invisible theatre - augusto & susan

7/22/2019 Invisible Theatre - Augusto & Susan

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Invisible Theatre: Liege, Belgium, 1978Author(s): Augusto Boal and Susana EpsteinSource: TDR (1988-), Vol. 34, No. 3 (Autumn, 1990), pp. 24-34Published by: The MIT PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1146066 .

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Invisible heatreLiege, Belgium, 1978

Augustooal

Whathappenedat Liege was an interestingxperience or me. Therewere so manysubjectsto discuss and delicateproblems o deal with;somanypeopleto talkto and so manyunexpected vents ookplacethatweendedup beingmuchmore aware of whattheatres about, ts imitations,itsfunctions,nd dangers.I begandoing"invisible heatre"nArgentinan 1971.And until oday,aftero manyyears nd all the countries've beento, I have neverpartici-pated n sucha richexperience s the one in Liege, Belgium, n October1978.I will start t thebeginning.AnneMartynow ndBrunoDucoli invitedmetodo oneofmy"theatreof theoppressed"workshopsfirst n Brussels and then at Liege. Therewereabout40 participants, en and womenrangingnagesfrom 8 to 50years ld,from elgium,Morocco, Tunisia, taly, rance, nd other oun-tries.What we usuallydo intheseworkshops or hefirst hree ays s in-housegroupexercises, ames,and discussions boutthedifferentorms fthe "theatre ftheoppressed."On thefourth ay,we normally o invis-ible theatrepieces in public places, such as restaurants,upermarkets,trains,ndstreets, epending ponthechosen ubjects.Finally, hework-shop finisheswith a public performancealled "theatreforum"whichincludes pectator articipation.We spentthefirst hreedays in Brussels,then we went to Liege andprepared nlyone invisible heatre erformance.It tookplace in thefollowingway:

Ist action: About a dozen actorsgo into a supermarketnd start uyingthings.2nd action: Francois, heprotagonist, ets n line withhisshopping art.He has bread, milk,margarine,nd eggs.Nothingextra, nly ndispens-able tems.Nine other ctorsget ntheneighboringineswaiting or heirturn o getto thecashregister.The Drama Review 4, no.3 (T127), Fall 199o

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Invisibleheatre 53rdaction: Francois ets o the cashregister.efore hecashiertartscheckingheprices ut,Francois arns er hat e needs verythinge'sgot nhiscart ut hat edoesn't ave noughmoney opayfort. Heexplainshat e sunemployednd hat ehas penteveral oursryingoget job, but ince herere pproximatelyoo,ooo nemployedeoplenBelgiumt svery ifficultofind ne.The cashierays hat is torysnone fher usinessnd hat erob istochargeor hemerchandisehatpeople uy.Francoisnsistshat ewould ike opay.He adds hat fterllhe couldhave ried o stealwhathe'sgot nhiscart uthewouldratherpay .."Howcome? ou'veust aidyou on't ave hemoney.""Let's o t his ay:you ellme owmuch hathave nmyartostsnd'llworkn hisupermarketsmanyourssnecessaryo ay orhewholehing.t'ssimple: offero aywith orknsteadfmoney.."Thecashier,ecomingngry,xplainshathe annotxchange oodsfor abor. he canonly ccept he rdinary ayofbuyingndpaying.4th ction:Participationfthe therctors,ach f hemnher/hiswnrole.One among hem, nne, ccuses rancoisfbeing bum."Thosewho eally ant o et obalwaysindne..... It'sonlyhose hodon't ant owork ho an't et ob!""What's ourobMiss?""I workt home.Myhusbands themanagerf corporation.. .""Ah .."Anotherctor nnounceshat e sunemployedooand hat eadmiresFrancois'ourageo admit hat e hasnomoney.He blamesheBelgianeconomicystemor he ituation.bviouslyt snot heiraultince heyarewillingoworkbut an'tgetobs. Anotherctor ells rancoisotryandfindjob inanotherity.Atthis oint, discussionbout he ifferentBelgian nationalities"ndthecurrentconomic roblemsakesplace.(Many ndustriesavemoved o the heaper orthernart fBelgium,bringingealth otheFlemishegionwhilempoverishinghe outhernFrench-speakingWalloon.)Thecashierhreatensocall hemanager. notherctor ays hat ran-cois s rightincehedoesn'twant osteal, eonlywants o do the amething verybodylsedoes but nreverse...."YouMiss, ornstance,hat oyou o?Youworktthisash egisterhoursa day nd y he nd f heweek,fteravingorkedor 0or 5hours,re aid.Then, ith he amemoney,ou oyourwnhoppingn hisameupermarket.It's erfect.im,hewantsodotheamehingut he ther ay round.. ."Thecashier oesnotknowwhat odo and shecalls hemanager.ynow all the customersre talking boutunemployment,rices, ndsalaries,ossibleolutions,tc. n so doing, heyrehelped ythe ctors-jokerswho"warm-up"hepublic ybringingpnew ubjectsfdiscus-sion ndposing uestionsofeed hedebate.5th ction:Arrivalf hemanager ho nthemeantimeas lreadyalledthepolice.Themanagerries oconvincerancoiso eave he ine.Fran-coiscontinueso beextremelyolite, ever aising isvoicewhile ryingtosound incerendpersuasiveince e sdefendingvaluable rinciple.Theother ustomersnsist hat rancois e allowed o express imself.One ofthe ctorsuggestsollecting oney osolveFrancois' roblem,butacknowledgeshat his s not a goodwayto solvetheproblemsf600,000ooonemployedelgians. heydoverywell nd nonly fewmin-



