, I read the newspaper article first and realized that people like Aguirre are suffering economically and medically from the Covid-19 pandemic. Both problems point to the expansive medical system. So I went on to do some crossed and complementary readings about the US healthcare system which I gained more insights and data on its problems and solutions.
I initially planned my performance to begin with a reporter stating the situations, followed by one character embodying the working class who went to his boss to ask a few days off because of his wife dying from Covid-19. The worker gets layoff during the conversation because of the financial crisis among small businesses. The worker coughs hard and faints on his way back home. He is carried to hospital by an ambulance, and diagnosed with Covid-19 too. The ending is the worker having a breakdown seeing the massive medical bill. I abandoned this performance plan because as I tried out the rhythmical reading and parallel action with it, problems surfaced: This plan had too many characters and didn't have a focus which failed to form a good rhythm and story for the audience.
While I improvised my selected news, I found it best to use two characters, each signifying different classes and having a discussion together would have a better impact on the audience. With that in mind, I made my scenario a night show with a hypocritical host who represents the fourth estate, the media, and the character Ricardo Aguirre who signified the oppressed. (Notice that when I mention "Aguirre", it is referring to the character I built based on the news. The character Aguirre inherits many characteristics and some quotes from the actual person, but I write more lines for him to discuss the social problem deeper. I made this character choice because I want the audience to empathize with the oppressed and that can be best achieved by a character as real and approachable as possible.) Although both Aguirre and the host are symbols, Aguirre as the protagonist will be closer to the audience than the indifferent host. I then researched more historical contexts of Aguirre and health care systems. I added what I found into their arguments. Ironically, I did not find a second news article anywhere following up on Aguirre's difficult situations. This inspired me to make the host the hidden antagonist who only wants to use Aguirre as a weapon and doesn't really care about the oppressed. Aguirre's internal "will" is to express his frustration to the bourgeoisie and gain practical support, while the host's "counter-will" is to distract conflicts to political opponents and reject support. (Boal 41) The host tries to distract the audience from the real problems, blame others using Aguirre's tragedy without offering concrete help, and continue to feed in everyone's hatred to get more subscribers. To achieve my intention, I made the host lean back on the chair, with frivolous facial expressions that pretends to be sad. The host rarely looks at Aguirre and only lean forwards when he attacks the Trump administration or opponent countries.
To reinforce the characteristics of the oppressor and the oppressed, I made the host continue to interrupt Aguirre. The audience would first think that the host is on the same team as Aguirre, but the host slowly shows his true face by interrupting Aguirre four times to induce blames on targeted scapegoats. The first and last interruptions demonstrate that the host isn't willing to practically help Aguirre. The second interruption is when the host hears how Aguirre is pointing problems to the bourgeoisie, and this scares the host due to its ideology implications. The third interruption shows how the host is impatient and disgruntled by Aguirre not attacking the opposite political party.
My two characters view health care in different lenses with varied purposes. Their discussion on the healthcare system exposes some problems and potential solutions. The discussion is half open-ended for the audience to consider possibilities and solutions which serves as a forum theater. Just like Augusto's Newspaper theater theory, I embodied the social problems with my body and characters. The climax of my piece is when Aguirre realizes the oppression and divisions he experiences even on the night show. Aguirre, who is the victim throughout, turns into a "revolutionary" against the host as he calls for unity, love, and reasons.
In Augusto's theory, the piece is lastly tried out of context. So I didn't make the timeline of my piece explicit, which makes it more applicable. The host mentioned "the riots" in the next news. Which riots? Different audiences will answer differently. That is the point, the host defines what "the riots" are for us and utilizes our sympathy again. Overall my solo piece addresses health care and social division issues mainly.
To practice my piece, I recorded my voice reading the script. With my recording playing, I parallel movements for my characters to examine various possibilities in facial expressions, gestures, and movements, like "the 'playing to the deaf' mode". (Boal 68)
I soon realized that frequently switching characters physically by changing their positions would disrupt the continuity of the performance. So I shifted my plan to making the piece like an online interview. I recorded myself in a Zoom room as the host character, and made spaces and reactions for the Aguirre character. Now that I can act out two characters separately, I planned a suit for the host and a shirt for the interviewee for costumes. I varied my character with different postures, voices, and emotions.
