I went for my first forum theatre performance today. As a volunteer. It was a great experience where I felt so strongly about some of the topics being discussed and even realized that today's youth is not as ignorant as society thinks they are. Infact, they know more about the world than the older generation does. The performance was at Yours Truly Alma. The play was also organized by the theatre company Yours Truly Theatre.
Forum theatre is where the audience get to act in the play being shown. A play, indicating some kind of oppression, is shown and then the audience are asked to share their opinions on the problem being looked at and also encouraged to take upon a role of the character and do it a bit differently; get the solution into the frame; so that the result is something completely different and positive. This kind of theatre is usually used to face problems in society and the ways of handling them. Its even called rehearsal for life, as you'll be resolving a problem in almost real-life situation where you would be pushed to your limit.
Boys Dont Cry was another show like this and it was based on the stereotypes the Indian society has on men. A lot of situations and problems were targeted and the audience was very engaging while discussing and also while acting. The fact that the youth and the people present felt so strongly about the fact that the male gender is supposed to be "strong" and that he cant portray his feelings outwardly like women was a very very inspiring and proud fact. Also, the short stories chosen were also all real life stories and the way the actors displayed it on stage was marvelous. There couldnt be another way the stories could be put so realistically. Even when the audience volunteered to replace a character, the other character pushed audience to their limit where the audience had to think out of the box without loosing his/her calm.
Forum theatre opens your eyes to what is actually there to the outer world even if you havent faced such kind of oppression. It also tries to find solutions for the problems and tries to make the audience aware of the fact that the solutions got should also be practiced in real life. Its a thoroughly enjoying form of theatre. More so, if you are a strong orator and love to discuss situations and problems society faces as a whole and the problems selected kind of people face in the society.
I, as an orator, thoroughly enjoyed this performance and, for once, only listened to the point of view of others, without adding my own thoughts and opinions. It was a great watch and it was time well spent. Thanks again YT for such a performance!
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