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About BoalAugustoBoal is a major innovator f post-Brechtianpoliticaltheatre nd practice. n thisissue we are publishing everal exts nd inter-viewsby,with, nd about Boal.Boal was born nRio in 193 . His father adwantedhimto be a doctor. Whenhe graduatedfrom heUniversity fBrazil n 1952,Boal hada degree n chemicalengineering-buthe wasalreadytakenby theatre. n 1953 he came toNew York, ostensibly o studychemistrytColumbia University.Mostlyhe attended heclassesofJohnGassner,NorrisHoughton,andMauriceValencyand worked n a smalltheatre

on46thStreetwith groupofplaywrights.hewriters ad to direct heir wn plays-so Boalbecame a director.Returningo Brazil n 1956Boal drew noticeas director f the ArenaTheatreof Sao Paulowherehe directed ontroversial lays.His productionst Arena ncludedOf Mice and Men (1956), Zumbi (1964), Tartuffe1965), The Mandrake(1966),and theSao Paulo FairofOpinion1968). "I tried o do all I could torestore emocracy-by writing, irecting,ndpolitical ction,"Boal says.But the authoritieswere not amused. In 1971 theArenatheatrewas at-tackedby thugs nd Boal was ailed and tortured. fter hreemonthshewas released nd left orArgentinawherehe stayeduntil1976.InArgentina oal didplayshe couldn'tdo inBrazil- Torquemada1971)and Uncle croogeMcDuck 1973). He was also working n manypartsofLatinAmerica, eginningodevelopwhatwere tobecome themethods f

1. Augusto oal,workingintheatren Riodejaneiroin1952,appears nthe etofhis roductionfEugeneO'Neill's EmperorJoneswithmembersf he ast.(Photo ourtesyfAugustoBoal)

utes hey atherround F600,whichsclose oFF150.Francoisays isbillbutto his surprise,hesupermarket'sanagernd somesecurityguardstophimfromeaving. hey ven lock imwith whole ine fshoppingarts. heywant hepolice oarriveefore rancoiseaves hestore. rancoisttemptso eave nemore ime uthe can't.Atthis oint,allthe ctors,ncludinghosewho, ccordingothe cript,re upposedobeagainstrancois,ake nhisdefenseelped y noverwhelmingajor-ity f real ustomers.6th ction: Thepolice rrive.Making se oftheir roverbialoliteness,they ush roundhose eoplewhobotherhem,maul hosewhoare heslowest o follow heirnstructions,nd venmanageo mmobilizeran-cois.Theywant oarrestim ut verybodyrotestsoudly. eople re nFrancois'ide.Thepolice fficersannot elievewhat heyee.The officern charge sksthemanager,Is this thief, esorno?"Everybodyaysnoand offerso bea witness. hemanager,ettingn-grier ytheminute,nsistshat rancoise taken othepolice tation."Well, ow oyouwantme o rresthismanwhen ehasn'ttolennythingandwhen herere ll these itnesseseadyodeclarenhis avor? heyre ll



