T.O. Philly News: Winter 2011-2012

2011 has been packed with a number of weekly workshops exploring different aspects of Theatre of the Oppressed, including communication without words, exploring the senses, and developing tools for facilitation. We also started hosting public performances of a family of techniques called the Rainbow of Desire. Known as "the Boal method of theatre and therapy," the Rainbow of Desire takes people's ongoing experiences with oppression and replays the situations in which these oppressions occur. We use the stage and the audience to expose hidden elements of the story, then take the pieces of the story apart and put them back together in a way that we would like the situation to be. From there we work to expand these acts of liberation beyond the stage and into the wider world. The Rainbow of Desire is a personally transformative process—If you'd like to host or participate in a workshop, get in touch!

Other things T.O. Philly has done this year have included a screening of the film Jana Sanskriti: A theater on the field, about the large Theatre of the Oppressed movement in India. The screening coincided with the release of the book, Celebrate People's History: The Poster Book of Resistance and Revolution, and the printing of a Jana Sanskriti poster featured in the book. Details on this show are posted on the venue's website. We also started a reading group to study and discuss some of the more historical and theoretical aspects of Augusto Boal's work, and some of us have been involved with ongoing Forum Theatre workshops and performances at the Attic Youth Center in Philadelphia. T.O. Philly has also been focusing on food justice by doing work with Mariposa Co-op in West Philly and at the Rooted in Community Youth Conference, hosted by the Urban Nutrition Initiative.

Outside of Philadelphia, T.O. Philly recently held college workshops with

North American Students of Cooperation at the University of Michigan; for an Applied Theatre course at The College of New Jersey; with the Marywood Players Theatre Club of Marywood University; and for a service learning program with students from William & Mary College. We also led trainings with English For Action in Providdence, RI; at Our Space LGBTQ drop-in center in Hayward, CA; at national retreats organized by the Jewish Farm School; at a camp for Philadelphia Yearly Meeting's Young Friends program; and at the 17th Annual Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed Conference in Chicago.

For more info about what we do or how you can get involved, contact us at 215-730-0982 or "tophilly@gmail.com".

Games for Actors and Non-Actors: What We Played, January 10th, 2012

In 2012, T.O. Philly takes up residence at the Rotunda for a number of classes and workshops on Tuesday evenings. Our first was on January 10th, with two dozen people who came to play games. These games come from a variety of sources: theatre games used by actors to warm up before rehearsal, trust-building and non-competative games from the "New Games" movement, and techniques that examine social relationships from the Theatre of the Oppressed—all have a folkloric quality that can be brought to almost any group.  Here's what we played:

Circle Games:
• Flying Dutchman: Ghost ships that race to safe harbors without colliding (hopefully).

• Group Juggling: Throwing and catching each others names, as well as juggling balls.

• Ooh-Ahh: The "ooh" goes one way, the "ahh" the other, and then the names start flying as games get combined.

Walking Games:

• Number Speeds: Speed up and slow down at the shout of a number, then do it without breaking eye contact with one other person.

• Handshakes/Hi-Fives/Hugs/Hellos: Each action (shaking hands, high-fiving, hugs, and waving hello) must be performed with a specific partner on cue. Combined with the previous game it's a beautiful mess.

• Lines and Trinagles: Secretly pick two people and form a shape with them—either a straight line or an equilateral triangle—without letting them know who they are. Oh, and everyone else is trying to do the same thing as well.

• Hagoo: Two teams form a corridor, one on each side, and each send a member to walk toward each other down the middle. The walkers cannot smile or laugh, though opposing team members try to make them do so, thereby getting them to join they're team.

Rhythm Games:

• Bronx/Paper/Scissors: Pairs play each other and the loser joins the winner's gang, backing 'em up as they play other RPS gang leaders. Everyone ends up in two big gangs, and then just one gang with no one left to fight.

• Carnaval em Rio: Same situation as above, one instead of throwing fingers, players throw rhythms—sounds made the mouth and movements made by the whole body. Pairs "morph" there rhythms into a unified compromise of individual movements and sounds, then morph with others into to fewer, bigger groups, until everyone is doing the same thing in unison.

• Rhythm Challenge: With one unified rhythm, the group faces the same way. A challenger steps out, faces the group and proposes a new rhythm, which members can defect to or refuse. Larger group wins with new rhythm being adopted by everyone or no one, and then a new challenger steps out, and so on.

