Public Exploration Of Issues of Concern
Forum Theatre performances present short plays which show an oppressive situation that needs to be changed. Audience members are invited to replace actors on stage and try to change the situation. Other actors respond in character, trying to maintain their oppressive or exploitative power. Each new attempt reveals important information about the nature of that particular oppression. Forum Theatre provides a means for defining core issues, revealing their relationship to systemic oppressions, and testing solutions in action.
CAT uses games and exercises from Theatre of the Oppressed and interactive story-boarding processes to guide groups in the creation and performance of their own Forum Theatre pieces. With youth or student groups for whom online or live performance is not feasible, we adapt Forum Theatre to the creation of graphic story books and videos.