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the heatreftheoppressed,echniquesodi-rectlynvolvepectatorsna theatreunctioningas a "rehearsal ortherevolution." ut thepolitical ituationn Argentinarewworse.And n 1976,Boal left orPortugal here edirectedlays ndtaughtttheNational on-servatoryf Theatre.n 1978thePortuguesegovernmenturnedo therightnd Boal nolonger elt omfortable.e acceptedn offerfromhe orbonneo teachn Paris.In Paris n 1978-79Boal ran a five-monthworkshop or20 people.At the end of theworkshopeofferedten-dayession-and 00people ame.Boaldivided isgroup f20 ntosmall adres.Atthe ndofthe endays t wasdecidedo continuehework nderhebannerof he Centre uTheatree 'Oprime ugustoBoal." From 979 o thepresenthe enter asbeen hehubof Boal'sactivities.In 1986, fter changengovernments,oalwas nvitedack oBrazil odevelop theatreprogramesignedoreach oor chool hildren. hen hegovernmentagain hanged,his rogram asextinguished.owever, oal remainsbased n Rio-thoughhe travels xtensively,unning orkshopsnEurope, atinAmerica, orthAmerica,ndAfrica. roups asing heiractivitiesnBoal's ystemxisthroughouturopendLatinAmericandarenowbeginningntheU.S. as well.Formorenformationegardingheatref he ppressedctivities,leasesendyour equests ith self-addressedtampednvelopeinternationalstamp) o:Augusto oal,Producoes inematograficas,ua tacuraca5apto. 502,Tijuca, Rio deJaneiro-R.J.,Brazil.Tel. 00-55-21-2674809

JanCohen-CruzRichardchechner

2. Thirty-oneearsater-Boal leading workshopnZurich1983). Photo our-tesy fAugusto oal)

sayinghat ot nly ehasn't akennythingut ehasn'tven riedo tealthing!"Themanager,owever,s a stubborn oman:"I want hismanrrestedor avingausedpublicisturbance!"Herarguments that henormalunctioningfher tore asbeenhurtbythisncidentince hehas ost ime ndmoney uringhe isturbance,andthe ncidentsgoing oprevent any ustomersromoming ack.Thepolice fficern charge as few hoices. rancoiss taken othepolice tationo verify is dentitynd answer heaccusations. anypeople ry ostop hepolice ar, nsuccessfully.nne ccompaniesran-cois othe olice tationecause he nsistshewants owitnesshenter-rogation.At thispoint, must ellyousomethingmportant.nnieDeclerck,from lemishV, had asked ofilmn nvisibleheatreiece or pro-

gramhewaspreparingnme and he heatref he ppressed.othmygroupnd had greedothe rojectnd oeverythingnthe upermarkethad beenfilmed. rancois ada microphonenside is hirt. he soundtechnicianadhidden is quipmentmonghe ruit ewascarryingnhis



