An Interview With Julian Boal: The Role of Theater of the Oppressed to Promote Social Activism

• In Event: Volcanic Disruptions: On the Intersectional Synergy of Theater of the Oppressed and Teacher Education

Abstract

This paper summarizes a series of interviews with Julian Boal about his Theatre of the Oppressed work in Brazil and beyond. He came to Montclair State University to do a 4-day residency with faculty, NJ teachers, students, and local community activists, during a two-week trip to the United States (US). Over the course of our conversations, both formal and informal, Boal provided critical context about the political situation in Brazil, and the recent changes that have occurred since January 1st 2019 when President Bolsonaro came into power.
We discussed his current work building The Escola de Teatro Popular, a theatre school for youth who are involved in social movements; a school run by social movements for social movements. He described how this work emerged, an agenda that is always in response to a political agenda that is beyond the school, that is part of the social movements. When there are struggles in the street, Boal normally works with members of these groups using Theatre of the Oppressed in response to a specific event or action. He described his collaboration with the group members who are directly involved in preparing for a specific event, either organizing a play or a performance. Otherwise their goal is to train the trainers, or activists who will return to their movements to try to build the cultural committees in their own organizations.
He then described the newest phase of his work–working with schools run by social movements that prepare students to pass entrance tests for universities. These schools are a service to the community, both individually but also in terms of trying to reach out to the community and engage the more general population. The interviews also explored the ways in which the work of using Theatre of the Oppressed for social justice is both similar and different to these endeavors in the US. In particular, Boal distinguished how oppression is conceptualized in Brazil and the US. He emphasized that in the US it seems that the struggle is to put some individuals in power without questioning the very nature of this power. Too often the focus is on what a person says or does rather than thinking about the societal structure that exists to oppress some and benefit others. Boal shared several US examples of the ways in which oppression is systemic.
Finally, we, the authors and Boal, explored the implications of the Theatre of the Oppressed work for teachers in the US and how this work might be adapted for local school and community contexts. We argue this series of interviews provides a context for thinking about how Theatre of the Oppressed is culturally interpreted and adapted as well as ways we might better align US work with that in Brazil. Much like Boal, we acknowledge that there is great possibility in Theatre of the Oppressed as a means of collectively making change and radically imagining to re-create our culture and cultures into something beautiful.

Authors

• Emily J. Klein, Montclair State University

• Monica Taylor, Montclair State University