Forum Theatre

This is a concept brought all the way from South America. It was developed by a practitioner called Augusto Boal and was based on getting the voices of the oppressed heard. Okay, we have adapted the technique slightly to fit in with the European mindset and the goals of the organisations we work with, but the main focus is for the audience to actively participate in changing what they see on stage, and in real life, for the better.

We create bespoke performances for our clients focussing on the issues they want us to focus on; be it training on appraisals, enhancing customer service, creating a comfortable environment for voices to be heard or anything else; we research, write and perform quality pieces of theatre for you and your audience.

The first time we perform we invite everyone in attendance to watch and enjoy. The second time is where the real interaction begins. We encourage the audience to get involved, to shout out when they think something can be done differently or if it needs to be highlighted. Of course, people can be cautious at first so we use a facilitator to get the audience going. We find it doesn’t normally take long before everyone is having their say. It isn’t just the facilitator’s job to get people talking though; part of the job is to keep it on topic and progressive, making sure the audience gets the most from their time.

The aim of forum theatre is not to instruct or dictate to the audience, it is to empower them, to prompt interaction and to come to positive conclusions. It is a different way of thinking about training and communication; a way we believe is more effective and more fun.