ANN ARBOR—An internationally renowned author, director, social activist and the originator of a revolutionary approach to theater in use worldwide will visit the University of Michigan for events on Oct. 15 and 16.

Brazilian-born Augusto Boäl created an array of theatrical techniques and approaches that empower audiences and promote social change. Among them is the practice of inviting audience members (“spect-actors”) to change roles with the protagonist, then attempt to change the course of action on stage. Once audience members have tested their strategies in a theatrical setting, they are more likely to use them in real life.

Boäl (pronounced boh-AL) will conduct a hands-on workshop for faculty and graduate students, “Using Theater in the Classroom,” on Monday (Oct. 15).

Then on Tuesday (Oct. 16) a free public presentation, “Promoting Social Justice: A Conversation with Augusto Boäl,” will begin at 7 p.m. in the RC Auditorium, East Quad. Moderators for the event will be Kenneth C. Fischer, president of the University Musical Society, and Glenda Dickerson, director of World Performance Studies. A reception will follow.

Boäl comes to the U-M campus as a King-Chavez-Parks Visiting Professor, under the sponsorship of the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT) and the Office of the Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs.

“We are very excited and honored to be hosting Augusto Boäl,” said Constance Cook, director of CRLT. “CRLT’s own interactive theatre program shares Boäl’s commitment to theatre and dialogue as a means of promoting change in the classroom. The CRLT theatre program is a unique resource in the world of higher education. It is the only interactive theatre program that performs primarily for audiences of instructors, and it is the only one whose sketches focus on teaching and learning issues.”

The CRLT Players perform regularly for U-M faculty and graduate student instructors to illustrate good teaching practices. Among the topics for the CRLT Players sketches are gender in the classroom, identity and classroom conflict, and teaching students with disabilities. All of these sketches are based on Boäl’s approach to theatre and education.

Boäl was raised in Rio de Janeiro. He was formally trained in chemical engineering and attended Columbia University, where he received his doctorate. He was invited to return to Brazil to work with the Arena Theatre in Sao Paulo.

Following tradition, Arena Theatre audiences were invited to discuss a play at the end of the performance. In so doing, according to Boäl, they remained viewers and “reactors” to the action before them. It was in the 1960’s that he began to develop the process for which he is known. According to Boäl, a woman in the audience of one of his productions was so outraged that the actor could not understand her suggestion that she came onto the stage and showed what she meant. For Boäl, this was the birth of the “spect-actor” and his theatre was transformed.

As he developed the techniques, Boäl began inviting audience members with suggestions for change on stage to demonstrate their ideas. In so doing, he discovered that they became empowered not only to imagine change but also to actually practice it.

Following a military coup in Brazil in the 1960’s, Boäl’s work was looked upon as a threat to the government. Shortly after the publication of his first book, “The Theatre of the Oppressed,” in 1971, Boäl was arrested, tortured, and eventually exiled to Argentina, then self-exiled to Europe. While in Paris, he continued for a dozen years to teach his revolutionary approach to theatre, establishing several Centers for the Theatre of the Oppressed and organizing the first International Festival of the Theatre of the Oppressed in 1981.

Boäl returned to Rio de Janeiro in 1986 where he continues to reside. He has established a Center for the Theatre of the Oppressed there and has formed over a dozen companies, which develop community-based performances.

In 1992, Boäl published his second major work, “Games for Actors and Non-Actors.” Boäl’s third book, “The Rainbow of Desire,” elaborates a psychotherapeutic application of his techniques.

In 1997, Boäl received the Career Achievement Award from the National Conference of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education, the association for teachers of theatre. That same year he was invited to work with the world-renowned Royal Shakespeare Company. Boäl now travels extensively to work with theatre groups around the globe. His objective always is to leave behind a core of people who can offer Boal-style workshops and continue his approach to community theatre.

Augusto BoälKenneth C. FischerCenter for Research on Learning and TeachingConstance CookCRLT PlayersThe Theatre of the OppressedAssociation for Theatre in Higher Education