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Paragraph alignment spacer   Two people in discussion
  Why Forum Theatre?

“ The aim of Forum Theatre is to change the spectator from a passive to an active participant
and to encourage people to get active and engage in dialogue about issues of concern
within a given society”
  Text Divider Forum Theatre is a Theatre of the Oppressed technique that begins with the enactment of a scene (or anti-model) in which a protagonist tries, unsuccessfully, to overcome an oppression relevant to so that particular audience. The joker then invites the spectators to replace the protagonist at any point in the scene so that they can imagine an alternative action that could lead to a solution. The scene is replayed numerous times with different interventions. This results in a dialogue about the oppression, an examination of alternatives, and a “rehearsal” for real situations.
Glossary of terms from Augusto Baol’s Theatre of the Oppressed
  Text Divider Forum Theatre, developed by Augusto Baol in the 1970’s, opens up a dialogue about a special theme and leaves it to the audience to come up with solutions to a problem within their own society. It provides a creative space in which participants can bring their own questions.
  Text Divider This programme aims to promote the transformative power of Forum Theatre as a participatory learning style,
providing opportunities for multiple ways of knowing where dialogue takes place; it is an experiential form of
learning. We want to support and encourage participatory learning styles as opposed to “delivery” methods: learner participants as opposed to learner consumers. Mixing drama with real issues gives the process significance. As Carl Rogers says “The facilitation of significant learning rests upon certain attitudinal qualities that exist in the personal relationship between facilitator and learner”

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  Text Divider Employing Forum Theatre means that the narrative and associations are unpredictable - no session will be the same - it is a living dynamic space for spontaneity, and without this room to play it is very difficult to be creative and consequenly to legitimise and model creative thinking and creative problem solving.
A space is therefore created where everybody has the right to be heard and which involves the audience in finding solutions to problems by creating discussions and dialogues on how to handle these problems. We wanted to develop in teachers the confidence and skills to use this method - not only for issues concerning sustainability, but across the curriculum to create teacher/learner dialogues which fosters participation, responsibility and which promotes democratic practice.