Approaches To Acting: Augusto Boal

For one of my current theatre projects, I am researching Augusto Boal in preparation to teach a new topic "Approaches to Acting" as a part of the N.S.W. senior Drama course. This course provides the opportunity to study two theatre practitioners, and as such, I have selected to focus on Vsevlod Meyerhold along with Boal. This should present students with two very different but engaging "Approaches to Acting" that will inform their understanding on acting and playbuilding. Augusto Boal's work on"The Theatre of the Oppressed" is noted for his attempt to break down the division between the actors and the passive audience and resulted in the coining of the phrase "spect-actor" suggesting a more fluid connect between the two aspects of the performance process. The following entries on Augusto Boal will continue to explore this relationship between acting and the audience in Boal's work: on forum theatre, invisible theatre and the theatre of image, to develop a comprehensive understanding of Boal's approach towards acting. I will be drawing on the following references during this work.

• Games for actors and non-actors by Augusto Boal ( Routlegdge 1992)
• Theatre of the Oppressed by Augusto Boal (Pluto Press 2000)
• Hamlet and The Baker's Son by Augusto Boal (Routledge 2001)
• Augusto Boal by Frances Babbage (Routledge 2004)
• www.cardboardcitizens.org.uk

DVD Review: Primo is an amazing performance!

Through "Primo", Anthony Sher has demonstrated how brilliant and powerful theatre can be, whilst tastefully showing all the respect that Primo Levi and his Auschwitz story deserve.

For those of us who don't live in London or New York, we must thank theatre practitioners like the great Sir Anthony Sher for producing these resources for an enthusiastic audience. I attempted to showed a section of the DVD to my senior drama students as an example of a monologue performance and they wouldn't let me turn it off!

I could easily write an essay on how great this performance is but in an attempt to offer a brief review, I will simply say that if you love theatre and great acting, this DVD is a must!

(Note: This is a copy of my review from Amazon)

DVD Review: What Fantastic Coffee!

I originally purchased "Wake Up and Smell The Coffee" with two purposes in mind. I had seen H.S. Drama students performing excerpts from the DVD as monologues and I was curious to see more. As such, I was attempting to 1.) satify my own personal interest in theatre, and 2.) exploring the potential of the DVD as a teaching text for senior high school Drama students by studying how one actor performances (like Anthony Sher's Primo) can be entertaining, sustain an audience relationship and utilise a variety of performance techniques. Especially for those students that don't have regular access to live performance for whatever reason.

Personally, I found "Wake Up and Smell The Coffee" an excellent, entertaining and challenging show. It has been recorded maintaining a sense of the live performance atmosphere and the interview extra adds another interesting perspective to the whole performance making process. I particularly love how Bogosian manages to link each set piece into a collective thematic whole that not only entertains but also provokes us. He doesn't seem to hold back on any taboo subjects and attacks pertinent topics. The show seems so relevant to our contermporary world that there is a starting notice informing us that the performance was written and performed prior to September 11th 2001. I would happily recommend the DVD to anyone interested in performance, social commentary and/or comedy.

In regards to my second purpose as a teaching tool, I would feel less comfort offering this DVD to a room of senior students to watch as a whole but there are certainly plenty of sections within that would lend themselves to a student viewing and will help budding actors to appreciate how one actor can use elements of theatre to create a engaging performance. Finally, as a theatre lover, I would like to thank Mr. Bogosian for making this performance available.

(Note: This is a copy of my review from Amazon)