What is forum theatre?
It is an interactive style of theatre that enables audience members to overcome oppressed outcomes in there lives, motivating them to make positive changes.
It can focus on key issues that are having an impact or of interest to the young people and their lives e.g. Drugs, Safety on the streets. The group using discussion, rehearsal and research put together a short drama piece about the worst case scenario. In order to cope with audience intervention the group then rehearse various positive scenarios they think an audience would come up with to change the oppression and make the play positive.
This supports the participants to access key services, a safe place to explore possibilities, share stories and experiences in a safe space and a supportive environment enabling them to see themselves and there lives in a different way and later in the process also the audiences who participate.
It enables participants to develop artistic skills, progress to vocational skills key to enabling engagement to the world of work, education, training, communication, teamwork, leadership etc.
The next stage is to take the issue based drama to an audience. It is best used in situations were there is shared oppression with a participating audience and / or where the audience will feel a passion for the subject so feel ‘stoked up’ to make changes and want to make a positive outcome to the drama piece.
The drama is shown on the first occasion in full, then a ‘Joker’ (a member of the groups drama piece, named after the joker in a pack of cards who is objective and has no investment in any suite in the pack) will facilitate a short discussion with the audience. This will raise questions with them about the issues, the story and their opinions on the subject. This joker role can be scripted or improvised depending on the participants drama needs.
The drama will then be shown again, this time the audience will be encourage and hopefully feel a passion to shout ‘STOP’ to the drama at the points where they feel the oppression on the piece could change positively and come an intervene with there interpretation of how events should go. The joker facilitates this part of the show.
At the end of the piece another short dissemination discussion happens to look at the changes and ideas brought in by the audience. Finally research in either a pack (or other creative ways of collating) with pointers key services and information on the issue they have gathered during the production of the drama is left with the audience.
View the Forum Theatre gallery
