When theatre of the oppressed becomes theatre of the oppressor

Abstract

On 6 February 2008, a deliberative theatre experiment was held at the National Archives of Quebec. Inspired by the democratic virtues of public deliberation but preoccupied with its blind spots, Forum Theatre was used as a deliberative medium to initiate discussion about the social tensions between the homeless and other dwellers of public space in downtown Montreal. At this event, many audience members rejected the depiction of themselves as oppressors in the play. As a result, the perspectives of the oppressed towards their oppressors were appropriated by the perspectives of the latter towards themselves, thereby reproducing a typical deliberative space in which the hierarchy in the audience dominated the agenda, while our homeless participants endured in silence. Drawing from Schutzman, Neelands and O'Sullivan, I will argue that what actually took place during the event speaks to the uneasy transposition of a third-world aesthetic of resistance in a first-world individualistic context of identity politics. Following Prentki, I will further argue that this uneasy transposition is exacerbated by a funding climate predicated on an uncritical colonial model of social inclusion. In this instance, ‘colonialism’ refers to normative understandings of inclusion versus experiences of those who live on the margins.

Cuando el teatro del oprimido se convierte en el teatro del opresor.

El 6 de Febrero de 2008, un experimento teatral deliberativo tuvo lugar en los Archivos Nacionales de Quebec. Inspirado por las virtudes democráticas de la deliberación pública pero preocupado por sus puntos ciegos, el Teatro Foro fue empleado como un medio deliberativo para iniciar el debate sobre las tensiones sociales entre los sin techo y otros moradores de las espacios públicos en el centro de Montreal. Lo que sigue es un análisis crítico del proceso que desembocó en este evento y lo que aconteció en el evento mismo. Argumentamos que lo que realmente tuvo lugar durante los talleres y durante las charlas se dirige a métodos análogos a la mediación poco crítica más que al Teatro del Oprimido. Estos métodos fueron incapaces de dar cuenta ni de compensar por las desigualdades entre un pequeño grupo de participantes sin techo y sus domiciliados espectadores. Como resultado, las situaciones teatralmente presentadas por nuestro grupo de sin techo fueron ampliamente invalidadas por la audiencia, de este modo reproduciendo un espacio típicamente deliberativo en el que la jerarquía en el público dominó la agenda, mientras que nuestros participantes sin techo sufrían en silencio.

當被壓迫者劇場變成壓迫者劇場

在2008年2月6日，魁北克國家檔案館舉行了一次協商劇場的實驗。該實驗的靈感來源於公共協商中的民主精神，但卻又被公共協商的盲點所蒙蔽。論壇劇場曾作為協商媒介，就蒙特利爾商業區的無家可歸者和其他居民對公共空間產生的社會矛盾發起討論，並對導致該事件的過程以及該事件的後果進行了批判性分析。筆者認為，在工作坊期間真實發生的事件更關注於非批判性的調節方法而背離了被壓迫者劇場的初衷。對於作為參與者的無家可歸者和作為觀賞者的當地居民之間協商的不平等，這些所謂的方法毫無裨益。其結果是無家可歸者通過劇場所呈現的情況很大程度上被觀眾否定，它所呈現的是一典型的協商空間——觀眾所代表的等級牢牢掌握話語權，而我們無家可歸的參與者只能保持緘默。

Keywords:

• Forum Theatre
• deliberation
• homeless
• public space
• recognition

Notes on contributor

As a Ph.D. in Applied Humanities at the University of Montreal, and professor at Concordia University Sociology-Anthropology Department, Sonia Hamel developed a passion for urban anthropology and social activism. Following her graduate degree, she drew from this social activism by getting involved in several Montreal neighbourhoods where she focused on mobilising disenfranchised populations. This experience raised important questions about access to public space for marginalised groups which she explored in her thesis.

Notes

1. Names of homeless participants are fictitious.

2. Comment from the newly appointed coordinator of the neighbourhood coalition we partnered with during a subsequent discussion including the practitioner and myself.