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Legislative Theatre: Using Performance to Make Politics

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In his latest text, Boal describes his newest theatrical innovation, Legislative Theatre. The idea is new (and exciting)- why not ask the people to share their concerns about government, in order to bring about reform? Boal's method of doing this is (naturally) through theatrical forms and expression. This is a natural progression for Boal, who was himself a member of the government of Rio de Janeiro in the early nineties, and has been involved in reinventing theatre as a form of social empowerment for much longer than this. As well as describing the techniques and the (rather disturbing) context in which they were developed and trialled, Boal also invites contribution from the reader - in a sense, breaking down the 'monologue' of the printed text, inviting and continuing the dialogue begun with earlier works and techniques. An essential read in the context of Boal's achievements.

Yet another branch of the great system of Theatre of the Oppressed. In this book, Boal details his unique way of using actors to define the contents of bills to pass through the Brazilian Parliament, of which he was a legislator. The work is similar to another branch of TO--Forum--and this book focuses less on the actual making of the scenes (don't expect the plethora of acting games found in his other books) and more on navigating the political environment surrounding the bill in question, though a script for one of the plays is provided.

The book also contains various speeches or essays Boal gave in his time as vereador, notably one that references the time he was tortured as a political prisoner.

Every book by Boal is a gem, a hodge podge of English and Portugese that somehow all work together to represent this great man and his revolutionary ideas.