Forum theatre

Forum theatre is a type of theatre created by the innovative and influential practitioner Augusto Boal as part of what he calls his "Theatre of the Oppressed." Boal created Forum theatre as a forum for teaching people how to change their world. While practicing earlier in his career, Boal would apply 'simultaneous dramaturgy'. In this process the actors or audience members could stop a performance, often a short scene in which a character was being oppressed in some way. The audience would suggest different actions for the actors to carry out on-stage in an attempt to change the outcome of what they were seeing. This was an attempt to undo the traditional actor partition and bring audience members into the performance, to have an input into the dramatic action they were watching. Eventually this 'simultaneous dramaturgy' became Forum theatre when audience members were asked not just to suggest different actions, but to come on stage and perform their own interventions.

Origin and history

Forum Theatre

The Forum Theatre (formerly known as the "State Theatre") is a theatre and live music venue located on the corner of Flinders Street and Russell Street in the East End Theatre District of Melbourne, Australia. The building was designed by American architect John Eberson, who has designed many theatres around the globe, along with a local architectural firm at the time; Bohringer, Taylor & Johnson. It was designed as an "Atmospheric theatre" movie palace. The interior features reproductions of Greco-Roman statuary and a sky-blue ceiling decorated with small stars, mimicking a twilight sky.

History

Formerly the sites of Morning Post-Herald Building (on Flinders Street) and State Migration Office (on Russell Street) the site was initially purchased by Rufe Naylor's Empire Theatres Ltd of Sydney with the goal of building a 'live' theatre sister to his Empire in Quay Street, Sydney.

The building features a Moorish Revival exterior, including minarets and a clock tower. When it opened in February 1929, the cinema had the largest seating capacity in Australia, holding 3371 people. A dual-console Wurlitzer organ of style 270 was installed, featuring 21 rows of pipes and a grand piano attachment and oboe horn. The organ was removed from the theatre in 1963, and subsequently installed in the Moorabbin Town Hall (now Kingston City Hall) by members of the Victorian Division of the Theatre Organ Society of Australia.

Forum Theatre (Washington, D.C.)

Forum Theatre is a non-profit theatre company based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 2003, it produces three shows per season and is in residence at the H Street Playhouse. The company focuses on plays that feature storytelling and theatricality. The company also aims to host productions dealing with topics that lend themselves to post-show discussions, which the theatre hosts in the lobby.

History

Forum Theatre was founded in 2003 by Kelly Bartnik, Michael Dove, Paul Frydrychowski, and Mark Wright. Instead of using a single performance method, Forum would explore storytelling styles and artistic media. The founders had backgrounds in film, dance/movement, music, visual art, and theatre.

The company also aimed to bring new or seldom-performed plays to Washington, using the shows to promote artistic expression and discussion. The company’s first productions were a collection of Samuel Beckett short plays and a movement and video piece called All Things Seen, based on Jean-Paul Sartre's No Exit.