Born in Brazil in 1931 to Portuguese parents, Augusto Boal worked with the Arena Theatre of Sao Paulo from 1955, making theatre in factories and on the streets.  Following imprisonment and torture by the dictatorship in 1971, he was exiled to Argentina.  Here and in Peru he developed his concept of Theatre of the Oppressed (TO) until 1976, when the political climate forced a move to Europe.  He returned to Brazil in 1986, later serving as an MP.  TO is now a world-wide movement  (www.theatreoftheoppressed.org) with centres in dozens of countries. Boal has been nominated for the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize.

Marketplaces in sixteenth-century Europe thronged with barkers and costermongers calling their wares and travelling shows where mountebanks staged miraculous recoveries amidst masks and music.  Within this carnival atmosphere, improvised theatre naturally thrived as a popular pastime.  Rude, funny and satirical, commedia dell’ arte established itself across the piazzas of Italy from the 1530’s onwards. The term arte signified that the comedy was performed by professional actors - who could sing, dance, mime, clown, juggle and tumble their way through the improvised shows.  The players lampooned social stereotypes according to their status or regional origin.  These evolved into the larger than life stock characters easily recognisable by audiences across a crowded market place.  An actor would often play the same character for the whole of his or her working life.

A summary of some of the requirements of the Edexcel GCSE drama paper one with links to appropriate sections of the site.

Explorative Strategies

• Still image
• Thought tracking
• Narration
• Hot-seating
• Role play
• Cross-cutting
• Forum theatre
• Marking the moment