WHAT IS FORUM THEATRE?
Forum Theatre is a style of performance that is meant to be experienced collectively by a community in the midst of some sort of oppression. It is sometimes referred to as a "game" because the performance becomes an interactive process that allows the spectators to step into the world of the play and assume the roles of "spect-actors."
The Rules of the Game:
"We pose good questions, but the audience must supply good answers." -Boal (Zarrili 269)
Staging:
The Performance of the Game:
“This performance is an artistic and intellectual game played between actor and spect-actor.” -Boal (Zarrilli 269)
- The play must contain at lease one political or social error that the community is currently experiencing.
- The text of the play must establish the ideological nature of each character, so that the spec-actors easily recognize each one's opinion.
- The play, sometimes referred to as the "model", must portray a mistake or failure in their reality, in order to push the audience to invent new ways to confront the oppression.
"We pose good questions, but the audience must supply good answers." -Boal (Zarrili 269)
Staging:
- The actors must have distinct physical styles of playing their role, which successfully articulate their characters’ ideology.
- Every character must engage in something active, so that when a spect-actor assumes an actor’s role, they too experience what it is to physically take action in a situation.
- The show must find a suitable way to express the subject matter. This can be achieved by asking for consent from the general public, or by doing significant research on the community prior to the show.
- The characters must be represented in a visually distinct way, so that when the spect-actors take their spot, there is no confusion of characters. In addition, any costumes worn must be simple and wearable by everyone. Spect-actors must be able to get in and out of them smoothly.
The Performance of the Game:
“This performance is an artistic and intellectual game played between actor and spect-actor.” -Boal (Zarrilli 269)
- It is important to note that the first time through the show, the play is performed as any conventional play would be. It will reach a conclusion that reflects the reality of the community.
- Following the first showing of the play, the audience is then told that it will be performed again in the exact same way. However this time, the role of the audience is to intervene and change the outcome. Boal writes, “In other words, the actors stand for a particular vision of the world and consequently will try to maintain that world as it is and ensure that things go exactly the same way…at least until a spect-actor intervenes and changes the vision of the world as it is into a world as it could be.” (Zarrilli 270)
- They do this by approaching the playing space and shouting “Stop!” during a moment that they feel inclined to change. The actors freeze, and the spect-actor assumes the role of the protagonist in the story. The actor who was replaced will stay on the sidelines as a coach, and will encourage the spect-actor and keep them on track.
- The moment that the spect-actor takes on the role of the protagonist, the actors transform themselves into “agents of oppression.” That is to say, they intensify their resistance to the new solutions, in order to show the spect-actor how difficult it is to change reality. The game becomes the spect-actor – trying to find a new solution, versus the actors – holding them back and forcing them to accept the world as it is. “But of course the aim of the forum is not to win, but to learn and train. The spectators, by acting out their ideas, train for ‘real’ life action; and actors and audience alike, by playing, learn the possible consequences of their actions.” (Zarrilli 270)
- If the spect-actor gives up, he drops out of the game, the original actor takes back their role, and the play continues to it’s predetermined end. That is, until a new spect-actor shouts “Stop!” and tries out a different solution.
- Eventually, a spect-actor may break the oppression of the show. At that point, the actors must give in, either staggered or all at once. Once that is done, all the spect-actors are invited to replace any character they want, in order to expose new forms of oppression that the actors may have been unaware of. At this point, the game is spect-actor/protagonist against spect-actor/oppressor.
- One of the original actors must function as the leader of the game, or the "Joker". His or her job is to keep the flow of the Forum moving by engaging with the audience, and keeping the spect-actors on track. The Joker must constantly remind the spect-actors that if they do not change the world, no one will change it for them.
- When the forum is over, it is recommended to the audience that they create a “model of action for the future.” The model is then performed by spect-actors, the idea being that they now have a plan and a tool ready to use.
Below are some examples of the variety of way that Theatre of the Oppressed and Forum Theatre can be experienced visually.

Performances can be visually stimulating, having elements of spectacle. This image is from the 2009 International Theatre of the Oppressed conference.
(Photo: Adriana Medeiros; Source: theatreoftheopporessed.org)
(Photo: Adriana Medeiros; Source: theatreoftheopporessed.org)

Here we see an example of how Forum Theatre is represented without much use of costuming, set design, or lighting design. This photo is from a performance in the Netherlands, 2005.
(Source: theatreoftheoppressed.org)
(Source: theatreoftheoppressed.org)

A performance can also have a more carefully choreographed and aesthetic approach to it's storytelling.
In his book Aesthetics of the Oppressed, Boal writes about the necessity for aesthetic stimulation during performance. "The Aesthetics of the Oppressed - which I want to become an inseparable part of the Theatre of the Oppressed - is essential, in so far as it produces a new form of understanding, helping the subject to feel, and through the senses and not just the understand social reality." (Boal 36)
This picture was taken at a rehearsal in Vienna, 2005
(Source: theatreoftheoppressed.org)
In his book Aesthetics of the Oppressed, Boal writes about the necessity for aesthetic stimulation during performance. "The Aesthetics of the Oppressed - which I want to become an inseparable part of the Theatre of the Oppressed - is essential, in so far as it produces a new form of understanding, helping the subject to feel, and through the senses and not just the understand social reality." (Boal 36)
This picture was taken at a rehearsal in Vienna, 2005
(Source: theatreoftheoppressed.org)