The Theatre of The Oppressed: An Experiential Practice to Promote Transformative Learning?

The paper presents an experiential workshop on the methodologies of the Theatre of the Oppressed (TO) starting from the hypothesis that the methodologies of the TO could lead to a transformation of meaning perspectives, and to the development of a critical reflection on assumptions. This will be achieved through an action which is already a practice of transformation and change because it requires the audience to get personally involved. Our challenge is to adopt these methods as tools and experiential practices to promote transformative learning in formal educational settings with students, teachers and educators. In the Theatre of the Oppressed, indeed, participants report episodes of oppression that may relate to all levels of society. Each participant can take part in the scene, as can those viewing, who become spect-actors (Boal, 2006). Taking the stage represents a moment of crisis for one’s own certainties. For these reasons the TO seems to be an experiential practice aimed at expanding awareness and reflexivity, which contribute to redefining the set of knowledge, beliefs, evaluative judgments and feelings that guide our actions. It can activate a critical examination of the common way of thinking, starting from a “disorienting dilemma,” a problematic and doubtful situation which undermines established patterns of meaning. That gives rise to processes of exploration, analysis, and the assumption of new roles to try and to evaluate: previous perspectives of meaning are changed, transformed and integrated with new critical interpretations. Thus, an experiential space to promote emancipatory learning may be generated (Freire, 1970).