On a cold Saturday morning in a dance studio under the Hawthorne Bridge, a group of a dozen or so amateur actors gathered for the first of a two-day Theater of the Oppressed workshop hosted by Living Stages Theatre, a nonprofit, social action-focused theater. Participants gathered with a common mission: To create a piece of theater addressing their own experiences with homelessness and “root shock” for Living Stages’ upcoming Forum Theater Convergence, a festival featuring pieces of theater in which audiences are invited to intervene in the actions presented on stage.
The exact plot of the play would be determined over the course of the weekend, but what the actors and creative director of Living Stages, Tamara Lynne, did know was that the plays would end badly for their main characters. The protagonist not reaching his or her goal is a staple of Theater of the Oppressed, a form of social-action theater originated in military-ruled Brazil in the 1970s and an art form which Tamara Lynne has been bringing to communities in Portland for the past 15 years.
The presentations are short plays or skits presenting a specific problem or injustice. Afterward, audience members, referred to as “spect-actors,” discuss how the oppressed character in the play could act differently to fight their oppression. Intrepid spect-actors are then invited onstage to change the play’s course of events. Created by Brazilian theater director and theorist Augusto Boal, Theater of the Oppressed seeks to overturn the “oppressive” and passive role of the audience by inviting them to shape the final product.
“That practicing on the stage – confronting oppression and taking action – helps us build our muscles and prepare for those political and collective actions in real life,” said Lynne.
Another rule of the production is that the plays will necessarily incorporate the real stories and experiences of the present group of actors.
“We don’t create plays about other people but we will create plays about the experiences of the people in the room,” said Lynne.
Members of Living Stages’ partner Right 2 Survive and participants in Living Stages’ Streets to Stages, a program which engages people living on a low income or experiencing homelessness in theater, hope to engage Forum Theater Convergence audiences in their experiences with housing instability and the stigmas that accompany it.
Living Stages actor Marshell Hines first participated in a Theater of the Oppressed production three years ago after having been introduced to the theater company through JOIN. Once housed after a period of homelessness, Hines credits participating in Living Stages with helping her share her story of sleeping rough with audiences who may not otherwise hear – and see – her story.
Also presenting a play is Root Shock, a group of Portlanders invited by Design + Culture Lab who are experiencing “root shock,” a term adapted from gardening by psychiatrist Dr. Mindy Fullilove to describe the harmful health consequences people experience after a forceful displacement. In Portland, “root shock” is most often used to describe the symptoms of emotional traumatic stress experienced by communities and individuals, mostly African-American, forced out of their historical neighborhoods in North and Northeast Portland through gentrification and continually rising rents. Design + Culture Lab founder Joy Alise Davis sees partnering with Living Stages for the Forum Theater Convergence as a way of creating space for healing and community for Portlanders in the throes of root shock.
Right 2 Survive and Root Shock, together with environmental justice organization OPAL/Bus Riders Unite, hope presenting their stories at the Forum Theatre Convergence will ultimately inspire spect-actors to reevaluate the collective social actions they can take in their own lives. Living Stages Board Member Taryn Yum believes Theater of the Oppressed has the power to engage more people in social action in ways traditional movements fail to.
“In typical social justice work there’s a cost to getting people acclimated,” said Yum. “Theatre of the Oppressed is powerful because it bypasses that. People don’t require a social justice warrior vocabulary to be involved.”
Interested spect-actors will have a chance to witness and participate in three performances during the Forum Theater Convergence, Dec. 4-6. OPAL/Bus Riders United will present their play “Bus Stop Blues” at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4 at the Center for Intercultural Organizing. Right 2 Survive and Root Shock will present their plays respectively on Dec. 5 and 6 at 6:30 p.m. at Headwaters Theatre. Tickets are priced on a pay-your-wage scale from $0-25, and organizers emphasize that no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Purchase tickets here.