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University of Northern Iowa

Journal

Theatre and Performance Studies

Theater of the Oppressed

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Education

Re-Examining, Re-Empowering: The Effect Of Contextualizing Testimonial Theatre On Spect-Actors, Felicia Owusu-Ansah Sep 2023

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, …


The Mechanism Of Empathy In Forum Theater, Ali Mansouri Sep 2023

The Mechanism Of Empathy In Forum Theater, Ali Mansouri

Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed Journal

Even though the concept of “Empathy” was mentioned in the earliest texts about performance, there has always been a dispute among theatre theorists in different eras regarding its impact on the audience. Although some have considered empathy as the basis of the theatre, others viewed it as a dangerous ground that can result in inappropriate and unhealthy feelings in the audience. Recent findings of neuroscientists have revealed that empathy (with both real people and fictional characters) is inevitable for human beings, and its unconscious mechanism exists in every mentally healthy person. I believe that this inherent ability can allow us …


Begin To Play: The Case For Play In Community Engagement In Higher Education, Naomi B. Roswell Nov 2020

Begin To Play: The Case For Play In Community Engagement In Higher Education, Naomi B. Roswell

Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed Journal

Although little is written about the role of play in community engagement in higher education, professors and administrators intuitively grasp its value in building trust and democratizing spaces, but use games thinly. This paper acknowledges the challenges of developing effective community engagement partnerships and demonstrates how and why games based in Theater of the Oppressed deepen and enhance initiatives to dissolve town / gown divisions and enable collaborative knowledge generation. Through an analysis of literature reviews and interviews, this paper makes a case for deliberately incorporating games from Theater of the Oppressed (TO) - to advance community engagement initiatives by …