Image Theatre Games:

• Animal Ritual: Everyone is secretly assigned an animal. They all enter the space in the manner of each animal—moving, making noises, foraging for food, and eventually interacting. Before exiting, each animal must find their mate (hopefully) of the same species.
• 10 Seconds of Noticing: In pairs, one stands with eyes closed while the other sculpts themselves into a motionless Image. The other open the eyes for 10 seconds, then replicates the image to the best of their ability. Adjustments are made by the original sculptor before switching roles. Individual images can then evolve into group images, movements, or anything else that adds layers of nuance, language and fun to the exercise.

Check out other rules for games on this site. Add your own by posting a comment below!

T.O. Philly News: Fall 2011

2011 was an active year for Philadelphia Theatre of the Oppressed, full of games, workshops, performances, travels and actions that brought this work into the wider world. On the local front, we rounded out two years of work at the Attic Youth Center with a 6-week service learning project that brought LGBTQ teens and allies together to address the issue of bullying. T.O. Philly facilitators also did some work with the Occupy Movement, as well as two dozen German volunteers who are in the U.S. for a year through Action Reconciliation Service for Peace. We'll have a post up soon with more info about our collaborations with these organizations, and look for info about our upcoming workshops on Tuesday evenings at the Rotunda.

Analytical Image from the Rainbow of Desire

Beyond Philadelphia, T.O. Philly represented at the annual Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed Conference in Chicago with a workshop called "Making Mistakes" about what we can do when this work does not work. In the summer we led a day-long Image Theatre workshop at Camp Onas with Quaker youth from all over Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and this fall a trip to Providence brought us to lead a training with English for Action, an ESL organization that uses the pedagogy of language education to enact social change.

Besides announcing our classes and events (of which there were many this past year) we're now using this blog as a general resource for all things Theatre of the Oppressed, including:

• Games: Rules for playing games and how the games can be applied to the work we do.
• Graphics: For public use by anyone who does Theatre of the Oppressed and wants an image for a flyer or the web.
• Glossary: In case someone's uses a T.O. term that others don't understand, now there's an online resource to ease up the jargon.

All of these resources are open source—please use them and attach a link to our blog if you do. And please contribute: if you have questions, variations on games, graphics or definitions for terms, leave us a comment or drop us a line and we'll add you in!

Thanks for reading. Hope to see you in 2012!

Love and Anger and Animals

We are starting to post rules for games and techniques! If you've used this game, have variations to add, or have questions about how this and other games are played, leave us a comment.

This is a rhythm game that can be played in pairs or in teams with many variations. It's a great warm-up for the body and voice, for being creative and receptive, and makes a good transition between ice-breakers and more involved theatrical work.

In his book Games for Actors and Non-Actors (London: Routledge, 1992), T.O. founder Augusto Boal briefly describes a game called "Crossing the Room" (p. 100) where "two actors cross the room from opposite sides, with a particular movement, rhythm and sound." In more recent workshops with Boal and his students, the game has taken on many different and more specific forms, two of which I'll give here:

Crossing the Room as Animals (two actors at a time with the rest of the group watching):

1. Divide the group in two and have them line up facing each other on opposite sides of the space. The front of each line is diagonally across from the front of the other.
2. The person at the front of each line thinks of an animal and then begins to act, move, and emit a noise like that animal. These two animals enter the space, moving slowly toward each other.
3. When the two animals meet in the middle, these actions, movements and noises become an interaction—an interspecies conversation. Each animal notices the actions/movements/sounds of the other.
4. The two animals each begin to "evolve" into the other, gradually giving up their own animal's characteristics and replacing them with those of the other animal. As they do this, the two animals physically switch places in the space as well.
5. These animals then finish crossing the room, arriving at the end of the line opposite from where they started, and the next pair of animals emerge from the fronts of the two lines.

Exchange of Love and Anger (in teams, with everyone going at once):

1. Actors form two lines with each person directly facing someone on the other side. (In case of an odd number of people, a facilitator can step in or out to make it even.)
2. All turn to face away from each other. One team forms images of "Love" and the other of "Anger."
3. All turn around once again to face each other. At the signal, actors dynamize their images, adding a movement and a sound, forming a rhythm. With these rhythms, the two teams gradually move toward each other.
4. Once they meet, each pair creates a dialogue of Love and Anger, and then exchanges rhythms gradually by giving up aspects of their original image and rhythm to take on those of their component, eventually transitioning completely. As this transition happens, Love and Anger switch places, as well as roles, and back away from each other to arrive in lines opposite from where they started.
5. Repeat this game a second time with each team taking on the opposite role. Partners then debrief, then the whole group discusses their experience.

