Games for Actors and Non-Actors

by Augusto Boal, Augusto Boal

Games for Actors and Non-Actors is the classic and best selling book by the founder of Theatre of the Oppressed, Augusto Boal. It sets out the principles and practice of Boal's revolutionary Method, showing how theatre can be used to transform and liberate everyone – actors and non-actors alike! This thoroughly updated and substantially revised second edition includes:

Genres: Theatre, Nonfiction, Education, Drama, Reference, Theory, Art

301 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Augusto Boal was a Brazilian theatre director, writer and politician. He was the founder of Theatre of the Oppressed, a theatrical form originally used in radical popular education movements.

His books are very influential. With 22 published works, translated to more than 20 languages, his views are studied in Theatre schools all over the world.

Reviews

[Lara Messersmith-Glavin]

I was introduced to the work of Augusto Boal by a woman whom I admire greatly. She is a gardener, a writer, an activist, and a performer. She spent time in Brazil studying Theatre of the Oppressed techniques with landless workers there, and now has brought the techniques and skills she learned there back to the States, where she conducts workshops in the practice, among other things.

As an ESOL and writing teacher, I don't always make room in my syllabi for my political work. Many would suggest that I should leave those things at home; the classroom is for skills and content. However, the more I reflect on my convictions and beliefs, the more I come to consider radical practice a fundamental part of what I do, what I should do, what I aspire to do. I have recently been running up against this notion of "practice" - is it really "practice" when it is a way of life? It seems to me that practice, then, is something deeper. It becomes more like a "way," when we think of a "way" as a "Tao." It is one of the paths one can walk - either we walk that path, or we walk another, but we do not pick and choose when to be on it and when to get off, depending on the hat we wear. We simply stay on the path.

In any case, I think that radical practice - a radical path - for a teacher in my position means truly considering my students - in my case, students often considered "at-risk": immigrants, refugees, single parents, first-generation college students, minorities, individuals recently released from prison, workers without jobs - as humans, as valued, reflective, intelligent individuals with interests and a great capacity to teach and learn from one another. It means recognizing their various challenges, and celebrating and supporting their strengths. It also means trying new things.

The techniques outlined in Games for Actors and Non-Actors transformed my understanding of how to relate to a group of people. I have tried several of the games in my classes, and have had nothing but outstanding positive results, ranging from puzzled introspection leading to insight, to shrieking delight and the mad joy of freedom that comes from doing some that feels both very new and very, very natural. I am grateful for the constant reminder that, as a teacher, I must always continue to learn.

[ánxela doel]

nunca escribo avaliacións porque me da vergüencita pero de verdade moi recomendable incluso fóra do contexto teatral, sobretodo nas 120 primeiras páxinas (antes dos xogos) da para rir, imaginar e motivarse a crear... se estades no mundo da educación recomendo, porque ás veces nos falta perspectiva e este home foi por Europa vendo a vida e o poder da palabra de cada individuo e.... bueno que moi bo xa está

[Carlos Redondo]

Mi biblia, del teatro y de pedagogía.

[MacK]

Boal, a man who truly understands the balance between artistry and education, provides an excellent set of instructive methods for theatre practitioners, or indeed, any one interested in using theatre to help colleagues, friends or patients, access difficult elements within their own natures.

While I can't speak to this book's validity as a text for artistic therapy, I can say that reading this book sparked such a desire to teach and see these exercises in practice, that it was all I could do not to walk up to random people on side walks and say: "excuse me, do you feel like playing a little game called 'Analogy'?" But then I remembered that such educator related neuroses probably would not be looked upon favorably by those who renew my teaching license.

Still, the strength of Boal lies in his gentle, considerate guidance. The same manners he used in running his own workshops are on display in the text here. He doesn't mandate obedience to the forms, but rather offers assistance. Any teacher who hopes to help students on their way to greater artistry could benefit from a review of Boal's methods.

[Nadiene]

A neat index of games. Not all of them are useful in a classroom setting, but can be good for building actors' relationships with each other.

[Fiona]

Self help for the perennially pretentious. Seventeen year old me lapped this up, and I still think it's great.

