Abbreviating Boal at the Louisiana Old State Capitol Museum: Using Image Theatre

Authors

Bonny McDonald, Louisiana State UniversityFollow
Joshua Hamzehee, University of Northern IowaFollow
Naomi P. Bennett, Louisiana State UniversityFollow
Montana Smith, Drake UniversityFollow

Document Type

Report

Abstract

This article describes the execution of and reflections of a Theatre of the Oppressed workshop offered in 2017 to middle and high school groups visiting the Louisiana Old State Capitol Museum on half-day field trips. The workshops accompanied The Power of Children: Making a Difference exhibit, which features the stories and struggles of Ruby Bridges, Ryan White, and Anne Frank. Despite initial plans for an hour-long session, the workshop designed to connect youth participant experiences to the stories of the children featured in the exhibit was cut to only fifteen minutes. Our group of four facilitators discusses ways we modified Augusto Boal’s Image Theatre practices, the difficulties we faced leading short sessions in the setting of a school field trip, and our worries about maintaining emotional safety as youth tackled themes of power, powerlessness, and policing.

Creative Commons License

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Recommended Citation

McDonald, Bonny; Hamzehee, Joshua; Bennett, Naomi P.; and Smith, Montana (2020) "Abbreviating Boal at the Louisiana Old State Capitol Museum: Using Image Theatre," Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed Journal: Vol. 5, Article 11.
Available at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/ptoj/vol5/iss1/11