Biography of Boal Augusto Essays

The modernize approach of religion and traditions of the old African culture now converted into an Afro-Brazilian culture that still has an impact and exists today which is also still celebrated in Brazil. I believe that without slavery, many of the importance of both sides of society selling slaves and buying slaves would not have shaped humanity in the modern world. “Two centuries had seen African and European cultural religious and linguistic habits merging into unique Afro-Brazilian social and religious customs, music, and storytelling (Nellis 62).” The cultural influence of Afro-Brazilians has persistently grew from celebrations like carnaval into a mainstream popular culture. Brazil holds a variety of different ideas, culture and people. These ideas and traditions include musical interests, dancing, different food dishes, literature and art, festivities, and religious practices.

Above all, I wouldn’t be where I am today without theatre. Without the chance to perform throughout my life, I would be disconnected from the wide array of communities and histories that’s been imbedded in my daily routine. Unfortunately, it’s speculated that the theatre is a dying art form, because of the expanding popularities of movies (“Is”), but I think that it’ll remain a well renowned part of expressing imagination and interpreting history as years pass; it only takes cooperation with school faculty and young students that go above and beyond to change their

A. Attention getter: Imagine yourself on a white sandy beach far away from all the books and term projects due this week or the next. Away from the crowded elevators, busy streets and crowded train rides. Now imagine yourself surrounded by thousands of people screaming and shouting out of joy, watching colorful floats pass you by. You find yourself moving along with the music playing and just can’t help yourself. This is just something you would probably experience if you were to spend a night in Brazil.

acques LeCoq, a French practitioner and Augusto Boal, a Brazilian practitioner both aim to take their actors and the audience on a journey of discovery. Both Practitioners believed in ‘Freeing’ the body and making it ‘De-mechanicalized’ to enable full interpretation. LeCoq and Boal both use emotion, imagination, extensive body movement, playfulness and political matters to create their methods of theatrical practice.

Performance features of the performances were directed straight to the people. The amount of credit the audience gave the actors, determined the energy of the charcters. For example, if a crowd cheered Arlecchinos antics on, he would play this up by continuing it for a longer period of time. Such was the improvising nature of commedia conventions.

Brechts work is based on the concept that theatre is a means of political persuasion for the masses. He sees the theatre as a tool to manipulate the audience, and to influence their day-to-day living once that have thought about issues raised during the performance.

"A Philosophy of Theater « " East of Mina. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2011.

As a style of presentational theatre, epic theatre is crafted to exact its purpose; to challenge and instruct the audience to assess models of power and society

In the film Central Station (Central do Brasil), Walter Salles presents the characters as on a journey to self-discovery. It is a film about identity. Central Station is a melodrama of transformation based on an anomalous-duo comprising of Dora, a jaded retired schoolteacher, and Josué, a nine year-old boy, who embark on a cross-country journey in search of the boy’s father upon the unfortunate death of his mother. The film presents its analysts with many possible interpretations and significations due to its combination of different themes, visual allusions and narrative elements. Central do Brasil film can be interpreted in three ways: as an extended metaphor on the writing process and a narration of personal stories and experiences, as a figurative journey of Brazilian search for its identity depicted in Dora’s transformation and Josué’s quest for his roots, and as a theological allegory inviting a “theological reading of humans struggling to maintain a relationship to an absent God” (Bowman 1). Through a detailed analysis film’s content, production, and reception, this paper interprets Central do Brasil as an allegory representing the pursuit for identity and transformation.

In the words of Gay McAuley, “for an activity to be regarded as a performance, it must involve the live presence of the performers and those witnessing it…” (McAuley, 2009, cited in Schechner, 2013, pp.38). This statement recognises the importance of both the actor and the audience for something to truly function as a performance. In addition, Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones highlights the significance of the theatrical space and how it can influence an audience stating that “on entering a theatre of any kind, a spectator walks into a specific space, one that is designed to produce a certain reaction or series of responses” (Llewellyn-Jones, 2002, pp.3). The relationship between actor, audience and theatrical space is no less important today than it was at the time of theatre during the Spanish Golden Age and the creation of Commedia dell’arte in Italy. Despite being very close geographically with theatre thriving for both in the same era, sources that explore the social, cultural and historical context of these countries and the theatre styles will bring to light the similarities and differences. This essay will analyse the staging, the behaviour of the audience as well as the challenges the actors faced, and how this directly influenced the relationship between actor, audience and theatrical space.

The play Baal by Xavier caught my attention from the beginning with its unusual style. The play drew my attention since the first line. I thought that that the acting was spot on for each character in the show. The role Baal seemed like very tough role to play. This is because, the character had to be drunk and loud throughout the whole play. As the play progressed we meet more and more spooky and unusual character. From, a walking dead mistress, to a man that looks like a pirate. I really liked that there was never a boring part in the play. Although, at some points of the play I was confused. The play jumped around a little bit. Not only was the acting great. The setting brought each scene to life. The lights and sounds when each scene started.

As a child develops into an adult there are critical developmental steps that are necessary for a complete and successful transition. The physical transition is the most obvious change, but underneath the thick skin and amongst the complex systems, exists another layer of transitions. Ideas, rationales, ideologies and beliefs all dwell within this layer of each being. It could be said that a nation can also fit this transitional framework. A nation grows in both size (wealth, population, power), and in ideological maturity (emancipation of slaves, civil rights, women’s rights…etc). This constant evolution of ideas and size is the foundation of a successful government. Without change and

The history of theatre in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries is one of the increasing commercialization of the art, accompanied by technological innovations, the introduction of serious critical review, expansion of the subject matters portrayed to include ordinary people, and an emphasis on more natural forms of acting. Theatre, which had been dominated by the church for centuries, and then by the tastes of monarchs for more than 200 years, became accessible to merchants, industrialists, and the less privileged and then the masses.

The Theatre of the Oppressed is a form of theatre that uses a variety of games/exercises that seek to help people and communities to find solutions to problems and create greater harmony within groups. Augusto Boal, a Brazilian director, created it in 1973, however had the inspiration for it during the 1960s when he would invite audience members to stop performances and suggest different actions for the actors to carry out. Legend holds that at one of these performances, a woman was so irritated that the actor could not understand what she meant that she went on the stage and acted it out her self. Thus was born the spect-actor; a term that Boal used to describe audience members who would come on stage and act out the movements as they saw it should be. In doing this, he discovered that audience members had the power to not only imagine change, but also carry it out, creating an ability within them to reflect this idea of change within society and to view theatre not as a spectacle but as a language to be used. He was then exiled to Argentina because of this work, where he wrote his first major text, ‘The Theatre of the Oppressed’. He then moved to Paris where he continued to teach, establishing many Centres for the Theatre of the Oppressed.

The Life and Works of Bertolt Brecht In this essay I will consider the life and works of Bertolt Brecht, the famous theatre practitioner who has had such a dramatic impact on our understanding of the theatre and acting. First of all I will give a biography of Brecht because it is important to know the background of his life in order to understand the motives he had for writing and producing plays in the way he did. We will see a direct correlation between events in his life and the plays and techniques that he propagated. I will then move to explore the methods and techniques that Brecht developed, looking at how they came about and who influenced his work.