Theatre of the Oppressed (TO) appeared as an ethical and political response to the repression in Latin America, where daily dozens of men and women were assassinated on the streets, banished or expelled. Although in Europe today these kind of atrocities are rare, the need for a "theatre of the oppressed", a liberating theatre, still exists. This type of theatre can have special application to fighting the scourge of corruption and apathy.

About the founder of TO: Augusto Boal is a world-renowned theatre artist, teacher, scholar, director, and human rights activist. Building on his innovative synthesis of the dramatic theories of Aristotle and Bertold Brecht, Boal crafted an entire pedagogy for theatre commonly referred to as Theatre of the Oppressed . Theatre of the Oppressed techniques, most famously through forum theatre, empower ordinary people living under various forms of oppression to, 1) model strategies to survive their oppression with dignity, and/or 2) overcome their oppression and thus transform their situation from hopelessness to hope. His work, dedicated to empowering the powerless, touches nearly every corner of the globe. Boal's theories on art and action have liberated and healed states and positively impacted two generations of theatre artists

A product of this legacy now converges on Romania. New Horizon's currently teams with Art Fusion, an art for social change organization. These two service organizations engage in cutting edge work incorporating Boal's TO techniques to liberate the Romanian youth from self-limiting cycles and perceptions by envisioning and acting out positive change

Read more about the aims and methods of this innovative tool for social improvement...(click here)

In tribute to Augusto Boal, founder of the Theatre of the Oppressed (click here)



NHF/IMPACT partners with Art Fusion. www.artfusion.ro