www.clydefitchreport.com: My name is Ali Campbell and for my entire career as an artist and activist I’ve made theatre anywhere but theatres. Most of us were taught that theatre is about a bunch of (paying) people sitting in the dark, watching another bunch of (paid) people pretending to be a bunch of other (often dead) people, telling a story. And indeed, that’s the theatre I studied at University in Edinburgh in the 1970s and later made my way to London (as you had to do then, and probably still need to do today) to see whether I could make it on the stage. Alive. Paid!
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I’m always fascinated by those who use theatre as a direct force for change in the world, who see something in the art form that can apply to the world as a whole, that can be used to shape it as they see fit. However anti-Marxist one may be, there is something fascinating about Augusto Boal’s incorporation of the ideals into a theatre practice, and how he- and others- have used that practice around the world, to create a theatre space where the power is in the hands of the company, and oftentimes, the audience. Boal’s Forum method involves trust- and energy-building exercises, then a process of creation that seems close to devising, in which company members draw on their own hardships to create short scenes to communicate to the audience, with the purpose of involving the “Spectators” and showing them that change is possible in the world and that anyone can help make the change. This is a fascinating concept to isolate in the theatre world, but it becomes far more interesting and nuanced when placed in the context of Boal’s political views.
-Bridget Doherty
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