Variations: The rules for these games are interchangeable and flexible: Love and Anger could be done in isolated pairs with the rest of the group watching, and Animals could be done as teams moving all at once. Other emotions can be swapped in, or try human professions instead of animals. As an alternative to exchanging roles, the rhythms could be morphed into a unified rhythm, ending up with a pair of identical hybrid creatures and/or emotions as the result—What is the synthesis of Love and Anger? Of a snake and a bumblebee? A goose and a lion? A bloodsucking leech and a hungry Wall Street broker? If you have any other variations or ideas, let us know!

Workshop photo taken in West Bengal by Luc Opdebeeck from Formaat, a Theatre of the Oppressed organization in Rottendam, Netherlands.

Colombian Hypnosis, Indian Hypnosis

We are starting to post rules for games and techniques! If you've used this game, have variations to add, or have questions about how this and other games are played, leave us a comment.

Games are at the foundation of Theatre of the Oppressed, and no game characterizes TO better than Colombian Hypnosis. The game's name comes from its point of origin: While in exile from his native Brazil, TO founder Augusto Boal developed many wordless techniques with indigenous Latin Americans. It was with a group of non-Spanish-speaking Colombians that Colombian Hypnosis was first realized.

Here I give the basic technique, as taught by Boal and many people in the U.S. and Europe. In a workshop, the game is often used as a transition point out of ice-breakers and into deeper conversations about power and oppression. Jana Sanskriti—the Indian Theatre of the Oppressed movement founded in West Bengal—uses Colombian hypnosis as a segue into working with still images, as well as a surrealistic theatre technique in their Forum plays. Their techniques are given below.

Colombian Hypnosis in pairs:

1. Participants pair off and choose who's Ⓐ and who's Ⓑ. Ⓐ puts a hand—fingers pointed up, palm facing out—about 8" (20cm) from Ⓑ's face. Ⓐ is the hyponotist. Ⓑ is hypnotized.
2. Moving very slowly and in total silence, Ⓐ leads Ⓑ around the space, playing with height, angle, position and rhythm, yet always keeping the movements very slow. Ⓑ must follow Ⓐ's hand, keeping the same distance and perspective at all times, as if hypnotized by it. Ⓐ's job is to challenge Ⓑ while remaining within the range of possibility as far as what Ⓑ can do.
3. After several minutes (as few as 5, as many as 30) Ⓐ and Ⓑ switch roles. Now Ⓑ hypnotizes Ⓐ for the same length of time that Ⓐ hypnotized Ⓑ.
4. After each has had a turn playing both hypnotist and hypnotized, both Ⓐ and Ⓑ put a hand in front of each other's faces, both hypnotizing and being hypnotized simulataneously.
5. Debrief, first in Ⓐ/Ⓑ pairs, then as an entire group—this part is very important. For most groups the facilitator need do very little to get an insightful dialogue going!

Variation in threes:

Same as Colombian Hypnosis in pairs, but now with Ⓐ, Ⓑ and Ⓒ. Each takes a turn using two hands to hypnotize the other two.

Variation in fives:

A single hypnotist hypnotizes four others, one on each hand, one on each foot.

Variation in groups:

A chosen hypnotist stands in the middle with all others choosing to be hypnotized by different body parts at different distances. The hypnotist must move very slowly in this variation, as the smallest movement can send certain people flying across the space at great speeds!

Chain Reaction:

Endless Hypnosis combinations are possible: a single hypnotsist can manipulate long chains or large mobs of hypnotized masses with each hand, or group members can randomly select to be hypnotized by body parts of unknowing participants—be creative!

Colombian Hypnosis in India: a gateway to Image Theatre

I learned this method in workshops with Sanjoy Ganguly, one the founders of Jana Sanskriti Centre for Theatre of the Oppressed in Badu, West Bengal. It begins with any game of Colombian Hypnosis given above—usually the 2-person or 3-person versions—with the following steps added:

1. All participants freeze or resume moving at a signal from the facilitator. These freezes can be rapid intervals, or long (sometimes uncomfortable) holds.
2. During a freeze, the facilitator can select one pair or group to remain frozen while all others come and look at the image and voice their observations. These first observations are objective, meaning that they are factual, physical characteristics of the image, not speculations as to what's going on.
3. After several objective observations, people can offer subjective observations: Who are these people? What are they doing, thinking, and feeling? What is their relationship? What happened before this? What will happen next?
4. After a number of observations, people resume the game until another freeze and another image is chosen for analysis.

