Forum Theatre

 
 

In ‘forum theatre’ the ‘play’ can be negotiated and purposefully changes through a dialogue between actors and audiences. The audience are encouraged to join the actors in helping them to solve their character’s problems and resolve their difficulties by trying different behaviours, speech and actions.

Forum theatre can be used in drama to:

  • Work towards the resolution of a problem or issue

  • Hear, see and examine both sides of an argument

  • Consider alternative courses of action and their impact on self and others

  • Consider the impact of the different uses of language

  • Examine motivation, why people say and do certain things and what impact this can have on others and on situations

  • Discuss why some people have power and others don’t and whether and how this can be positively changed

  • Help characters to behave and feel differently and experience the possible changes this can make to themselves and the situation they are in (linking cause and effect).

In making ‘forum theatre’ we need:

  • A defined space/place where the discussion and investigations will take place. This could be a stage or simply be a space in the middle of the room.

  • This might be improvised or scripted dialogue, a moment in drama, a movement sequence or even a still image. Normally the passage under investigation will be quite short and will have been prepared for presentation and scrutiny.

  • To show the ‘play’.

  • To observe the play and respond to it.

  • Who join in the play sometimes only partially by suggestion ideas from their seats in the audience or sometimes by getting up and joining the actors in the performance space to work with or as them.

  • Who ‘manages’, facilitates and mediates the interventions and discussions. This role is usually undertaken by the teacher.

  • The facilitator needs to set out clear rules for intervention.

 

Many types of audience intervention can happen in ‘forum theatre’: some of the key ways in which a member of the audience can contribute to the forum and become a ‘spect-actor’ are through:

  • Questioning characters who then answer in role.

  • Suggestions alternative actions for the characters to try that may lead to a different response and outcome.

  • Suggesting different things the characters could say that may lead to a change of outcome when other characters respond.

  • Coming into the performance space and helping a character to make a point or win an argument by working alongside them in the role.

  • Taking the place of a character (substitution) and showing how that character could behave differently.