information from Members! (Continued)

A Weekend with Augusto Boal

by Maggie Morgan, Artistic Director of Foxtrot Theatre in Education Company, Dundee

I had the privilege of spending the weekend of the 2nd and 3rd of March in London with twenty nine other drama practitioners, working with Augusto Boal, the Brazilian practitioner of Forum Theatre and founder of Theatre of the Oppressed. This was one of a number of courses organised by Cardboard Citizens, a theatre company that use Forum Theatre with homeless people.

Augusto himself is impressive, firing on all cylinders at seventy-one, an inspiring speaker and workshop leader. The most exciting aspect of the workshop was that he was using it to continue experimenting with new ideas, new techniques. We were told ‘Some of these will work, some won’t’; the ‘trying it out’ process stimulated everyone’s ideas and helped modify Augusto’s. It would take too long to describe in detail but I took away new ideas for telling stories non-verbally: helping protagonists develop their character’s perspective: awareness of shifts in power: and the testing of possible solutions by acting them out in a group. I was very aware from time to time, how Theatre of the Oppressed rubs shoulders with psychodrama and Dramatherapy techniques; for example, a participant directing his own story: testing different solutions: exploring people’s different perceptions of non-verbal communication.

Since then I have used elements from his weekend to help professional actors develop their characters, demonstrate to a drama workshop group how simple actions can tell a different story, and am thinking very seriously about the significance and symbolism of props in our next primary school project. The next interesting stage will be reading the book he will publish when he has clarified his new ideas.

Foxtrot’s Integrated Theatre Project - by Maggie Morgan

Foxtrot Theatre Company are running a series of 10 drama workshops with an integrated group consisting of both disabled and non-disabled participants. The group has an age range of 17 to mid 60’s and a variety of physical disabilities eg: heart problems, visual impairment etc. Of 3 mothers accompanying their young adult children at the start, 2 have been sent home! Other members of the group are staff from a Training Centre, a co-ordinator, a volunteer helper from a voluntary

organisation. The co-ordinator is there ‘to learn’, she says, and has already used some of the games and exercises to stimulate and energize the groups she runs!

In the first few workshops the aim has been to introduce techniques, teach skills, give scope to the imagination, work together in a group - and promote confidence and enjoyment. The next workshop will be focusing on themes and stories, at the close of which the group will decide on the outline of a performance, possibly a mix of one or two stories and themes. The group will develop the performance ideas, applying techniques already experienced and rehearse a short piece of street theatre. On 11th May the group will take their performance to the streets of Dundee. The performance itself will be a culmination of their work, an act of advocacy for the integration of disabled people into the community, a contribution to Adult Learners Week - and a real achievement by a great bunch of people.

As drama-worker and director on this project, I began the process knowing I had a lot to learn. I have realised how much drama workshops depend on the ‘visual’ element - how do you include a blind person? How, for example, do you do a ‘trust walk’ with a member who already has to trust someone to push his wheel chair? When discussing issues of power, control and oppression in daily life, the group is teaching me a great deal. One of the most positive aspects perhaps is the focus on non-verbal communication. Some of the stroke victims who struggle with speech are brilliant non-verbal communicators and it’s great to see their confidence kicking in.

My aim was to discover and rely on the strengths of the group. This particular group have made it an easy and pleasurable task. I hope that publicity about our street theatre (Dundee City Square and the Overgate Centre) will enable us to gain

further funding to continue and develop this strand of our work.