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By Sunita Mager –\u00a0<\/span>Phare Ponleu Selpak\u2019s<\/span><\/a> theatre group<\/span><\/a> is truly something special. It connects people from all levels of society, it touches lives, can sow seeds of change, or spark a dormant impulse to act on one\u2019s integrity. That\u2019s deep! \u00a0But, just imagine, theatre has the power to actually change our world as we know it. How? you ask, with a theatre methodology called Forum Theatre.<\/span><\/p>\n Created by theatre director <\/span>Augusto Boal<\/span><\/a>, Forum Theatre, or better yet \u2018Theatre of the Oppressed\u2019 is a type of theatre that teaches people how to change their world. By using a methodology called ‘simultaneous dramaturgy’, the audience members become \u2018spect-actors\u2019 and are encouraged to stop a performance or scene in which a character is oppressed in some way. In an attempt to bring audience members into the performance (as spect-actors), the audience either suggests different actions for the actors to carry out on stage, or come on stage themselves to perform their own solutions or interventions to have an input on the drama they were watching.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And this is where the interactive mumble-jumble begins. While the spect-actor tries to overturn the oppression, the actors portraying the oppressors improvise to end the production with its original, scripted ending. If the audience believes that the spect-actor\u2019s actions are unrealistic, they can call out \u201cmagic!\u201d, in which the spect-actor must modify their actions accordingly. When this happens, the production changes again and if the pect-actor fails to overthrow the oppressor, the actor resumes his character and continues with the production until another spect-actor calls out the word \u2018freeze!\u2019 and attempts a different method. <\/span><\/p>\n Finally, if and when the the oppression is overthrown by the spect-actor, the production changes again; the spect-actors gain an opportunity to replace the oppressors and find new ways of challenging the oppressed character. This way a more realistic depiction of the oppression can be made by the audience, who are often victims of the oppression. This whole process is designed to come to a conclusion through the consideration of opposing arguments, rather than where an argument is one-sided and pushed from the actors with no chance to reply or counter-argue.<\/span><\/p>\n NOV Sreyleap and three other theater artists, graduates from <\/span>Phare Ponleu Selpak\u2019s theatre troupe<\/span><\/a>, were recently awarded a grant from <\/span>Oxfam\u2019s Voices for Change program<\/span><\/a> to help empower two communities in Battambang province. Their mission: to make an impact on these communities and to empower them to gain access to their rights and resources by highlighting current issues they face such as the lack of clean water, good roads and electricity.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\tWhat is Forum Theatre?<\/span><\/h2>\n
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<\/span><\/p>\nHow it Works<\/span><\/h2>\n
The Impact it Makes<\/span><\/h2>\n