#Forum Theatre

[sunnunderthesun]

"We organized the very last show in 2023..."

Whether to address societal issues or personal traumas of people, forum theatre coupled with psychodrama have been used by NGOs in a number of tormented African nations.

The Brazilian theatre practitioner, Augusto Boal, is known as the creator of forum theatre – an interactive form of theatre in which the audience becomes “spect-actors” when they intervene and change the course of the play. Psychodrama occurs as the actors portray their real-life struggles and explore their anguishes. Spreading messages of awareness and resilience through masquerade and embryonic dramas has been around in Africa since times immemorial. But Boal’s method of forum theatre is now being applied in an effort to unite Africans in regions of tension.

In the book Art and Conscientization (2015), Claus Schrowange writes about his experiences of developing and organising plays with groups in Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo “for the promotion of peace, human rights, and sustainable development”.

According to him, “The ideal Forum Theatre performance is indoor with 20 to 100 spectators, in a hall of the size of one to three classrooms. The larger the audience, the less intense the program. ... Actors should not use microphones, not even during open air performances. Microphones destroy the natural voice which is necessary to project emotions to the audience. ... Our actors only wear uniform T-shirts, most of the time in black and white, with black trousers or skirt. They remove wristwatches, necklaces, earrings and any other item that attracts unnecessary attention. In order to open the senses and energy flow and make better use of their body, they always perform barefoot. ... The play is the heart of the activity. Our goal is to leave the audience astonished, inspired, confused, and enlightened at the same time. We motivate them to become active in their daily lives and within their limited means and powers, to act against all kinds of injustice, violence and Human Rights abuses. ... The actors don’t need to be experts in theatre, but they have to be open to discover themselves and share their real emotions on stage. Actors should act in the language they are using in their own daily life. When it is not possible, more emphasis should be given on the non-verbal expression and the verbal part should be reduced to a minimum.”

However, theatrical attempts to unite different African communities, especially those engaged in decades-long violence against each other, aren't easily welcomed. In areas prone to violence between militant groups and government forces, many adults and children end up becoming soldiers to survive in the absence of employment or education opportunities. The children get drugged and the women and girls are raped by armed men. The forcibly-displaced surviving civilians have deep emotional scars and distrust for NGOs.

“Africa independence was a masquerade, and most of the scourges that devastate this region are consequences of government irresponsibility, and the lack of some politicians’ awareness. They promulgate laws and change them, but they don’t ensure that the entire population has understood them: the first victims of this situation are not enlightened. This is the environment in which our Theatre of the Oppressed group is working,” writes Eliezer Kasereka who, along with his friend, once violently protested against plays organised by Schrowange in Kiwanja because his Theatre of the Oppressed mixed Rwandans and Congolese when there were allegations that Rwanda supported the rebel groups operating in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. But Schrowange and his group were able to influence Kasereka into experiencing “the power that Theatre of the Oppressed has to change minds and heal hearts”.

Since the beginning of 2016, Joseph Tsongo, the founder and CEO of Amani-Institute ASBL, and his friend Eliezer Kasereka, supported by the NGO APRED-RGL, began to use “participatory forum theater in psychodrama style” to help the child soldiers, who had managed to escape from the deadly clutches of armed groups, reintegrate into the society that feared them. They used to host theatre workshops at least once a week in the north-eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Last month, we contacted Mr. Tsongo to learn when the last forum theater was held by him, considering the present crisis in the country. On April 2nd, 2024, he said, ...we organized the very last show in 2023 due to the deteriorating security situation in the region, as well as due to a lack of necessary resources. (His original reply in French: En effet, nous avions organisé le tout dernier spectacle en 2023 et cela en raison de la détérioration de la situation sécuritaire dans la région mais aussi par manque de moyens nécessaires.)

In this regard, worthy of mention is Milo Rau’s solution-driven political theatre, The Congo Tribunal, involving the “victims, perpetrators, witnesses and analysts of the Congo War in Bukavu/Eastern Congo”. It explores the war in Congo – triggered by the West-sponsored Rwandan Genocide (1994) and fuelled by the powerful capitalists’ greed for the country’s natural resources necessary to run the technology of the 21st century – that has claimed the lives of over six million Congolese people. Based on The Congo Tribunal, Rau’s opera called Justice is “the first lyric work on the crimes of transnational companies ever” developed with the victims of the Glencore copper mine accident at Kabwe, aiming to raise funds for them. Justice will be taking the audience "to the heart of the Congolese mining industry", at Tangente St. Pölten Festival in Austria on 30th April, 2024.