[Katie]

Read for school - a necessary read for theatre educators.

[Danni Green]

You learn about Theatre of the Oppressed work from doing it, not from reading about it. But if you do it and then you want to read about it, and you've already read the eponymous text or just want to go right to reading about activities with a little less theory, here's the book for that (it definitely isn't bereft of theory, but the focus is more on the activities themselves as the title suggests).

[Şirin]

It's fair to say it took some time for me to finish this book! I certainly loved it though. It has various exercises in it, I will make sure to use them in some of the workshops I facilitate. Maybe I'll write a detailed review some day but not today!

[Meredith]

Great exercises for teaching

[Oscar]

J’ai trouvé ce livre très intéressant en tant que comédien et militant. Les exercices et différentes pratiques du théâtre décrites m’ont beaucoup fait réfléchir et j’aimerais beaucoup les tester.

[Peter]

A must-have for applied theatre practitioners! Even though you may not use forum directly in your work. I used a lot of the exercises in the book for inspiration for several forum theatre productions I did in collaboration with Mozambican artists in Mozambique - see more her if you would like to see free films and download free material about forum theatre:

www.interactive-theatre.com

I even had the luck to spend a whole week with Augusto Boal himself and his son Julian Boal for a weeks intensive masterclass. We went through many of the exercises in the book. So my copy carries the signature of the now sadly, late Augusto Boal.

Do get this book. Lots of great exercises and a thoughtful introduction to the forum method - devised and described by Boal.

[Eliot Fiend]

boal's work is fucking inspiring and articulate and exciting as much now as ever. it calls out for continually widening application and integration into theatre-making as well as political struggle and activism (often overlapping). this collection is a little overwhelming in its breadth but serves well as a go-to and resource for facilitators and ensembles as well as game-lovers...anyone interested in putting stories, conflicts, and struggles onstage, demechanizing the body, and using theatre toward changing how we envision and encounter the world we live in.

[Denis]

This book is one of the rare few that manages to be both extremely interesting and also extremely useful. As a teacher, I was able to mine it for a wealth of useful activities, but Boal also draws you into thinking about instruction from different angles. The activities have a basis in theory, but they are also deeply grounded in practice, which makes it much easier to put them into action. I was able to adapt the activities more easily and more successfully because Boal had clearly put in a lot of deep thought into how and why each one worked.

[Ori Fienberg]

Sigh. Read it, love it, and then get over it. Living by this book quickly becomes boring, sort of like a very friendly dog; the licking kind. It's better if your second best friend owns it.

[Chrissy]

this man is a genius. inspiring and invigorating...

[Carolyn]

Augusto Boal is a brilliant People's director and actor who brings theater to the common man to create social change. Used this text in the classroom and during my training days.

[galaxy]

based on the work of the Center for the Theatre of the Oppressed, Rio de Janeiro. a primary text for much of my work as a teacher, artist, and scholar.

[Jody]

this book is rocking my world. making me want to find a full-time drama teacher job. but where do those exist?

[Sherry]

Absolutely brilliant! Most useful book I've bought in years :)

[Jon Chater]

Boal is an amazing man. This book only begins to show the inspiration of the man. Everyone interested in the power of theatre must read this.

[Liz]

Boal is a god among theatre practitioners. His work can be used in so many ways and is so much fun!

[Jo Halstead]

This is a classic text for any Drama teacher - first read it in '95 and I still refer to it and use many of the techniques and games in it now.

[John]

Still a seminal referance text always will come come back to it when situation requires it

[Kata Mach]

great methodology accompanying boal's "theater of the oppressed"- physical and mental exercises for work with actors /theater actors/social actors etc/

[John]

a seminal text for my practise , being the best lay out of practical exercises...

[Monica]

Incredibly helpful guide to using embodied practices!

[Nicole Marino]

Well explained, and it's a classic.

[Travis]

awesome book, awesome introduction to Boal's philosophy of theater.

[Elizabeth Harlan-Ferlo]

Everything I needed to know I learned from Marc Weinblatt.