Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed in high school

On a sunny afternoon in July, the students of the upper school gathered for a session on the Brazilian theatre maker, Augusto Boal. This was a part of their bi annual upper school retreat –  a two day event that encourages the students to introspect, question and experience a variety of things like theatre, dance and music.

Boal is said to have famously remarked that theatre is a rehearsal for revolution and this phrase can be understood in multiple ways. When our theatre teachers took Boal’s idea of theatre to the children, the idea of ‘revolution’ that they had in mind was the power of standing up to injustice, small and big. 

The children were asked to split into groups and think of an unjust scenario that they witnessed around them. A variety of themes came up in these short skits – gender, caste, peer pressure, bullying. Each team presented their ideas to the larger group and at the end of each presentation the group was asked – what can be different in this for the situation to be fair? What can we as individuals do? 

A striking example that comes to mind is of a group that presented an example of a young boy being bullied, his bag snatched, while people around him jeered and photographed what was happening to him. When the group was asked for a solution to this particular problem, someone asked - ‘What if he just walked away?’ When this scenario was reenacted, the children watched as the power dynamics in the scene slowly shifted. 

While this might not be possible in a real life scenario, the idea of power and agency were palpable through this example. 

 Do we have the courage to look at the injustices playing out before us everyday? And if we do, do we have the courage to stand up? 

These were the questions that the group was left with.