However, the Congolese people, struggling with the harsh realities of civil wars and continuous exploitations by the economically powerful nations, need much more international attention than they are receiving now.

#talk #finds #free congo #free drc #dr congo #eyes on congo #congo genocide #save congo #democratic republic of the congo #drc #theatre #musical theater #forum roleplay #Forum theatre

[narrativecradle]

The Theatre of the Oppressed: Using Performance to Challenge Injustice

The Theatre of the Oppressed is a revolutionary form of participatory theatre that began in the 1960s and 70s in Brazil. Created by visionary theatre practitioner Augusto Boal, it uses performance as a vehicle for promoting critical thinking and social and political change. At its core, the Theatre of the Oppressed aims to transform the passive audience into active “spect-actors” who can observe…

View On WordPress

#Al-Kasaba Theatre #Augusto Boal #Environmental Justice #Forum Theatre #Image Theatre #Invisible Theatre #Legislative Theatre #LGBTQ Rights in India #Queer Azaadi Mumbai #Rainbow of Desire #Restorative Justice in Prisons #Revolutionary Theatre #Systemic Racism #Theatre #Theatre of the Oppressed

[bluevelvetcat]

The Breeders @ Forum Theatre

Awesome start to the new year of live music, with a fantastic show from old favourites that cut through my Monday lethargy. Continue reading The Breeders @ Forum Theatre

View On WordPress

#alternative music #concert #Forum Theatre #gig #Kim Deal #live #live music #Melbourne #music #opinion #review #The Breeders

[vaccinia]

The Forum // Melbourne

10.06.2023

#didn’t take pics but I saw Ethel Cain #she’s amazing live !! #the venue was so pretty too #the forum #forum theatre #Melbourne #mine #place #aesthetic #diary

[musicaltheatrepolls]

#company musical #godspell #jesus chris superstar #grease #a funny thing happened on the way to the forum #pippin #a little night music #the rocky horror show #the wiz #a chorus line #chicago musical #evita #evita musical #musicals #musical theatre #polls

[bestmusicalworldcup]

#best musical world cup #best musical #broadway #musical theater #musical theatre #musicals #theatre #theater #tony awards #hamilton musical #hamilton #fiddler on the roof #a funny thing happened on the way to the forum #nine musical #lin manuel miranda #stephen sondheim #sondheim #polls

[broadwayreprise]

i sincerely apologise if your personal favorite is passion, saturday night, anyone can whistle, the frogs, bounce/road show. i was going for broader appeal... it was sophie's choice.

#stephen sondheim #sondheim #broadway #musicals #theatre #a funny thing happened on the way to the forum #company #follies #a little night music #pacific overtures #sweeney todd #merrily we roll along #sunday in the park with george #into the woods #assassins #rip steve

[libraryfag]

a farce without cross-dressing is like an angel without wings

#as i always say #theatre tag #a funny thing happened on the way to the forum #my posts

[sondheims-hat]

October 3, 1963: Forum opens at London's Strand.

#sondheim #larry gelbart #burt shevelove #a funny thing happened on the way to the forum #west end theatre

[unproduciblesmackdown]

oh yeah was like i feel i ought to have at least "no for real i've listened to this" tlt musical song under my belt & i know my man rob's got bangers o7 but kept going whoops didn't do that. plus listening to anything as a task, a feat, is like god damn....but i did do that, fired p the finale song. rob with a banger i knew it. love that little note [wikipedia says "bend" for note, half step up or down, return to original note, is a jazz term. do we apply it broadly. i mean the Dip baby] like hell yeah lines to get broadly jazzed to looking for trouble then count me in we're usually about to die (bend! dip!) love the i'll be back next summer and just committing to not even trying to i guess span the entire series which i never read. doing a dance....but. hand on shoulder. tlt musical fans like i was already & am already on call like sprinting over to beat up any haters like on principle it's a o7 from me but like yeah i'd grab the aux & beam that through

#the haters can be thee tonys (god fucking knows. if 2019 wasn't enough...) or just any/all those people who are Like That #the whole genre of like Theatre / Musicals (emphasis on ''cals'') connoisseurs dying to be Arbiters too like imagine living a little #or just being a little more serious lmfao centering your Cultural Experience like ah thee Correct Opinion that i will be recognized for.... #uh huh. i for one can't wait to log onto The Forums & be like god i wish i was uhhh. that poster who was Too Good for xyz abc & even jkl #later edit: experienced a boot (bway; as seemed the only readily available option one way or another) & naturally was not expecting to #encounter anything that would validate like nyt tonys other Arbiters losing their everloving shit over it but like hell yeah i liked that

[cashthecomposer]

Don't forget to reblog so that we can get a decent sample size!