I began my exploration by reforming and understanding my body as an expression of communication. Specifically, I held a workshop to teach some theatrical exercises like the "Colombian hypnosis". (Boal 51) I divided everyone into teams of two. One partner holds out his/her hand from a specific distance and angle to the other partner's face. The leader with the hand stretching out then moves their hand in any direction and position. The follower keeps the same distance and direction between his/her face with the leader's hand. Thus, the follower reformulates his/her body in ways that he/she never thinks about and explores new forms and possibilities of using the body as an expression. I also tried out some variations of the Colombian hypnosis such as having more followers, using two hands, and multiple body parts. Through this exploration, I noticed how the rhythm of movements can vary the emotion it portrays, and how there are many ways to structure our body to impersonate characters depending on their personalities, jobs, daily lives, and situations they are in.
To develop my solo theater piece in the aspect of Newspaper theater, I first browsed through many mainstream media. From all the political advertising, COVID-19 statistics, celebrity gossip, and massive violence, I find very little news portraying common individual people. There is even some absurd news, such as "Covid-19 Pandemic Likely Improved Your Commute to Work" which partly ignored how hollowed-out cities made common people suffer more. (Calvert 1) This researching process sets up my determination of portraying how oppressed individuals suffer from the pandemic. Eventually, I found one interview article on Aguirre who lost his eight family members and his food truck business. (Marquez et al. 1)
Using Augusto Bal's theory, I read the newspaper article first and realized that people like Aguirre are suffering economically and medically from the Covid-19 pandemic. Both problems point to the expansive medical system. So I went on to do some crossed and complementary readings about the US healthcare system which I gained more insights and data on its problems and solutions.
I initially planned my performance to begin with a reporter stating the situations, followed by one character embodying the working class who went to his boss to ask a few days off because of his wife dying from Covid-19. The worker gets layoff during the conversation because of the financial crisis among small businesses. The worker coughs hard and faints on his way back home. He is carried to hospital by an ambulance, and diagnosed with Covid-19 too. The ending is the worker having a breakdown seeing the massive medical bill. I abandoned this performance plan because as I tried out the rhythmical reading and parallel action with it, problems surfaced: This plan had too many characters and didn't have a focus which failed to form a good rhythm and story for the audience.
While I improvised my selected news, I found it best to use two characters, each signifying different classes and having a discussion together would have a better impact on the audience. With that in mind, I made my scenario a night show with a hypocritical host who represents the fourth estate, the media, and the character Ricardo Aguirre who signified the oppressed. (Notice that when I mention "Aguirre", it is referring to the character I built based on the news. The character Aguirre inherits many characteristics and some quotes from the actual person, but I write more lines for him to discuss the social problem deeper. I made this character choice because I want the audience to empathize with the oppressed and that can be best achieved by a character as real and approachable as possible.) Although both Aguirre and the host are symbols, Aguirre as the protagonist will be closer to the audience than the indifferent host. I then researched more historical contexts of Aguirre and health care systems. I added what I found into their arguments. Ironically, I did not find a second news article anywhere following up on Aguirre's difficult situations. This inspired me to make the host the hidden antagonist who only wants to use Aguirre as a weapon and doesn't really care about the oppressed. Aguirre's internal "will" is to express his frustration to the bourgeoisie and gain practical support, while the host's "counter-will" is to distract conflicts to political opponents and reject support. (Boal 41) The host tries to distract the audience from the real problems, blame others using Aguirre's tragedy without offering concrete help, and continue to feed in everyone's hatred to get more subscribers. To achieve my intention, I made the host lean back on the chair, with frivolous facial expressions that pretends to be sad. The host rarely looks at Aguirre and only lean forwards when he attacks the Trump administration or opponent countries.
To reinforce the characteristics of the oppressor and the oppressed, I made the host continue to interrupt Aguirre. The audience would first think that the host is on the same team as Aguirre, but the host slowly shows his true face by interrupting Aguirre four times to induce blames on targeted scapegoats. The first and last interruptions demonstrate that the host isn't willing to practically help Aguirre. The second interruption is when the host hears how Aguirre is pointing problems to the bourgeoisie, and this scares the host due to its ideology implications. The third interruption shows how the host is impatient and disgruntled by Aguirre not attacking the opposite political party.
