Theatre of the Oppressed

Augusto Boal (1931-2009) was a Brazilian theatre practitioner, drama theorist and political activist. He is the author of Theatre of the Oppressed (Pluto Press, 2019).

'An affable intellectual and an effervescent teacher, [Boal] was a theatrical Johnny Appleseed who spent his later years spreading his doctrines of the theater as a land of equal opportunity for professionals and nonprofessionals alike' -- The New York Times 'Oppression, according to Augusto Boal, is when one person is dominated by the monologue of another and has no chance to reply. Boal's life is devoted to giving those who are in this one-down position the tools with which to express themselves and discover a way out of their powerlessness' -- The Harvard Gazette '[His] achievement is so remarkable, so original and so ground-breaking that I have no hesitation in describing the book as the most important theoretical work on the theatre in modern times' -- George Wellwarth, author of Modern Drama and the Death of God 'Should be read by everyone in the world of theatre who has any pretensions at all to political commitment' -- John Arden, playwright 'Boal's terrific energy came from his faith in the creativity, spontaneity and ability of all people, however underprivileged, to change their situation' -- The Guardian

• Preface to 2008 editionPreface to 2000 editionPreface to 1974 edition1. Aristotle's Coercive System of Tragedy2. Machiavelli and the Poetics of Virtu3. Hegel and Brecht: The Character as Subject or the Character as Object?4. Poetics of the Oppressed5. Development of the Arena Theater of Sao PauloAppendicesIndex