Theatre of the Oppressed: Image Theatre

Activity

Ongoing engagement, Reflective activities, Warm up activities

Theatre of the Oppressed: Image Theatre

Maha Bali

Alex Fink

Tina Pippin

Sarita Shukla

To invite students to use their bodies to represent, collaboratively, an image of something that is worth discussing.

Tech needed: Video conferencing, Cameras off option

Duration: 5-30 mins

Student preparation: None

Educator preparation: None

ACTIVITY PURPOSE

To invite students to use their bodies to represent, collaboratively, an image of something that is worth discussing, and then use the resulting ‘tableau’ combined as a source of critical reflection, and then invite participants to make changes to make the image different (e.g. if it is an oppressive situation, how can we make small modifications to make it more liberating?)

USEFUL FOR

Creative expression, multiple perspectives, collaboration, critical discussion/reflection and imagining a different way of viewing and doing things.

The video demo for this activity was designed for online synchronous use, but the activity can also be easily adapted for in-person sessions. Whether online or in a shared physical space, participants engage as both observers and contributors in building and transforming the image.

PREPARATION

None.

INSTRUCTIONS

Image theater or Tableau can be done with ‘frozen’ images or with ‘repeated actions’. Let students know which you’re asking them to do. You may try it first with a simple prompt that’s easy to embody/dramatize, to practice, and then move onto more complex concepts.

For online synchronous:

Ask everyone to turn their cameras off.
Give a prompt, theme, or topic to explore.
Ask each student to turn on their camera when they have an idea of an action or gesture to make. Everyone is a spect-actor (in this case – a spectator until they turn on their camera and become an actor and contribute to the image).
Keep going until a sufficient number of students have offered a gesture or pose (so this might mean you have 6 people with cameras on an everyone else remains a spectator).
Discuss what the tableau (combination of all the images) represents, how people are feeling who are in the tableau as well as how it feels/looks to people outside who are just watching. Sometimes this will bring up a certain feeling that is e.g. negative or oppressive, or such.
Invite participants to make small modifications to their poses/gestures to build towards e.g. a more positive feeling.
Discuss again.

For in-person:

Invite students to use their physical space to form a tableau with still poses or repetitive gestures based on the prompt.
Other students observe until they choose to join the image.
As above, pause for group reflection, then invite participants to adjust their poses to shift the meaning of the tableau and discuss the changes.

DURATION

This can be a really quick 10-15 minute activity or can take up longer, depending on the topic, theme, and how the dialogue goes.

ADAPTATIONS AND EXAMPLES

You can play music to go with the repetitive gesture.
You can invite students to make a sound/noise along with their gesture, making ‘machine’ sounds.
If you have students who cannot turn their camera on, or you have to be asynchronous, you can invite students to draw things and put them on a shared Google doc, or bring photos that are metaphors for something and put them in a shared space – and make a literal collage/tableau that way.
For asynchronous or low-tech options: invite students to upload drawings or metaphoric images to a shared document or collage space to create a visual tableau.
In person, students can create the tableau using props, movement, or body shapes arranged in the room.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

Any video conferencing tool that allows cameras on/off (even better if it is allows you to hide non-video participants).

USEFUL RESOURCES

For opportunities to attend workshops on these activities, see Theresa Ronquillo’s Embody Change.

Boal, A. (2002). Games for Actors and Non-Actors. Routledge; 2nd edition