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28 Augustooalshoppingart. he cameraperatoradhiddenhe ameranside plasticbagwhich ad a smallhole the xact izeof the ens.Beingvery xperi-enced, e had nodifficultyilmingverythingithhiscamera nder isarm: lose-ups,ong hots .. absolutelyverything!nniewas tmy idewith he criptpersonhowasputtingverythingown nwriting.e-sideswhich, herewas a privilegedpectator,he heatreirector,ctor,andplaywrighternandoeixoto,who had ustarrivedrom ologne,Germany,here e was thenworkingnradio.The fact hat elevision asdocumentinghis vent dded newdimen-sion o this tory.This s whathappened: nnie ndFrancoisrrivedtthepolice tationandcontinuedn their oles.Being uchgoodactors,heyouldkeepuptheirnvisibleheatreersonas ithouteinguspected.ventually,ow-ever, hepolicediscoveredhetruth. esidesdiscoveringrancois'mi-crophone,hey ound ut hat e had ob and arned regularalary. sthe nvestigationroceeded,rancois inallyonfessedhathe was ustdoingnvisibleheatre.Thepolice fficernchargeouldnotbelievewhathe washearing. ebecame xtremelypsetbecausehe felt hathis authority as beingmocked.n a threateningonehe said:"What oyoumeanhat ouwereustdoingheatre???ouhave reatedhismajoristurbancenly ecauseouwerelayinground?ouhave isturbedhepublicrdert theupermarkethereeople otheirhoppingithoutroblems,youhave akenpeverybody'sime,nd hiswas imply show? ine.Themanagerccusesou f ncitementodisorderndwe,the olice,ccuse ou fhavingpublicerformanceithoutermissionromhe orrespondinguthority!Youhave wo harges."The nterrogationasted or ixhours.Afterheywere eleased, nnieandFrancoiseturnedothe heatreherewewerewaitingor hem.Wewere llactually eryworriedynow.Especiallyme,becausenyprob-lemswith hepolice mmediatelyemindmeof the rbitrarinessfLatinAmericanolice.Oncetheywere ack, heyolduswhat appenedndwediscussedhegoalsof whatwe had ust beenthrough.omebody roposed thirdcharge:Weshould ccuse he olice, ecauseheres noartisticensorshipinBelgium. herefore,hepolicehavenorightocensor theatreiece.To demand permitor n nvisibleheatreventwasequivalentomak-ing tvisible,hats,destroyingtsvery heatricalorm.norder ocon-tinue s such, he nvisibleheatre as to be a clandestineheatre.f tbecomes visible," he pectatorakes passive oleratherhanher/hismuchmore roductivene as a true rotagonistf he vent.nshort,heinvisibleheatreannot e subjectothe ameruleswhichimit onven-tional heatre.o demanduthorizationeanstoppingestheticesearch.Since heresnocensorshipnBelgium,nd permit ouldbe a formfit,we are ntitledoaccuse hepolice fharassment.Thesituation asalready omplicatednough.Now itwasbecominganabsolutemess! utthat aturday edecided o restwhile ettingeryexcited t the hreeegal ssues oming p.AccordingoBelgian aw,it s up to theking's rosecutorodecidewhetherharges illgoto court rnot. wantederymuchogotocourtbecausetwouldhaveofferedheatreheoccasion fbeing efinedle-gally" sopposed o"aesthetically,"s t lways asbeen.For veryrtistthe heatressomethingifferent.hat bout heudges? achartistanhaveher wnstyle, er wnview, ndher wndefinitionfthe heatre.



