Legislative Theatre: Using Performance to Make Politics

Legislative Theatreis the latest and most remarkable stage in the unique Augusto Boal project. It is an attempt to use theatre in a political context to create a truer form of democracy--a method to engage the populace. It is an extraordinary experiment in the potential of theatre to effect social change. At the heart of Boal's method of Forum Theatre--which is already used in diverse contexts--is the dual meaning of the verb "to act": to perform and take action. InLegislative Theatrehe takes one stage further his concept of the "spect-actor," the spectator who intervenes in an unresolved scenario on stage to try and break a depicted cycle of oppression. As a politician in his native Rio de Janeiro, Boal used Forum Theatre to involve the local populace in generating relevant legislation and social change. The book includes a full explanation of the genesis and principles of legislative theatre, and a description of the process in operation in Rio. Also included are Boal'sessays, speeches and lectures on Popular Theatre, Paolo Freire, cultural activism, the point of playwrighting, and much else besides.