Compassion Arts Theatre is a forum theatre ensemble based in Plymouth. We partner with charities to share their educational materials with local schools and businesses in Devon and Cornwall.
What is Forum Theatre?
Forum theatre is a type of theatre created by Brazilian theatre director Augusto Boal. This type of theatre discusses difficult topics within a community and allows the audience members to become participants in the performance. First, the audience members will watch a short scene wherein the performers create certain points of tension (for example, they are not compassionate towards a bereaved person), and these unresolved moments lead to a negative outcome. The audience then brainstorms in small groups how they can rectify the scene. The scene is played again, but this time, the audience are asked to stop the scene when they feel they can change the outcome. The audience member (or ‘spect-actor’) is allowed to instruct a performer or take the place of a performer to make the scene more positive. The scene is repeated as many times as necessary until all ideas are heard or seen. A forum is then held to discuss these ideas and what the participants have learned from this workshop.
Recent Reviews
What People Say
I really enjoyed the session today. It was interactive and kept everyone’s attention the whole way through.
As a work place we really valued the forum theatre. It encouraged us all to be brave and to look at how these compassionate conversations can work within our work context, thank you so much.
The forum theatre style really worked for our students and they grasped the LEND idea very quickly.
Recent Review about our work at Scott College
Compassion Arts Theatre 