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Re-Examining, Re-Empowering: The Effect Of Contextualizing Testimonial Theatre On Spect-Actors, Felicia Owusu-Ansah

Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed Journal

To be empowered, freed from rejection, silence and trauma, one may have no choice but to speak up. But how does the silenced speak in the presence of the oppressor? At this point, theatre (of testimony) became the most useful tool to break the silence among irregular returnees in Akuma, Ghana. This qualitative study article reports on the healing and empowering effects of Testimonial Theatre on spect-actors during its use for dissemination of research findings to the researched community. It aims to show how Testimonial Theatre’s effects of compassion and empathy led to the resilience of human essence, breaking silence, …