I'll be posting one day polls every day, such that each bracket begins when the last one ends. Follow the tag #Sondheim Showdown to stay up to date with each poll.

The seed order has been completely randomized. The brackets are as follows:

Link to the previous results

#musical theatre #musical theater #musical #musicals #poll #polls #stephen sondheim #sondheim #Sondheim Showdown #a funny thing happened on the way to the forum #afthotwttf #Saturday night #Saturday night musical #Broadway #theatre #theater

[popbytes]

GO SEE: ALEX EDELMAN’S 'JUST FOR US'

The other night, I had the chance to catch the opening night performance of comedian Alex Edelman’s hit one man show, ‘Just For Us’—and it was one of the best things I’ve seen in a long time! After a run on Broadway, Alex has brought this hilariously touching and timely show here to Los Angeles for a limited time (playing now through November 26th). You might wonder what happens when a Jewish man…

View On WordPress

#Alex Edelman #Center Theatre Group #Mark Taper Forum #Reviews

[spinelthethesbian]

Back in June I went to the Mark Taper Forum’s Performance of “A Transparent Musical”(in downtown LA). I’ve been a huge fan of Steven Universe/Spinel and Sarah Stiles since Feb 2020, and I remember watching the SUF finale when it aired, listening to Sarah’s album the day it dropped, watching “The Crew” the day it released on Netflix, etc. Previously in May I had seen Sarah’s post on Instagram about her role in A Transparent Musical, and since I only live about less than 2 hours away from LA, once my junior year of high school wrapped up my mom and I decided to go see it.

Anyways, getting to the point, one of the actors (MAJOR shout-out to Murphy Taylor Smith; she’s the reason why all of this happened🫶🏻) was doing a pre-show performance/talking to audience members when she noticed my Spinel pin (from San Diego Comic-Con), and a pride pin I had also been wearing (a rainbow heart that said “Love is love on it; since the show was about LGBTQ+ themes). She complemented both of my pins and asked me if I was a fan of Sarah (which ofc I said yes). She then asked if I’d like to meet her backstage after the show concluded, to which I ofc agreed!

To say that the moment I got to meet Sarah Stiles was the best moment of my life is a MASSIVE understatement, oh my god. My dreams came true in front of my eyes in the matter of a few minutes.

NOT only that, but later the next day, Sarah posted both the drawing I had made a couple days prior (in case I was able to give it to either her or a theatre employee), and the picture she and I had taken the previous night, and posted it onto her story😭

She honestly was such an incredibly nice person; probably the nicest person I’ve ever met, and I wish I could truly articulate how truly impactful this moment was. Thank you Sarah and Murphy <33

#sarah stiles #steven universe #a transparent musical #Broadway #theatre #spinel #spinel su #spinel Steven universe #dtla #mark taper forum #center theatre group

[bluevelvetcat]

Heilung @ Forum Theatre

Heilung was unlike any other live show I’ve been to, a mystical, otherworldly experience that’s part music concert, part ritual that seeks to connect with the ancient world of northern Europe. (more…) “”

View On WordPress

#concert #Forum Theatre #gig #Heilung #live #live music #Melbourne #music #opinion #review

[radioforums]

life is truly a circle ive become obsessed with the same vocaloid character i was obsessed with 8 years ago via completely different circumstances 🤍🤍

#HOLY MOTHER F ITS THE ICE CREAM TRUCK!!! vs Theatre Kid Dad #forum posting

[worldlibertytv]

See World Business Forum (WOBI) at David Koch Theatre NYC-2023 in our World Liberty TV Business Blogs @ https://www.worldlibertytv.org/world-business-forum-wobi-at-david-koch-theatre-nyc-2023/

#WOBI 2023 #World Business Forum 2023 #David Koch Theatre NYC #World Liberty TV Business Blog