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Culture Stage

Oppressed take the stage

Dan Savage’s It Gets Better and FCKH8 are interactive campaigns attempting to change the way the public views homophobic bullying.

But before YouTube, when interactive wasn’t synonymous with the internet, these campaigns might’ve taken their message to the stage.

Like these web campaigns, Theatre of the Oppressed is an interactive, worldwide movement to empower the masses and inspire social change. Created by Brazilian theatre director Augusto Boal, Theatre of the Oppressed combines politics and collaboration on stage.

Branch Out Theatre is hosting a series of Theatre of the Oppressed-style training workshops, beginning tonight (Wednesday) at 7pm at Artscape Wychwood Barns.

Naomi Tessler, a Toronto-based actor, director and theatre educator who runs the event, describes it as ” highly participatory, engaging, thought-provoking, empowering and cathartic. The hope is that [participants] feel inspired to cultivate change in their own lives, their communities, cities, country and the world.”

A typical part of the evening may go something like this: participants create tableaux or frozen images of social injustice issues, with the crowd yelling “stop” when they feel conflict arising. The scene is then recreated to avoid the conflict. “Spectators become spect-actors,” as Tessler puts it.

Theatre of the Oppressed also incorporates Invisible Theatre – another Boal invention.

This involves staging public demonstrations in which actors portray harassers, victims and at times, even “innocent” bystanders.

“One scenario that Augusto Boal’s troupe staged was in a restaurant in which a man (who was an actor) wanted to pay his bill through the government food assistance program…and the waiter argued with him that he wasn’t allowed to do so,” says Tessler. “This caused quite a big scene…and eventually other restaurant patrons began offering and collecting money to help pay for this man’s meal. The outcome was that bystanders were motivated to offer assistance to a fellow citizen.”

Staged public demonstrations like these could be useful tools in the fight against bullying and anti-gay harassment. The bystander, Theatre of the Oppressed demonstrates, plays a crucial role in stopping bullying.

“A bystander should know that they have the power to be an agent of social change!” stresses Tessler. “Standing by just perpetuates oppression, standing with transforms a bystander into an ally to the victim and acts as a hopeful movement towards social justice.”

Introductory Workshop Series in Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed runs Wednesday, November 10, 17, and 24. 7p-9:30 pm. Christie Studio, Artscape Wychwood Barns, 601 Christie St. $110 for fall series, $40 each work shop. Students, $80/$30. To register and for more info, contact naomi.tessler@gmail.com 416-910-4972.

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