My two characters view health care in different lenses with varied purposes. Their discussion on the healthcare system exposes some problems and potential solutions. The discussion is half open-ended for the audience to consider possibilities and solutions which serves as a forum theater. Just like Augusto's Newspaper theater theory, I embodied the social problems with my body and characters. The climax of my piece is when Aguirre realizes the oppression and divisions he experiences even on the night show. Aguirre, who is the victim throughout, turns into a "revolutionary" against the host as he calls for unity, love, and reasons.
In Augusto's theory, the piece is lastly tried out of context. So I didn't make the timeline of my piece explicit, which makes it more applicable. The host mentioned "the riots" in the next news. Which riots? Different audiences will answer differently. That is the point, the host defines what "the riots" are for us and utilizes our sympathy again. Overall my solo piece addresses health care and social division issues mainly.
To practice my piece, I recorded my voice reading the script. With my recording playing, I parallel movements for my characters to examine various possibilities in facial expressions, gestures, and movements, like "the 'playing to the deaf' mode". (Boal 68)
I soon realized that frequently switching characters physically by changing their positions would disrupt the continuity of the performance. So I shifted my plan to making the piece like an online interview. I recorded myself in a Zoom room as the host character, and made spaces and reactions for the Aguirre character. Now that I can act out two characters separately, I planned a suit for the host and a shirt for the interviewee for costumes. I varied my character with different postures, voices, and emotions.
2/12/2021-Solo Project Reflection Journal , Feedback from Peers
I performed a trial solo piece and received these feedbacks from peers: The characters are distinguishable with high contrasts, but when my characters' emotions rise to a point, my words are hard to hear because the sobbing disrupts my delivery of lines. They suggested that I should hit the hard consonants stronger to make the words clearer. I will also resolve that by speaking slower and having pauses to have the character cope with his emotions and then build on tensions again.
My teacher brings to my attention that I should consider my decisions of whether recording my performance on zoom or projecting the host on the background and performing the interviewee on stage since they will leave different impressions on the audience. In response to that, I plan to project both the host and the interviewee during the interview in the background, and have me, as the interviewee, act out in front of the computer. This solution covers the advantage of both choices because not only it gives the angle of Aguirre being interviewed in his house, but also demonstrates characters in the virtual meeting view. I figured out the tech side of this plan in rehearsals too. In the final piece, the two characters' views will be in equal sizes, unlike this time with tech flaws.
My peers also pointed out that I can re-record my host video to insert more cues, giving me Aguirre hints of when I shall finish my sentence. The cues can be rolling eyes, adjusting the collars, or holding out the hands. It is to hint myself so that I don't unintendedly talk over myself. To address this, I will add cues and re-record the host.
My teacher brings to my attention that I should consider my decisions of whether recording my performance on zoom or projecting the host on the background and performing the interviewee on stage since they will leave different impressions on the audience. In response to that, I plan to project both the host and the interviewee during the interview in the background, and have me, as the interviewee, act out in front of the computer. This solution covers the advantage of both choices because not only it gives the angle of Aguirre being interviewed in his house, but also demonstrates characters in the virtual meeting view. I figured out the tech side of this plan in rehearsals too. In the final piece, the two characters' views will be in equal sizes, unlike this time with tech flaws.
My peers also pointed out that I can re-record my host video to insert more cues, giving me Aguirre hints of when I shall finish my sentence. The cues can be rolling eyes, adjusting the collars, or holding out the hands. It is to hint myself so that I don't unintendedly talk over myself. To address this, I will add cues and re-record the host.
3/9/2021-EVALUATION & REFLECTION of my solo project
Last week, I finished recording my official solo theater piece and collected audience impressions. Here are some of the reflections and thoughts I gained from this project.
Evaluation.
I think my piece met most of my intentions. The timing is precise; the host "was reacting to everything [I was] saying in the present." The audience thinks my characters are distinguishable, and my methodologies apply pretty well in my piece.
