When theatre of the oppressed becomes theatre of the oppressor

Abstract

On 6 February 2008, a deliberative theatre experiment was held at the National Archives of Quebec. Inspired by the democratic virtues of public deliberation but preoccupied with its blind spots, Forum Theatre was used as a deliberative medium to initiate discussion about the social tensions between the homeless and other dwellers of public space in downtown Montreal. At this event, many audience members rejected the depiction of themselves as oppressors in the play. As a result, the perspectives of the oppressed towards their oppressors were appropriated by the perspectives of the latter towards themselves, thereby reproducing a typical deliberative space in which the hierarchy in the audience dominated the agenda, while our homeless participants endured in silence. Drawing from Schutzman, Neelands and O'Sullivan, I will argue that what actually took place during the event speaks to the uneasy transposition of a third-world aesthetic of resistance in a first-world individualistic context of identity politics. Following Prentki, I will further argue that this uneasy transposition is exacerbated by a funding climate predicated on an uncritical colonial model of social inclusion. In this instance, ‘colonialism’ refers to normative understandings of inclusion versus experiences of those who live on the margins.

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