This technique can go in many directions, and it tends to move the surreal narrative of Colombian Hypnosis into something more concrete. The facilitator may ask for participants to modify the image, or to dynamize it with movements, sounds or words. Jana Sanskriti also uses Colombian Hypnosis in their plays (pictured here) to illustrate power dynamics in a symbolic fashion. If you're rehearsing a play, try using Colombian Hypnosis as a rehearsal technique by having one character hypnotize one or two others while they say their lines. Or use Colombian Hypnosis as a "Mini Forum" by instructing the hypnotized to creatively break out from under the control of their hypnotist—again, the possibilities are endless!

Rainbow of Desire Workshop Series

This is a notice about past events. For information on upcoming events, click here.

7 Mondays • November 7-December 19 • 7:30-9:30 p.m.

at Studio 34 • 4522 Baltimore Ave • West Philadelphia

★ WORKSHOP CLOSED TO NEW PARTICIPANTS ★

New workshop series coming in 2012—stay tuned...

THE RAINBOW OF DESIRE is a family of theatrical techniques developed by Augusto Boal, founder of the Theatre of the Oppressed. Called "the Boal method of theatre and therapy," the Rainbow of Desire replays situations from our everyday lives and reveals invisible elements of our relationships, such as emotions, mental obstacles (a.k.a. "Cops in the Head") and desires that may be of hindrance or of help. Each session begins with theatrical games that develop a theatrical vocabulary and build group dynamics, then we move into sharing stories and choosing one to be acted out. From here, the Rainbow of Desire goes beyond the goal of helping us "get over" our past experiences; as in all branches of Theatre of the Oppressed, these workshops strive to vanquish ongoing oppressions, transforming individuals, relationships and society as a whole.

Below is a list of what we've focused on each week. For a guide to terminology used in these descriptions check out the Theatre of the Oppressed Glossary.

1. Games, Hopes, Fears, Images: For our group's first encounter, 20 people played icebreaker games and then shared hopes and fears for this series using a variation on Paolo Friere's "Problem Tree" popular education tool. We also worked with Colombian Hypnosis, the quintessential Theatre of the Oppressed game, as a method for developing the language of Image Theatre.
2. The Screen Image: A basic Rainbow of Desire technique with rotating cast that shows us their Images of the Antagonist, then trumps then with Counter-Images of the Protagonist.
3. Rashomon: Inspired by the Akira Kurosawa film of the same name, the characters in a story give their version of how things are from their own varied perspectives.
4. The Analytical Image: We expose an array of emotions contained in two characters, then match them up on a series of theatrical blind dates to see what works and what doesn't.
5. The Mask of the Oppressor and The Circuit of Rituals and Masks: Two techniques focusing on the concept of "mask"—a static way of presenting ourselves in specific relationships and situations. In the first technique, everyone has the opportunity to wear the mask of their own oppressor, as well as someone else's mask of the oppressed. In the second technique, one person wears the mask normally worn in one situation and applies it to other situations to see what the results are. 
6. The Rainbow of Desires: When we're in a relationship where we want something, but we're not sure what it is, this technique separates the muddled entanglement of desires into distinct "stripes" for us to figure out which desires are useful and which ones can be done without.
7. The Carrousel  of Oppressions: We all deal with oppressive circumstances that have similarities to and differences from one another. This technique puts people in each others shoes to witness and be witnessed how they fare. 

For information on the Rainbow of Desire, or any of our other workshops, get in touch: "tophilly@gmail.com" or 215-730-0982.

Games Classes: What We Played

In October of 2011 T.O. Philly held a series of short drop-in classes that bought together an assortment of games and exercises to be used with any group. Whether working with kids or young adults in a classroom, actors or dancers on a stage, organizers and activists fighting for a cause, or even friends or family in our communities, these games are useful tools to bring people together while thinking outside the box. We made time and space available after each session to strategize how we use these games in the work that we do.
Below is a list of games that we played each week, along with a little overview. Many games have been passed along by other practitioners of Theatre of the Oppressed, some directly from T.O. founder Augusto Boal, or via his book Games for Actors & Non-Actors. Other sources are given below:
Week 1:
• Name Three Times—Circle name-game where the person in the middle tries to get out by saying someone's name three times without interruption.
• Writing Names—A partner name-game in which people tell each other about themselves and then write each other's names in the air using different parts of the body.
• Cat & Mouse—Tag game with duos of people standing shoulder-to-shoulder while a mouse runs away from a cat. The mouse can escape by joining a duo, thereby turning the person on the other side of their neighbor into the new mouse.
• Walking in Pairs—A series of theatrical walks that each person performs for and with a partner. We played with eye contact, speeds, sizes, distances, moods, mirroring, opposites and several made-up environments or situations.
• Unifying Rhythms—Adapted from Boal's "Carnaval Em Rio," individuals make different movements and sounds and then morph them into one unified rhythm.
• Closing Clap—In the circle, all start with hands apart, then try to bring them together at the same time.

