This week we are looking at Invisible theatre. “Invisible Theatre is a type of theatre developed and used by Augusto Boal. Boal created three major types of theatre that fit under the umbrella term “Theatre of the Oppressed.” And central to that idea is audience involvement. In Invisible theatre, actors stage an event that could happen in real life that touches on issues that are particularly controversial in a particular region or city, and they plan out a scene to perform to an audience who does not realize they are an audience.

What it means:

“Invisible theatre is theatre that seeks never to be recognized as theatre, performed in a public place. The goal is to make the intervention as realistic as possible so that it provokes spontaneous responses. The scene must be loud enough to be heard and noticed by people, but not so loud or conspicuous that it appears staged..”

Why do it invisible theatre:

“To raise issues and to get the public talking about an issue: it provides a platform for different views to be expressed.”

Acting Challenge

Choose a location and a societal topic that is important to you and create a
document outlining how you would ‘stage’ an invisible theatre ‘performance’. How
many people would be involved? What obstacles may you have to overcome?

Sample topics: * Favoritism * Homophobia * Racial slurs; Racism * Dating
abuse * Segregation * Student rights * Discrimination * Cheating * Depression
* Disabilities * Stalking; Teen Harassment * Drug abuse * Abortion * Theft *
Teen Pregnancy * Abstinence * Interracial relationships * War effort / anti war
effort * Student loyalties vs. teacher loyalties * Safe sex / teen pregnancy /
abstinence * Stereotypes * Ageism * Respect * Eating disorders * Sexism

Then perform your monologue again to camera and upload to Facebook. What has
changed from last week’s performance to this week? How is it more detailed?


Business challenge

What is your ‘type’?

Of course we all love to think that we are diverse enough to learn how to play any
role—to stretch, to challenge, to grow. Out in the real world, you are unlikely to be able to play much outside of your general age, height, weight, etc. It is very important to have a clear sense of who you are when you walk into a room and what that means in terms of the roles you can audition for. This takes work, soul searching, and asking friends, teachers, agents, and casting directors to give you some hard opinions about your type, and your headshot should reflect that person. You may very well be capable of playing many other kinds of roles, but you won’t get them unless you first get the jobs you’re right for. Post in the group 2-3 ‘types’ of characters you could play.