Journal Reflection 5 (13/09/12)

Forum theatre

How many times do we watch a TV drama series, got affected by the scene due to disgust, and wanted to see justice done? Sometimes, when we see the wife being abused by husband in public on TV drama and wished a particular person at the scene to do something, but is not happening, we get upset. We cannot change anything because it is screened and filmed. However, Forum theatre allows us to do what we want. This then produces different effects and outcomes according to our responses.

Created by Augusto Boal, Brazilian theatre director, writer and politician. It is part of the Theatre of the Oppressed. Forum theatre allows the audience or facilitators (or Jokers) to stop the performance at any point, which usually is a short scene where conflict gets in the way, and then letting change happen. The audience can take on roles to change the outcomes of the scene. This is then employed for thorough educational purposes. 

Total of 5 groups, 5 scenes: 

- Hairstyling scene

- Classroom scene

- Home scene

- Principal room scene

- Police station scene

Each scene came up with target audience and objectives. Throughout the whole session, some groups did the forum theatre in a different way. We experimented and tried different ways to forum them. We came across some effective ways to forum these scenes.

Our Group's Discussion

Firstly, We decided on the focus of our subject, which is the treatment of the employers towards their maids. Our objective is to get the audience feel that harsh treatment or abuse(verbally, emotionally, physically) towards the maid is not humane and is cruel. Off course, we would not want violence in anyone's household. So the focus here is centered on the welfare of the maid. At the same time, we want the audience to know that how you treat your maid also reflects on how your kids will treat others. We decided to take out the dad because he is of no use and used Auntie LiLi, Mum's friend, to be the antagonist here. *Scene* From the start, the maid, Tutti, is already being oppressed by the boy and the mum. However, the situation is heightened when Auntie LiLi came, who insisted that the Tutti must undergo training. *Scene*

We act out the scene once and then re-act again so that the audience could pause and decide on who they would like to forum. They tried to forum Auntie Lili, then the maid. It was interesting because it opened up alot of possibilities. The maid wanted to commit suicide and at that moment, the mum, boy and aunt Lili needs to react to that situation. The outcomes were unexpected and different! 

It was interesting to see how forum theatre opened up alot of possibilities and different outcomes base on our responses.

What We Learn

Lloyd's group (police station scene) had all three characters to be replaced. They acted out the scene once and grouped the audiences into three groups (because three characters). The audience will have to talk about the various ways they could respond or react to either heighten up situation or turn the situation around so that it is more resolved or more at peace. The three actors become facilitators to facilitate the group's thinking. It was a good strategy because the facilitators are there to guide them through the thinking process and to come up with ideas. In this way, all the audience are actively taking part in throwing ideas on how to improve the situation. Facilitators help audience to gain understanding for their characters as well. However, we also found out that the antagonist group is the hardest to change because the conflict must be present so that the driving force is there, making it challenging for the protagonist to think of solutions. This strategy by Lloyd's group has a mixture of forum theatre and process drama.

Forum theatre should then present a precise scene with characters that are also clear in their stances and desires. Characters must know their desires, background and driving force and show these elements within that scene so that audience can understand clearly about the personality and their expectations of the characters. The scene must be presented once through so that there will be no disruptions and audience can watch clearly the characters on stage. If it is disrupted, the character's stance and phrasing is not clear and we do not know his/her desires. Also, the pauses in between will cause the actor to not adher to the personality of the character. For eg, the actor may seem cheerful but after the pause he became grumpy. The audience may be confused. Therefore, we cannot forum the characters because lack of understanding.

While doing forum theatre, we also aim to take the situation into greater heights so that when new levels are explored, the audience experiment further and enhance their way of thinking. For eg, in our scene the maid begins to attempt suicide and so we must think how do we prevent this from happening from each character point of view.

What I Learn 

Forum theatre develops empathy and raises awareness and consciousness in everyone. It is a useful and value-added pedagogical tool to not only educate kids but also to educate them from the inside out. It deals with the inner being, then conceptualizing ideas and experimenting ways to eliminate oppression in a situation. The audience is no longer a passive one but an interactive one, creating passionate people who wants to create a dynamic change of the world. According to Boal (2000), instead being a witness, he then 'assumes the protagonic role, changes the dramatic action, tries out solutions, discusses plans for change - in short, trains himself for real action.' (Pg122). The protagonist, previously an audience, now becomes free to experiment his ideas and bring a revolution.

Forum theatre also develops creativity through imagination. Imagination brings to mind the people, events, experience and emotions on stage. It creates possibilities and pushes the boundaries of reality. Robinson, K.() stated that 'whatever the task, creativity is not just an internal mental process: it involves action.' (Pg) Without creative imagination, students will become lazy and their mental capabilities will become handicap.

Additionally, forum theatre encourages the students to explore their emotions and body, how the body moves in a certain way in response to a particular situation. Boal (2000) stated that 'to control the means of theatrical production, man must, first of all, control his own body, know his own body, in order to be capable of making it more expressive.' (Pg 125) This raises self-confidence, self-awareness and self-consciousness of our own bodies. It develops the expressivity of the body. Because of our current technology, we are becoming more and more lazy, using less of ourselves and more of the right side of our brains.  Drama then becomes a tool to bring the body to life.

Bibliography

Boal, A. (2002) Theatre of the Oppressed: New Edition. London: Pluto Press