Forum Theatre and Theatre of the Oppressed

The Theatre of the Oppressed aims to break the separation between actors and spectators, regarded as the aesthetic transposition of the political separation between those who hold speech and those reduced to silence; the spectator becomes a spect-actor. In Forum Theatre, a scene of oppression is performed and then replayed, letting the audience intervene to transform the outcome and seek solutions. Born of Boal's experience (arrest, exile, Freirean literacy campaigns), it is applied to social movements (favelas, landless peasants, feminist associations, precarious workers) and gave rise to legislative theatre elaborating draft laws.

This therapy is covered in detail (principles, indications, protocol, level of evidence) in Volume 6 of the Mémento des Psychothérapies. See the volume.