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Invisibleheatre 9But heaw, hey ay, ughtobe the ame or verybody.herefore,achcountryouldhave o comeupwith heir wndefinitionfwhat heatreis andwhat he ctor'snterpretationeans,hats,aestheticsouldneedtobe definedegally. anan aesthetichenomenone definedegally?The FrenchmagistrateouisJoinetaid:"Justicesthe ciencef ettingprecedents."t swonderfulecause rt sexactlyhe pposite.fjudgmentcreateshe aw,all udges hould bey t andreproducet.But,when nartistreates er/hisriginal ork notherrtistmustmake he ffortfcreatingdifferent,qually reativeiece fwork,which stotallyiffer-ent.The udgegathersnformationrom he ast ndreproduceshepres-ent.Theartist athersnformationnthepresentnd createshefuture.Can a judge prosecuten artist sing he criteria sed to prosecutenartisan?anhe mposeimits? oreover,an he aw establishhe ound-aries or estheticreation?Althoughusually on'tknow he nswers,posemanyuestions.utI would incerelyike o see anopendebate nthis assionateubject.ncourt,fpossible.Anyway,nSaturdayerested. n Sunday epreparedor he heatreforum,utnotfor heunexpected-sowe had few urprisesnfrontfUS.I will ontinue y tory.Wewere llhappy.nthemorninghe rench-speakingelevisionadannouncedurperformancena supportiveone.The theatre as full. hereweremany oreigners.ost f hem ad heirpapersnorder, uttherewere lsomanyAfricanndLatinAmericanpoliticalxileswhosepaperswerenot norder.Ourgrouphadpreparedhreeheatreorumcenes nracism,nem-ployment,ndwomen'siberation.rememberhat was tandingalkingto an actor,Raulf, Tunisianwhohadalreadyworkedwithme in aninvisibleheatrerojectn theParis ubway heprevious ear.Brigitte,fromhegroup irqueDivers,oinedourconversation.he hadassistedme n a workshophadconductedn taly ndwantedme toworkwithhergroup.Wewere ll three iscussinghis ossibilityhen omebodyapproached e and asked:"Mr.Augustooal?""Yes.""Police!"He showedmehis D. I was a bit hocked ecause wouldhaveneverthoughthat heBelgian olice ould ome n ike hat. askedhimwhathewanted,ndhe saidthat had toaccompanyimfor n dentificationprocedure. notherlainclothesolicemanoinedthefirstfficerlongwith thirdnuniformho hada furiouslyarkingog.I searchedhrough ypocketsor smany ieces f D as could ind.hadmy wopassportsPortuguesendBrazilian), y D asa professortLa Sorbonne,mybirthertificate,nd evenmyorange ard . . but hepolice id not ccept nyofthem. hey nsisted:"You mustome ith s to he olicetation!"I startedowalk, utRaulfseized eby he rm nd ried ut hat wasbeing rrested.herewas confusion.verybody asshoutingndpush-ingwhile hedogkept nbarking.hetwoplainclothesolice fficersgrabbedme,whileRaulf, elped y ixor seven eople, ushedme ntoroommarkedPrivate."nBelgium,he olice annotnterrivatepaceswithoututhorization.s Raulfndthe thers ere ushingme nto hisroom heywere lsopushinghe hree olicemenut ofthe heatre.The firstolice fficer,ho wasthemost npleasantfthe hree,eft



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30 Augustooalyellinghat e wasgoing oget einforcement.owever, e eftwith heothers. he doorswere losed ndwequickly ividednto everal roupsto decidewhat o do. One of thegroups,whohadhelped rganizeheworkshop, as nchargefprotectinge. must ay hat felt erywellprotected.hisgroup ookmethroughorridorsndrooms o anapart-mentprivateropertyhere he olice ouldnot omen).Oncewewerethere,myfriendsoton thephone nd nformedhemedia, he ocalauthorities,ndeven lawyerbout he ncident.Thelawyerrrivednd considered ypredicament:was nBelgiumlegally. onsequently,hepolice ehavior ascompletelybusive. twasdecided hatwe should rotest.he awyeralled hepolice.Theofficerwho answered iscallwasperplexed."We havenot rderedhe rrestf nyone.tmust avebeen hegendar-merie'."The awyeralled hegendarmerie."No one romhe endarmerieas efturheadquarterso rrestnybody.tmust ave een heantigangrigade'."In fact,we looked hroughhewindow nd sawthree arsfrom heantigangrigade rivingroundhe heatre.he awyeralled he rigadeheadquarters:"No,Miss. tmust e mistake.oorderfarrestas eenssuedy s. . .""Excuseme, ut 'm ookingtthreerigadears oingroundur uildingrightow. ""It's true. here remanyf ur ars n that icinityecauset san area fillegaloreigners.his sthe nly eason. ut repeat: ehave otssuednyordersf rrest.. ."We were onfused: owcome llthreeocalforces frepression-thepolice, hegendarmerie,ndthe ntigangrigade-deniednyparticipa-tion? owever,hefacts emained:wopolice fficersressedsciviliansplus notherne nhisuniformadharasseds, nadditionothat loodydogwhich ever topped arking!The awyerskedmewhetherhad ead he olice fficer'sD carefully.Slightlymbarrassed,admittedhat hadn't: amshortsighted.henwestartedo doubt he uthenticityfthepolice fficers,ecausehere erethreeolicemen hen he ulenBelgiums for nly wo o cover outineprocedures.lso,only ne of hemwas na properniform.swewerethinkingbout etails,omethinglse ppeareduspicious:olice ogs reusually rainedointimidateeople. nstead,heonethey rought iththem eemed o be scared fus.Conclusion:twasn't police og.Secondconclusion:hepoliceofficers erefictitious.hird onclusionwhichlater rovedobewrong):twasevidentlyrightistroupwhowanted oputpressuren us.We decided hat here asonly nesolution:f he olice adnot akenpartnthesevents, hatwehad o do wastocall he olice!nfact, iventhat hepolicewerenotresponsibleorwhathadhappened, e wantedthem o be responsibleorwhat ouldhavehappened. he lawyerm-mediatelyalled ll three oliceunits nd, nless than enminutes,heentire eighborhoodasoverflowingith niforms.Meanwhile,here asgreatxcitementnthe heatre.eopleweredis-cussing, roposingolutions,nd nventingnterpretations.twasnormalfor hem o be nervous. rigitte asprobablyhemost ervous f ll.Shewas sonervoushatRaulfwassomewhatoncernedbouther nd tartedto askherquestions. inally, rigitteonfessedhat he ctors romheCirqueDivershad decided o mount n invisibleheatreiece.A piece



