“I see a difference but I also see similarities. Both want the transformation of the world, a change of reality.”

An encounter between Theatre for Development and Theatre of the Oppressed

Abstract

The following conversation between an Afro-Brazilian Theatre of the Oppressed (T.O.) practitioner and Theatre for Development (TfD) facilitators and producers from different countries in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean took place during a seven-day “Global Workshop on Theatre for Development” in Lusaka, Zambia, on July 5-11, 2015. The global workshop brought together seventy participants from eighteen countries and was organized by UNICEF Headquarters Communication for Development section and Africa Directions, a Zambian, community-based arts and theatre organization, with the aim of developing principles, guidelines and strategies to strengthen the application, scale, sustainability and impact of participatory theatre in community empowerment and social transformation in development and humanitarian contexts.