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"[Theater of the Oppressed] is an excellent way to convey a message, to make people think about their position in society—what it is that they're doing, what is going on."
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SCB: Would you call what the students did in the summer seminar Forum Theater?
ADD: Yes. What the students did was Forum Theater. The people in Street Spirits, which is a youth theater group, present issues in this way. Angie Burton is always asking who wants to take the place of a father, mother, or child. People usually choose the oppressed side and never the oppressor. Blaming the victim is the mentality that they are doing something wrong to be abused and it is an interesting part of the theater. The human experience is playing with those being oppressed and the oppressors are running free and no one is questioning what is going on in their minds. It seems to be a learned experience, a conditioning that somebody will abuse you if you let them. The preferred type is the aggressor, and if you are passive there is something wrong with you.
CP: Can you talk more about how Theater of the Oppressed can effect social change?
ADD: It is an excellent way to convey a message, to make people think about their position in society—what it is that they're doing, what is going on. It makes people think. The Invisible Theater is an excellent way to convey a message to make people think about their position in society—what it is that they’re doing, what is going on. Legislative Theater is a great way to come up with social change. How do we get people to come and vote, what is the value of voting, and why can’t you go vote and how do you change that? In Forum Theater, change happens by taking the place of the actor and coming up with the solution. The collective mind comes up with the solution and brings more people from the audience. In the Invisible Theater you show a situation where people go about their daily lives and suddenly an issue is made into a public scene. People don’t want to see public things and people don’t want to be involved, but they are always looking from the corner of their eye. By seeing it, people are forced to think about it. The Rainbow of Desire works on your internal fears and problems. This is the most effective form. Here in Los Angeles, the Rainbow of Desire is used in conjunction with Invisible Theater and/or a Forum Theater. We are trying to develop a new form called Political Theater and get more political action by combining all forms of Theater of the Oppressed. I am currently working with a project which uses Invisible Theateer to attack political issues within the City of Los Angeles.
SCB: Do you think anyone in our society would be put at risk by utilizing Theater of the Oppressed?
ADD: Here in L.A it’s different than it was in Brazil in the 1960s, early 70s. I don’t see anyone attacking journalists, artists, and university students. The political powers are totally apathetic and see no threat in this kind of work, but I do see it at UC Irvine. At UC I Middle Eastern people were racially profiled. They were called in, their visas were checked by INS, and they were interviewed by INS and the police. Everything shifted completely after September 11. Before that, talking about capitalism and socialism was perceived as a threatening issue. After September 11, things changed and the focus became the Middle Eastern people.
CP: How about students making fun of the instruction, specifically portraying racism in the classroom? How about a skit like that inside an LAUSD public school?
ADD: Again, it is mostly about class. The upper class in the City of Los Angeles is more concerned about the money and how it is spent—how schools look and the teachers. People here in L.A would not persecute someone that is performing skits like these because they are just conveying the situation in LAUSD schools. It is not about censorship. The Theater of the Oppressed was censored in Brazil because it tried to disrupt the political arena.
SCB: What are some other sources for Theater of the Oppressed?
ADD: In New York there is TopLab. You also have to get in touch with the Pedagogy Theater of the Oppressed at the University of Omaha. Also, you have Headlines Theater in Vancouver and that is another big one. There are all over the country, but not as organized as in New York and Los Angeles. In Seattle, Washington, through the Mandala Center. You can find many resources at www.formaat.org.
SCB: How would you distinguish Theater of the Oppressed from Improvised Theater?
ADD: Boal would answer that it is Theater of the Oppressed when it is about anyone who is in a position of not being privileged. Anyone who feels powerless to reach to the other side. There are too many obstacles keeping you from getting there. In any situation or location where there is a minority who doesn’t have access to privilege, who is barred from accessing that privilege, or in which there are far too many obstacles—that is what Theater of the Oppressed aims to confront.
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 Online Sources:
Center for Applied Theater Arts/Theatre of the Oppressed Los Angeles
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ata-cto-la/
Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory/New York (TOPLAB)
http://www.toplab.org
New York City based web sites contains informational articles about the T.O.P. with links to groups around the world, bibliography, and photos.
http://www.formaat.org
This site is designed to offer practitioners and others involved an opportunity to exchange news, views and ideas.
Originally from São Paulo, Brazil where her father worked with Augusto Boal in the Arena Theatre, Ariane Dalla Déa is currently working on her Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology at UC Irvine. The topic of her dissertation is the Theater of the Oppressed. She also works closely with the Theatre of the Oppressed Collective in Los Angeles based at USC.
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Interview with Ariane Della Déa
