Theatre of the Oppressed

by Augusto Boal, Charles A. McBride (Translator)

Overview

The innovative Brazilian playwright, director and international lecturer explicates Aristotle's poetics and the philosophies of Machiavelli, Hegel and Brecht to determine the extent to which their chief components--imitation, catharsis and, ultimately, audience control--serve up to support the status quo of a society rather than facilitate change.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781559367783
Publisher:	Theatre Communications Group
Publication date:	10/15/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	208
File size:	811 KB

About the Author

Augusto Boal (1931 - 2009) was a renowned dramatist and the author of several works on politics and theatre.

Table of Contents

Preface to 2008 edition
Preface to 2000 edition
Preface to 1974 edition
1. Aristotle’s Coercive System of Tragedy
2. Machiavelli and the Poetics of Virtu
3. Hegel and Brecht: The Character as Subject or the Character as Object?
4. Poetics of the Oppressed
5. Development of the Arena Theater of Sao Paulo
Appendices
Index

Editorial Reviews

""'Boal's terrific energy came from his The book that started a revolution in modern theatre.faith in the creativity, spontaneity and ability of all people, however underprivileged, to change their situation' "" - Guardian ""'Should be read by everyone in the world of theatre who has any pretensions at all to political commitment'"" - John Arden, playwright ""'[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 (University of Wisconsin Press, 1986) ""'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 ""'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

From the Publisher