Theatre of the Oppressed and Rainbow of Desire (Boal)

Domain VIII · Creative & expressive arts therapies · Augusto Boal · 1970 · Brazil

What it is

TO is not a single therapy. It is a system (Boal's "arsenal") of games, exercises and theatre forms developed by the Brazilian director Augusto Boal (1931–2009), first in Brazil and later in Europe, from the 1970s, building on earlier work and on Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed. In it,…

Format

• Facilitator: the Joker (Portuguese Curinga). The Joker explains the purpose of the work, leads the games that "de-mechanise" bodies, runs the forum or the technique, and returns questions to the group.
• Introspective techniques (ch. 7). The book's contents list opens with the image of the antagonist and the analytical image. The publisher's description also names the Cops in the Head and their antibodies, the screen image and the image of the future we are afraid of, and Sullivan & Blatner place…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• TO itself has no regulated profession. Jokers learn through TO centres and practitioner courses: the Centre of Theatre of the Oppressed in Rio, the international TO network, UK companies such as Cardboard Citizens, and week-long Rainbow-and-Joker trainings for people already grounded in TO.
• Using Rainbow techniques as therapy, with clients and a clinical aim, belongs to trained arts psychotherapists. Examples: an HCPC-registered dramatherapist (BADth) in the UK, where "Dramatherapist" is an HCPC protected title; a Registered Drama Therapist (RDT) credentialed by NADTA in North America; or a certified psychodramatist (ABE/ASGPP), ideally with specific TO and Joker training as well. A Joker without…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• items that directly mirror a member's trauma. Screen content beforehand.
• suicidal or catastrophic content. Assess this outside the image (see §5).
• grief about lost childhood. Keep it playful and offer a light, short form.
• members disclosing more than they intended. Keep projections brief and in the present tense.
• a protagonist trying to delete a "bad" colour. Work on proportion and relationship instead of elimination.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.