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Meike Herminghausen
The following text describes one basic structure of the method of forum drama that is used in many different contexts of conflict transformation and with different variations. It plays an important role in the work of Amani People's Theatre (Kenya) and sabisa - performing change e.V.(Germany). For the conference "Peace Education around the World" we combined our different approaches to Forum Theatre with the more ritualistic theatre approach of the Mothertongue Project (South Africa). As the essence of forum drama is the fact that conflict can make a big contribution to peace education.
Forum Drama
In the 1970s in Brazil, theatre director Augusto Boal started to develop several participatory drama techniques summarized as "Theatre of the Oppressed," to encourage people to recognize and understand social problems, express their own opinions and find solutions for change. (Of course he had to leave the country soon, but continued his work in exile. His latest development is the Legislative Theatre, that helped him to have people from the street get involved into law-making, when he was member of the city parliament of Rio de Janeiro in the late nineties.)
I find Boal's techniques very useful in grass-root based development work because it stimulates communication and the search for solutions. The most appropriate of these techniques is the so-called forum drama: Actors perform a play that deals with a relevant problem of a community and shows it in a realistic manner, so that people can recognize their own social circumstances and their behavior. The essence of the play is conflict. It shows the struggle of people, difficult situations, problematic actions, wrong decisions and in the end leads to some kind of defeat of the protagonist. After the relatively short play the spectators are asked whether they like the way the story goes or if they see possibilities for the actors to change the course of the play. The show starts again and as soon as somebody shows that he/she has an idea, the play stops. Instead of telling verbally, the 'spect-actors' are invited to come to the stage, replace the actor of their choice and try the alternative solution themselves. Afterwards, the audience gives its opinion about this suggestion (the critics should not talk but come up and show how they would act instead) and is encouraged to try different solutions as well – either at the same point of the story or another. Even new characters can be introduced (e.g. a policeman as representative of the government). Although of course only a limited amount of people will join the stage, everybody has the chance. This alone involves and makes people think of how they could intervene. Moreover, seeing somebody of your own community struggling on stage again increases the identification.
Forum drama leads to intense communication about the problem addressed. Acting out the suggestions keeps the debate on a very concrete level and immediately shows the consequences. The physical action keeps the interest of people awake and helps concentrating over a long period of time. Not to forget the entertaining factor of this discussion!
In forum drama people express their opinions and try to understand a problem and identify possible solutions. To translate these findings into every-day life, it is important that all influential stakeholders of the community are present. It is advisable to stimulate them to follow-up actions after the event.
To prepare a forum drama, in-depth research is needed, so that the actor's performance is credible and close to the audience's situation. (It is advisable that the actors have a similar background – ideally they come from the community itself.) At the same time, the outcome of the drama provides new insights in the people's opinions and a better understanding of their behavior. Therefore, forum drama is not only a technique to stimulate communication and raise awareness, but is a suitable research tool at the same time.
The method itself is quite easy to introduce to the audience and provokes a lot of participation (as I experienced in my HIV/AIDS prevention project in the rural areas of West Shewa Zone of Oromia in Ethiopia and in a demobilization project for ex-combatants in Somaliland). Much more time and work is needed in order to train the actors. From my experience I do not find it necessary to have professional actors, but the amateurs will need substantial voice-training, some skills in using body language and especially training in improvisation. Such requires a specific attitude towards the audience based on openness and spontaneity.
Forum drama can be used in many different contexts and has to be adapted to the specific situation.
Meike Herminghausen
sabisa - performing change e.V.