Theater of the Opressed History of Theatre of the Oppressed: Critique of the Community Theatre as a Means of Empowerment in Social Work: A Case Study of Women's Community Theatre

Similar to institutional and professional theatre, community theatre uses a combination of mime, ritual dance, song and drama as a means of communicating messages, knowledge and ideology to the audience (Mulenga, 1993). Nonetheless, community theatre does not purport traditional theatrical components and professional stage production. Rather, this kind of theatre reportedly takes inspiration from the community's life story (Erven, 2001; Mda, 1993; Miller, 1979). In this way, common communal issues are brought to the forefront bringing those who participate as actors or audience members into the "socio-political arena" (Boehm & Boehm, 2003).

Critique

In Boehm and Boehm's 1993 article, "Community Theatre as a Means of Empowerment in Social Work: A Case Study of Women's Community Theatre," the authors posit the general acceptance of empowerment as a social work construct (Guitierrez, 1994; Jackson & Morris, 1999; Rappaport, 1987; Rose, 2000; Solomon, 1976). Although many themes have been posited as to what empowerment entails, a widely accepted...

Moreover, one of the reported goals of empowerment is to aid oppressed groups who have suffered systematic disenfranchisement and loss of power to develop a greater understanding and address the role of powerlessness in maintaining personal as well as societal problems (Itzhaky & Gerber, 1999).
Boehm and Boehm maintain that community theatre supports the principles of empowerment on many levels including personal, group and community (2003). As evidence of the posited theory, researchers conducted a case study of six women guided by a director and a social worker through the process of establishing and participating in community in Israel. According to the findings, participants were empowered by the process through the evolution of the development of the theatre project. Researchers noted significant increases in mastery, critical awareness, inner voice expression, collective empowerment, propensity to act, and self-esteem that according to their findings were a significant manifestation of empowerment as operationally defined. Through the use of qualitative methodology, the women's activities were empowered as a result of participating in the…