Day 2

“It is people and their struggles that give meaning to the practice of Theatre of the Oppressed […] the goal of this training is firstly to acknowledge our struggles (in our personal lives or political, social and cultural worlds) and discover in ourselves the imaginative power to create change” (Manual of the Conference, 2015).

Debrief on Facilitation Skills and General Questions

Participants had the opportunity to ask questions about facilitation. This space will continue happening throughout the week.

“TO is about shaking things off”

Activity 1: Obstacle course

In a broad framework this exercise was about communication and the different ways communication can happen; and it implies also the task of creating a new language even with our bodies.

Activity 2: Labour Dance

Participants picked an activity they do every day as part of their routines and made a dance out of it.

It was beautiful to see all the performances that came out from these simple actions.

Activity 3: Power Shuffle

This activity was about acknowledging out privilege.

Activity 4, 5 and 6: Image of images, Dynamise images in groups, Affinity groups and conversations + Plays

This activity was about creating group images from different themes and then thinking about the theme and body action, identifying one secret thought that comes out from them.

Then the participants had to think about a moment of conflict in their lives and reflect on it, identifying when it happened, how, where, with who, feelings, actions and words. After, they had to made a body movement and find a position that described this conflict. Five images were picked and people sat in circles to have a conversation about their experiences. Then, the participants chose one of these experiences and created a short performance out of it. The results were amazing.

They were about gender, self-determination, need for emancipation and liberation, argument and disagreement, violence, hypocrisy and contradictory behaviors, loneliness and the need of space in relationships; among other topics and interpretations.

Closing

We closed our eyes and reflect on what happened on the day, what we learned and with what we connected today; some of the thoughts were: understanding, awareness and sharing stories safely.

Tomorrow is going to be a great day! We are going to talk about Boal’s Rainbow of Desire.

Everything we are learning is a preparation; we have to always keep in mind the need of giving meaning to everything we are doing here. 

By Sara Pan Algarra