Forum Theatre

Forum Theatre is a process that allows the audience to become directors and scriptwriters with a team of professional actors and an experienced facilitator/theatre director.  It is an exciting and innovative way of exploring sensitive issues and opening up discussion for people to discuss freely.

Forum Theatre does not require the audience to act or perform at any time.  Forum Theatre is not role play and actors are not ‘in role’ when they work with individual Forum groups.

 

How does Forum Theatre work?

Before the session a theatre director will visit you to discuss issues you would like to explore in your session.  The director will rehearse with the actors and create scenes using the information you have given them so that the scenes are specific to your organisation.

After seeing a short scene on a chosen theme such as culture change, the audience is then divided into three groups and each group given an actor to work with.  The participants then direct the actors with new actions and lines, suggesting different situations and raising other issues.  As the participants work with their actor it enables them to empathise with a characters’ point of view.  During the process the actors change groups and the participants can experience other points of view.  The participants are also allowed to stop the action and rewind to explore new ideas or challenge  the views or situations suggested by the other groups.
The facilitator and actors encourage people to see things from new perspectives, try out new ideas and use the characters to challenge other participants and their opinions.       


Forum Theatre Training Sessions

Sessions up to three hours including a twenty minute refreshment break
Session requires a large room with enough space to divide the participants into three semi circles for discussion
A maximum of forty participants and a minimum of twenty participants
Sessions led by a Forum Theatre Facilitator/Director with a team of three actors


Themes for Forum Theatre Workshops

Forum Theatre has been carried out in a number of organisations on a variety of themes including:

Diversity
Culture Change
Leadership and Managing Skills
Grievance Procedure
Communication
Team Building
Bullying in the Workplace
The Environment
Drug and Alcohol Abuse
Domestic Violence
Sexual Harassment

Contact: Keith Homer

0208 504 5451

vitalstages@redbridgedramacentre.co.uk