My choices of unfolding conflicts between the interviewee and the interviewer were proven effective. The audience said, "At first, I thought you were just kind of having both of them preach to the audience about problems with the way the medical system was being handled, and then you twisted it around." It was "as though [Aguirre was] up against [media] as well in a way" because Aguirre "felt like he was being attacked" because of "the media traumatizing the situation" and when Aguirre "started going off in a direction that [the interviewer] didn't really want [Aguirre] to go, "he was looking at his watch and picturing how do I get out of this because [Aguirre] was presenting something that was totally different from what [the host] expected as a part of [Aguirre's] reaction." I discovered new meanings to my piece because I never noticed that when the host was using Aguirre's problems for his gains and being indifferent and rude to Aguirre, he actually traumatizes Aguirre's suffering deeper.
An audience pointed out that "at one point [the] media person is trying to give [Aguirre] points of being oppressed" when mentioning "percentage[s] of people that are of this ethnicity that don't have healthcare." Aguirre "didn't care" because he "was like no, ......all of us who don't have health insurance" are being oppressed. The audience thought it "was really powerful when [I] were like we should do something. [She] was inspired and [she wants] to go fund people who don't have health insurance." My intention of calling for unity of the oppressed and seeking to take actions to assist the oppressed worked.
Learning & Implications.
I have learned to use theater to discuss social problems, to create a scene with myself with precise timing, to write a script all by myself, to transform various information under one topic into one theatrical piece, to figure out ways of solving new technical problems, and to enhance awareness of my intentions and impacts. This project not only extends the range of character types I portray and the performing styles I use, but also teaches me new ways to use media in theater and improves my ability to independently create theater pieces. This experience makes me think more consciously about how my creations can pass messages to audiences to stimulate discussions and actions to solve social issues. For me, this project of learning Augusto Boal's The Theater of the Oppressed brings me closer to the audience because I see clearer how theater is a language and is not fixed on the stage. Theater can initiate exchanges of ideas and be updated continuously to address different issues.
Evaluation.
I think my piece met most of my intentions. The timing is precise; the host "was reacting to everything [I was] saying in the present." The audience thinks my characters are distinguishable, and my methodologies apply pretty well in my piece.
My choices of unfolding conflicts between the interviewee and the interviewer were proven effective. The audience said, "At first, I thought you were just kind of having both of them preach to the audience about problems with the way the medical system was being handled, and then you twisted it around." It was "as though [Aguirre was] up against [media] as well in a way" because Aguirre "felt like he was being attacked" because of "the media traumatizing the situation" and when Aguirre "started going off in a direction that [the interviewer] didn't really want [Aguirre] to go, "he was looking at his watch and picturing how do I get out of this because [Aguirre] was presenting something that was totally different from what [the host] expected as a part of [Aguirre's] reaction." I discovered new meanings to my piece because I never noticed that when the host was using Aguirre's problems for his gains and being indifferent and rude to Aguirre, he actually traumatizes Aguirre's suffering deeper.
An audience pointed out that "at one point [the] media person is trying to give [Aguirre] points of being oppressed" when mentioning "percentage[s] of people that are of this ethnicity that don't have healthcare." Aguirre "didn't care" because he "was like no, ......all of us who don't have health insurance" are being oppressed. The audience thought it "was really powerful when [I] were like we should do something. [She] was inspired and [she wants] to go fund people who don't have health insurance." My intention of calling for unity of the oppressed and seeking to take actions to assist the oppressed worked.
Learning & Implications.
I have learned to use theater to discuss social problems, to create a scene with myself with precise timing, to write a script all by myself, to transform various information under one topic into one theatrical piece, to figure out ways of solving new technical problems, and to enhance awareness of my intentions and impacts. This project not only extends the range of character types I portray and the performing styles I use, but also teaches me new ways to use media in theater and improves my ability to independently create theater pieces. This experience makes me think more consciously about how my creations can pass messages to audiences to stimulate discussions and actions to solve social issues. For me, this project of learning Augusto Boal's The Theater of the Oppressed brings me closer to the audience because I see clearer how theater is a language and is not fixed on the stage. Theater can initiate exchanges of ideas and be updated continuously to address different issues.