Honoring Boal

As many of you know, we lost one of the “Jedi Knights” of community-based artmaking this year.  There will be multiple ways to honor and memorialize Augusto Boal, including workshops, use of Boal techniques during all-conference programming, and a memorial installation.

Augusto Boal, 1931-2009

This year, practitioners of community-based artmaking around the world felt the loss of one of our greatest leaders and thinkers.  A contemporary and colleague of Paulo Freire, Augusto Boal's legacy of writing, activities, and social action will have echoes into many generations to come.  His work has had a particular impact and influence on many members of the Alternate ROOTS community.  They have utilized Theatre of the Oppressed techniques to create plays, engage their communities in valuable, healing and transformative arts-based dialogues, and in general have advanced the field by standing on his shoulders.  If you'd like to read more about the man and his legacy, we recommend the following webpages, interviews, and articles:

Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed (PTO) is "a not-for-profit (IRS 501C3) organization with the following mission: To challenge oppressive systems by promoting critical thinking and social justice. We organize an annual meeting that focuses on the work of liberatory educators, activists, and artists; and community organizers.  This organization developed from a series of four conferences held in Omaha, Nebraska from 1995-1998. The conference was based on the ideologies and works of Paulo Freire and Augusto Boal. Using pedagogy and theatre, they each worked with oppressed peoples of the world to develop critical literacies and actions to overcome social systems of oppression" (from the PTO website).  This organization continues to conduct annual conferences for folks who want to network and learn from each other.  Please read more at their website:
http://www.ptoweb.org/

International Theatre of the Oppressed Organisation
http://www.theatreoftheoppressed.org/en/index.php?useFlash=0

An article paying to tribute to Boal by Michael Rohd.
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/05/11/the-most-influential-man-you-have-never-heard-of/

Watch Boal's 2007 interview with Amy Goodman
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/5/6/augusto_boal_founder_of_the_theater

Community Arts Network: If you go to the CAN website and search "Boal" a lot of really great articles will pop up.  Some of them are even written by ROOTers.
http://www.communityarts.net/

More about Theatre of the Oppressed - make sure you read about the American debut in Georgia!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_of_the_Oppressed

At this year's Annual Meeting, we plan to memorialize Boal and his significance through a variety of activities, some of which are still being planned or developed.  Some of these ideas include:

  • a Boal installation piece which folks can bring work with them to contribute to and which can be added to by spontaneous art creations throughout the week
  • use of Boal techniques throughout our time together
  • a few of the studios that will happen will explore Boal techniques


We invite you to use this Forum (what an appropriate word!) to begin a discussion about how Boal might have influenced your work and even to discuss ideas for how we can more fully honor him when we gather.

To talk to others about this and read what people are saying, click here for the Forum.