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Invisibleheatre31Iagainsts!!!Allthree olicemennd he og belongedo the roup. herewere notherwomembersf he roupnthe uditoriumhoconfirmedBrigitte'story.Moreover,ne ofthem advideotapedhe ncident.It wasn't asy oexplain hat adhappenedo the udience.ut,beforeexplainingnything,e decided oprotecthe hree ctors rom irqueDivers.We took hem o a differentoom.Thepublicwas ndeed uriouswhichwasvery nderstandable.his cene adbeen oing nfor nhourand half fterll.During his ime,ots f mmigrantsndrefugeeshowerepresentadbeenput hroughell.And all forwhat?These rethe hreemain nswers eobtained romheCirqueDiversactorswhenwe questionedhem:"Wedonot rusteoplenyonger!""Wewantedo xperimentithnvisibleheatreechniques.""Wewantedodemonstratehateoplect ccordingoPavlovianeflexes,hatis,conditionedeflexesn ny iven ircumstance!"They lso asked orhelp:

"Youmustelp sget ut f he heatreecauseheudiencesffuriousndweneed our rotection."Wedidhelp hem oget utofthe heatre.fterwards,mileCopfer-man riticizeds for aving sed uch aternalism.nhis pinion,hiswasa mistaken ourpart: Iftheyantedo xperiment,twas p o hemo un llthe isksnherentntheirdventure."Copfermanlso cameupwith n nterestingxplanationfthe xperi-ence: heCirqueDivers ctorswanted o usethe heatref he ppressed,whichctuallyhreatenedhem,gainstme.Theywere eelingt take sartists,r as people omehow verloaded ith n "exceptional"ole nsociety. he theatrefthe ppressedrovesxactlyhe pposite:rtisticcreation s inherent o all humanbeings.All people recapable fdoingwhat nepersonscapable fdoing.f personsable o ing, aint,swim, rperform,llpeople an do the ame.Thissimple ruths often cary o thosewho believe hat hey resuperiorecause heyre artists." eal rtistsrenot fraid ffacinghetruth. oreover,eing rue rtists,hey onothesitateoshareheirrt,techniques,ethods,ndknowledge ith heirpectators.herealmagi-cian s notafraid fshowing istricks. he real rtists notafraidfrecognizinghatllpeople re rtists.hisdoesnot top ome eople romdevotinghemselveso art s a "profession,"lthought s importantoacknowledgehat verybodyas anartistic ocation.I have pent great eal fmy ife eachingnd pplyinghesedeas.TheCirqueDivers ctors adsimply sedthem gainstmetoprotecthem-selves.Anothermember f thegroupadded a supplementaryypothesis:jealousy.nfact,heCirqueDivers ad lso nvitedmeto run workshopbut had refusedndacceptedn nvitationoconduct workshop iththeir ivals.Whatdid theCirqueDiverspeopledo then? heybecameovernighttars ydestroyinghe heatreorumerformancehatwehadprepared. hey ookoverourevent.But n addition obecomingvernighttarsndusingnvisibleheatretechniquesgainstme,they reventedlarge udience rom ettingc-quainted ith therheatrefthe ppressedechniques.Thesewere ome fourgroup'sdeas nd onclusions,fterhe act. ttheCirqueDiversheadquarters,nthenightverythingookplace, ow-ever,wewanted obevery lear bout ur tand ndmotivations.Inthefirstlace, twas toodifficultoacceptheir Wedon't elieven