Week 2:

• Whoosh Boing Zap Freakout—Variation on classic circle games like "Pass the Clap" or "Zip-Zap-Zop" where a sound and gesture is passed around or across the circle. Picked up from members of Chicago's RedMoon Theatre.

• Enormous Elephant—First layer is a name game where each person picks an alliterative animal identity, second layer is a rhythm game with an ever-changing pecking order. Adapted from "King Elephant" in The New Games Book and a more modern version called "Big Booty" that we picked up from some prison abolitionists in Pittsburgh.

• Go Tag—Another one from The New Games Book, originally from India, a line of people conspire to catch a single runner.

• Empty Chair Tag—One chair per person, all filled but one. The person who's "it" walks toward the empty chair and it's up to everyone else to prevent them from sitting down.

• Switching Places in the Circle—Similar game, only chairs are in a circle with one fewer chairs than people. People switch places while the person stuck in the middle runs for a free seat. Can also be played without chairs.

• The Red Shoes (a.k.a. "Big Wind Blows")—Similar game, only the person in the middle makes a statement that's true about themselves and all who share in that truth get up to find an empty seat. In Theatre of the Oppressed we often "up-level" the game by playing a second round focusing on experiences of oppression.

• Animal Tracker—Partner game where each person who has their eyes open leads their partner with eyes closed around the room by making animal noises.

Week 3:

• Hey You! What's Your Name?—Circle game where one person points at another, asks their name and moves across the circle to take their place while that next person continues the process. We played 3 rounds: 1st with the question, 2nd without the question, 3rd the answer being the name of the pointer.

• Captain's Coming—The Crew must follow orders given by the Captain(s) or else walk the plank: Captain's coming! At ease! Crew to Port/Starboard/Stern/Bow, swab the deck, Captain's ball, chow time, and maybe some other orders we made up along the way.

• Peruvian Ballgame—Classic Theatre of the Oppressed game developed in Peru. Each person makes and plays with an imaginary ball, then swaps it with one person, then a second, before trying to find and reclaim the ball that each originally had. Our version was extra hard because we swapped balls 3 times before trying to find our originals!

• The Cloth Game—Members of two teams try to score points either by tagging a cloth or tagging the person who tagged the cloth before they can get back to their place in line. This game comes from the Jana Sanskriti Theatre of the Oppressed movement in India, and also appears in Augusto Boal's Games for Actors and Non-Actors book using a hat instead of a cloth.

• Blind Obstacle Course—Another Jana Sanskriti game. Two teams each send a member out with eyes closed to sit in a chair, write their name on a piece of paper, sit in another chair and then click 2 sticks together. Sighted teammates can give verbal guidance to aid (or abet) their teammate.

• Find Your Mama Like A Little Penguin—In a circle, each person makes a non-vocal noise with their mouths and remembers the sounds of those on either side of them. All players close their eyes and wander around the room, then try to get back into place by recognizing the sounds of their original neighbors.

• Handshakes, High-Fives & Hugs—Each person has one other person with whom they shake hands, a different person that they high-five, and third person to hug. Facilitator calls out "Handshake! High-Five! Hug!" and everybody must run and pair up with the right person on cue.

• Circle of Hands/Crossed Hands/Hands to the Floor—Rhythm games using patterns of hands making rhythms on and off the floor.

Playing the Cop in the Head

This is a notice about past events. For information on upcoming events, click here.

A Theatre of the Oppressed Performance

Friday, October 14th, 2011 at 7:30 p.m.

Studio 34 • 4522 Baltimore Avenue

right on the #34 trolley line in West Philadelphia

A free event • donations welcome
THE COP IN THE HEAD is a Theatre of the Oppressed technique that deals with internalized oppression. Whenever we stop ourselves from doing what want to do or saying what we need to say, there may be discouraging voices and experiences from our past that hinder our actions. In this interactive performance, we’ll take these “cops” out of our heads and deal with them one by one, with the aim of disarming them altogether.
FOR MORE INFO please call 215-730-0982 or send an email to "tophilly@gmail.com" and click here to attend the event on Facebook.

