Spectator Studies in Augusto Boal's Forum Theatre (Essay Sample)

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Spectator Studies in Augusto Boal's Forum Theatre
Abstract
Reputedly, Augusto Boal considers the terminology "spectator" far from sentient. For him, it conjures up thoughts of a tame, psychologically confined bunch observing what happens further than the façade arch in silence. In his classic work, Theatre of the Oppressed, he asserted that to "re-establish to the observer his potential for the initiative, he too has to be a subject" (Boal, p.134). This resulted in forming an audience-participatory theatre, which advocates for the progression of the disengaged observer to the active "spect-actor," which is also the audience-participatory theatre. Unfortunately, there is no concise description of how to make this transition. Boal keeps a comprehensive record of persons who have taken part in his TO seminars, although how they were persuaded to do so is not mentioned. Consequently, my study should aim to deconstruct the mechanisms of audience engagement in TO, with the overarching goal of understanding how to inspire the incentives to engage. To answer this question, I would place Boal in the pedigree of theoretical phenomenology and investigate his perspective on the research participant, acting subordinate, and audience subordinate.
Keywords: Theatre of The Oppressed, Audience, spect-actor, TO.
Introduction
      While it may be true that audiences are, in fact, the reflective and inspirational factor in a theatrical environment, it is also essential to recognize that they also play a role in the influence of whether they are the clairvoyant or the victims. While it may be arguable whether all theatre encompasses differing degrees of audience interaction, the structure of collaborative viewer theatre depends on actor-audience engagement and is distinguished by acknowledging the audience as an issue via active engagement in the performance. For centuries the audience has always been viewed as the non-participative area of the theatre arts, and there have been case studies as to why there needs to be a different approach to how this is viewed. A better understanding of this angle of thought is represented by the scholar Augusto Boal that has attempted to better elaborate on the influence of target audiences in the theatre setting. In Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed (TO), he bases his conclusions on the study of forum theatre, an essential technique used across the whole writing. He believes that for the audience to attain the complete freedom that they so much require, they have the free will to decide what they want to participate in and what they do not want to take part in. As such, Boal's theory on how the audience changes from spectators to what he termed as "spect-actors," according to Yonghee Lee, was through the audience engaging in the protagonist's part and turning to spect-actors (Lee, p.156). Several studies have engaged the perspective of Boal's TO study conclusions in theatre.
Literature Review
Audience interaction has been a core aspect of modern theatre art that has seen vital improvements over the centuries. It, however, took time before the concept of audience integration and interaction was entirely accepted. As it is, the latter remains a work in progress. According to Gareth White, the concept of audience participation is still often seen as among the most misunderstood and a show of "childish crassness of popular performance" (White, p.1). In his book, Audience Participation in Theatre; Aesthetics of the Invitation, Gareth White looks into what influences audience participation in theatre found that there are different perspectives as to what may make audience participation horrifying to some of the spectators and others substantial and compelling. He majors mostly on what he terms the new trends of theatre: "immersive and one-to-one" theatre. The