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32 Augustooalpeopleny onger!"was mad ndtold hem hat he ast ime hadheardthat ind fstatementwas 15and thepersonwho hadsaid t was 12.Adolescenceeing uch difficultge,this tatementasunderstandablethen, ut hefact hat dult rtistsould omeupwith uch line eemedto me a fascisticttitude,onscious r not. "We do not rustumankindthereforee an o nythingewantgainstt."That s, bunchf ctorsantake he ibertyfabusingn audience ith he xcuse hat hey o notbelievenpeople.But fpeople ebel,hey elieven them ndrequesturprotection...As for he econd ubject, thinkt snecessaryounderstandtwell:puretechniquedoesnot exist n the ame ense hat uremathematicsdoes. Two plustwo sfour, egardlessf the uestion. ut theatreoesnotstrugglegainst urved ines, ngles,numbers,r figures;heatrestruggles ith heunexpectedne wishes o know nd tstruggles ithpeople.Andpeople annot e added n a pure rabstract anner.Apersonan qual thousandr ero. n humanerms,ddingwoplustwo sunpredictable.nythinganhappenndalready as.It s useful o rememberfew hingsegardinghe heoryf nvisibletheatre.didnot nventnvisibleheatre.didnotwakeuponemorningwith good dea.Rudimentaryormsf nvisibleheatre,rpartialnvis-ibletheatreechniquesavealways xisted.n espionage,or nstance,spiesuse techniquesuch as camouflage,nterpretationf roles, ndsimulatedealities-whichre ll nvisibleheatreechniques.ven nthesupermarkets,hereweregularlylay nvisibleheatre,herere invis-iblepolice," hats,women ndmenwhocomplementhe losed-circuitTV's functionfdiscouragingnddetectinghoplifting.nthe iege ase,we tried o use theprincipalction Francois)ndtheparallel ialogs(actors/jokers)oexplainhe elationshipetweennemploymentnd heexploitationo which mployeesubmithemselvesifnobody cceptedexploitation,herewouldbeenoughobs for verybody).THE INVISIBLE THEATRE never laces tselfnanillegal ositionbecausetdoesnot ntend o violate he aw. It intendso questionhelegitimacyf the aw,which s a very ifferentatterltogether.I'll explainmyself:fwewanted obreak he aw, twouldhavebeenvery asyfor s toplan scene hatwouldhavedistractedeoplenthesupermarketo we could teal nythingewanted.Quitefrankly,hishappens very ay,which s whymany tores dda "shoplifting"re-mium o the ostoftheir oods ocover heirosses.As said,wewanted oquestionheegitimacyf he aw.Becauseawscanbe writtenyanybody,canmakemyown aws oo.Lawsareonlypromulgated,owever, y thosewhohavethepower o make hem.Every ictatorshipseager o egalizehe llegal ct hat roughthem opower.Therefore,lawpromulgatedythemilitaryasnovalidity. olaw svalidunless thasthe upportfthepeople owhicht will pply.This s preciselyhe mportancefthe nvisibleheatreandofothertheatref he ppressedechniques):he ifferenceetweenhe onceptsflegalitynd egitimacy.Mostoppressionxistsegally.nmany ountries omen annot oteyet. nmany ountries,hey reunderpaid.nother laces, hey o nothave ccess o certainositions.nmost ases,women re till ubjectomale uthorityitherpenly rsubtly, sychologicallyrsocially.Andeverythingsbeing one n thename f he aw.However, lawwhichsimposedn half fhumankindannot e egitimateincetdoesnothavethe onsensusf tsvictims,hats,women.



