Regional Academy for Responsible Leadership Belgrade

Forum-theater includes a stage, actors and spectators but at this point its similarity with the classical theater comes to an end. Particularities such as: the involvement of non-professional actors, the lack of a clear delimitation between actors and audience, elements of improvisation expand the scope of its application far beyond simple aesthetic entertainment. The method was developed by theater director and politician of Brazilian origin Augusto Boal in the 1960s and 1970s as a political tool for change and it eventually grew into a social movement for non-violent struggle against discrimination and oppression used on a global scale. While the Theater of the Oppressed found a wide range of followers on almost all continents, it remains little known in the countries of the Western Balkans.

25 young social activists and representatives of progressive parties from six countries of the Western Balkans, with different social and cultural backgrounds, participated in the workshop. Under the guidance of the experienced theater maker Hjalmar Jorge Hoffre-Eichhorn, who uses different forms of participatory theater to work with communities in conflict, participants became familiar with the basics of the Forum Theater method and its implementation in various public activities. The participants learned to express their views and opinions on various social issues through different scenic techniques. Using the example of simulated situations, the participants learned how to understand the "oppressor-oppressed" relations and how to develop strategies for conflict solution through methods of the Forum Theater. The participants had not only received practical knowledge, they also formed the thematic trainings by themselves. Having mastered various techniques of theatrical performance the participants had the opportunity to apply the acquired skills and produce the forum-theater plays. Plays were performed on the improvised stage and they presented conflict situations and social issues, that are relevant in all six countries of the Western Balkans. The performances focused on the topics like human rights, minority discrimination, corruption and nepotism.