Forum Theatre

In Forum Theatre, the story starts leading up to a point where the main problem is at its climax and needs a solution. The actors stop performing and ask the audience to make proposals and find solutions.

Then, actors start improvising the solutions suggested by the audience, that has the right to intervene, correct actions or dialogs from actors, who must go back and perform audience’s proposals. That way, while spectators write the play, actors perform it simultaneously. All the solutions, proposals, opinions, etc. are shown in a theatrical way, which makes it easier for everyone to take part in one way or another. It’s like giving a pencil and a piece of paper to a child and telling him to talk throughout the drawing. The deep meaning would be kind of, this is not happening to me, this is not my opinion but someone else’s.

It is also a way of learning that different behaviour can change the story, also in real life. Everybody has the feeling that can change something, that there’s not destiny. Events can be different if I intervene.

Country of venue: Hungary

Topic: Disability

Country of venue: Belgium

Topic: Poverty and Social Status

Country of venue: Germany

Topic: Cultural Differences & Phisical Appearance

How it works: Game rules

The play must show very clearly the nature of each character, so their ideology is clearly identifiable by the spect-actor.
The solutions suggested by the protagonist within the play must have at least one social “failure”, which will be analysed during the forum session. These “failures” must be expressed very clearly and rehearsed carefully in well-defined situations. This happens because Forum Theatre is not propaganda, on the contrary, it is pedagogy in a sense that we all learn together, actors and the audience. The play must have a failure to encourage spect-actors to find solutions and make up new ways to face oppression. We ask questions but it is the audience who must give good answers.
The play can be realistic, symbolic, expressionist or any other genre, style or format. It can be anything but surrealist or irrational because the aim is to argue about specific situations, using theatre language.

Theatre art

Staging

Actors must have the correct body expression to convey their characters ideology and social functions through their movements and gestures. It is important that the characters do meaningful things to encourage the audience to act instead of remaining seated on a chair and just talking as if it was a radio programme.
Each scene must find the exact expression according to the topic. that expression should be found as a common agreement among participants.
each character should be visually identifiable regardless his or her discourse. Their costumes should have essential elements for the character so that spect-ators might also use them when actors are replaced.

The show as a game

The show is an artistic and intellectual game between artists and spectators. joker is needed to explain the audience the game rules as well as invite them to do warming up exercises to set the mood.

fast for the performance must be shown in a traditional way, like a fixed play. The scenes should show the conflict so that it can be resolved.
Then, we ask spect-actors if they agree above this suggested solution. They surely will say “no”. Therefore, the audience is formed from that the play will be resumed and performed once again.
we tell the audience that their first step is to replace the leading role when he or she is leaning towards the wrong solution. They have to find the best proposal for the situation. The spectator will approach the scene and will shout “stop”. The actors must stop the show immediately and the spect-actor must decide from where the scene should be resumed. Then, the play starts from that point and the spectator is the protagonist.
The replaced actor must pay attention and help the spect-actor in case he or she makes mistakes in something that could be important.
Now the spect-actor is performing the leading role and the actors must reinforce their own attitudes: the ones against the protagonist should intensify their opposition and his or her allies must take the spectator's side. The game at this point is a fight between the spectator, who is trying to find a solution to “change the world”, and the actors that are trying the world to stay the way it is. Just like real life, oppressors want to keep their power.
The aim of the forum is not to win but to help us learn: spectators about how to argue in real life and how to face the situation, actors and the audience might become aware of the consequences of their actions. Everyone would learn both the possible tools the oppressors have and oppressed’s possible strategies.
If the spect-actor gives up he/she must leave the game. The actor will come back and the play continues with the already known end. Another spect-actor can approach the scene and say “stop”, pointing out from where he/she wants the play to be resumed (it works like the cue in a video tape) and trying a new solution. We can have as many interventions as spectators are willing to take part in the play.