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Invisibleheatre 3Thesamewayone canquestionaws ndcustomshat ppress omen,onecandisputelloppressiveaws andcustoms,egardlessf their ic-tims:workers,easants,mmigrants,lacks, tc.I want o clarifynce andfor ll that hetheatre f theoppressedtechniquesre meant tohelptheoppressed; hey reactually heirweaponsofliberation.Goingback to theLiegecase,theCirqueDivers ctors, part romdoubling healready xisting ppression,ommittedn illegal ctbywearing oliceuniformshichmade hemubjecto a newcharge,hefourthne nthis razy tory.Anactor ressedna policeman'sniform!ne canwonder: ut sn'tthiswhat lways appensnthe heatre?sn't ttruehat nepersonimu-lates nother?ne can lso rguehat,f he pectatornows hat he ctoris playing role, t'sfine, ut fthe pectatoroesnotknow hathe sdealingwith n actor ndbelieves erselfo be nthepresencefa "realperson,"s this orrect?s itethicallyighto borrow omebodylse's

identitynduse tabusively?I wantreaders o allowme tomake leap ntime ndspace. t wasJanuaryr March 978 nBari, southerntalianity.Wemade n nvis-ibletheatrecene. t went ike his:A young ctorclearly razilian)atdown n a public ardennd tartedo talkntohisminicassetteecorder.He said otsofupsettinghings:"I ambymyself!"Thecassetteepeated:I ambymyself!")"I don'thaveanyfriends"The cassette epeated: I don'thave nyfriends.")"Nobodyantso alk ome ecauseam foreignernd n hisountryndnthis ityheres discrimination."gain,he istenedo hisownvoice ntherecorder.he casualpassersbyouldhear herecording.omeofthemeven toppedo isten."I amunemployed.""I amunemployed.""I triedokillmyselfesterday,ut didnot ave noughourage.put hebottleway, ut still ave ll the ills.Maybeoday'lldo t.Maybeoday'llkillmyself.."Thetaperecorderepeatedverythingewassaying. eoplewere p-proachingimwithoutnowing hat osay.Someof hem fferedom-fort, elp, heirympathy,riendship,upport,nderstanding,tc.It was a scene f rare enderness,lmost n intimatecenedespitetspublic etting ith rowds, ars, ndnoise.Thegroupwasshatterednd omebodyrought pthe uestion:s itmorallyorrect hatwe havedone? ecause uite rankly,hat he ctorwas aying asn't rue. urBrazilian ad good ob,wasmarried.. theopposite f the haractere wasimpersonating.onsequently,twasn'ttrue.Itwasn't rue?kept naskingmyselfhis uestion.Whywasn't ttrue?Whichruth?he fact hat he ctorwhoplaysOthello oesnot really"strangleesdemona oes not make t ess true hatOthellokillshisde-fenseless ife.What ruthrewereferringo?The truthwas that he Brazilian ctorwas notsufferingnyofthetortureshat e wasdescribing.ut twastrue hat hose orturesxisted.If twasn't rue hat e himselfad ttempteduicide,twascertainlyruethat nothermigre fewmonths arlier adactuallyilled imself.So althoughheBrazilianctor'story asn't trictlyrue,twastruth.Althought wasnot synchronicruth,twasstill truth.twas n



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34 Augustooal fact diachronic ruth. hiswasnothappeningere ndnow,but twashappeninglsewheret a differentime.We hadnot ied tLiege, nspite fhaving een ccused ythepoliceafterhey iscoveredhat rancois ad a good ob and wasnotunem-ployedrhungry.twasnot rue hathe ctorwasthe haracterut twastrue hathey oth xisted! nd heirroblems ere ndeed eal roblems.TheresunemploymentnBelgium,heway he ctor escribedt, nd hecauseswe airedn ourpiece rethereal auses funemploymentnBel-gium.Consequently,verything as true.Forme,the invisiblemeetings"tLiegewereverymportant.heytouchedn the thics nd estheticf practicehat adbeen eryntensefor ll of us duringhe1970S.We had theopportunityo reflectponcertainspectsfthis racticehankso the iege vents,nd hese eflec-tions onfirmedo us thatwe were ight,hatwe were oingwhatwe hadtodo. As artists,y abdicatingurbeing exceptional"ndhelpingheoppressedpectatorsree hemselvesrom t east heir irstppression:that fbeing pectators.y becoming rotagonists,heywillbequalifiedtousethe heatref he ppressedools norder o maketwhat t houldbe,a theatref iberation.

Translatedromhe renchy usana psteinOriginallyublishednthe ulletinutheatree 'opprime,o.5, 1981.

invisible theatre - augusto & susan

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