A Theatre of the Oppressed Glossary

Like any profession or educational system, Theatre of the Oppressed has its own terminology. Some terms are derived from traditional forms of drama, others from anti-oppression pedagogy, such as popular education. One of Theatre of the Oppressed's goals is to "multiplicate" (from the Portuguese verb "multiplicar"—to multiply), meaning to make its language and methodology accessible to as many people as possible. So far this aim has been largely successful: Theatre of the Oppressed is now used by millions of people in more than 70 countries.

In hopes that more people will put Theatre of the Oppressed into practice, we have started a glossary of terms here—"started" because this is an open document. If you want to add an entry or alter a definition, leave a comment on this page!

Terms Commonly Used in Theatre of the Oppressed:

• Actor: A person who performs an action, whether onstage or off.
• Ally: A person with privilege who takes action in support of oppressed people. (Also see potential ally.)
• Antagonist: A character in conflict with the story’s protagonist.
• Cop in the Head: A Theatre of the Oppressed technique aimed at dismantling internalized oppression.
• Difficultator: A facilitator who offers challenges to a group as part of a workshop process.
• Dynamization: The process of adding movements, sounds and words into a piece of Image Theatre.
• Facilitator: A person who directs the flow of a discussion or workshop. Literally “one who makes things easy.”
• Forum Theatre: A play performed in front of an audience in which audience members can step onstage, take the place of a character or characters and change the story’s outcome.
• Games/Gamesercizes: Group activities that get people comfortable with themselves and each other, build trust and develop skills necessary for working with the language of Theatre of the Oppressed.
• Ideal image: A desired, improved variation on the Real Image in Image Theatre.
• Image: A motionless sculpture made from human figures.
• Image Theatre: A form of Theatre of the Oppressed that uses collectively constructed still images to convey meaning.
• Institutional power: The ability or authority to decide what's best for others, to decide who can access resources, and to exercise control over others. 
• Joker: The facilitator/difficultator in a Theatre of the Oppressed workshop.
• Kinesthetic: Relating to the body and/or movement.
• Mask: An image that an actor takes on to embody a character.
• Mirror: When an actor or actors take on the image, movements, sounds, words, characteristics and/or actions of another actor.
• Objective observation: Responding to an image with commentary on its physical nature alone.
• Oppressed: Anyone who is subject to others having power over them.
• Oppression: The combination of prejudice and institutional power which creates a system that discriminates against some groups (often called “target groups”) and benefits other groups (often called “dominant groups”).  
• Oppressor: A person who exerts power over another person. (Also see passive oppressor.)
• Passive oppressor: A person who oppresses by taking actions that support oppression and/or failing to take action to help the oppressed.
• Pedagogy of the Oppressed: A practice of teaching and learning developed by Paolo Friere that inspired his friend Augusto Boal to create Theatre of the Oppressed.
• Player: Participant in a theatre workshop or performance.
• Potential ally: A person who has the power to help an oppressed individual or group but may not have taken actions to actually help.
• Power: See institutional power.
• Privilege: Personal, interpersonal, cultural, and institutional systems that benefit members of dominant groups at the expense of members of target groups. Literally means "Private law."
• Protagonist: A main character from whose perspective a story is told.
• Rainbow of Desire: A specific therapeutic theatre technique, and also a family of techniques, aimed at dismantling internalized oppression.
• Real image: A representation of an oppressive situation as seen by the people who create the image.
• Sculpt: The process of creating images with people’s bodies.
• Self-sculpt: To create an image with one’s own body.
• Simultaneous Dramaturgy: A technique for rehearsal and performance where onlookers can freeze a scene, direct actors to do something differently, then unfreeze the scene to see the changes.
• Spect-actor: A participant in the Theatre of the Oppressed, both spectator and actor.
• Subjective observation: Responding to an image with commentary based on perception, speculation and intuition. 
• Technique: An intricate Theatre of the Oppressed exercise, more complicated than games.
• Theatre of the Oppressed: A system of theatrical games and techniques that examine and dismantle dynamics of oppression.
• Theatre pedagogy: The use of theatre to develop language and social awareness; Theatre of the Oppressed is a form of theatre pedagogy.
• TO: Abbreviation for "Theatre of the Oppressed."

Again, this is an open document: If you want to add an entry or alter a definition, leave a comment on this page!