ABSTRACT
This chapter examines a range of notions of embodiment reflected in Theatre of the Oppressed (TO) theory and practice. One of TO’s core hypotheses is that theatre can analyze how society works inside and on the body. Augusto Boal acknowledges that body language is contextual and subject to interpretation. Philip Auslander notes that Bertolt Brecht and Boal share a sensitivity to how ideology and history work in the body: “For both Brecht and Boal, the material life of the body is expressive of oppression because the body itself, its actions and gestures, are determined by ideological relations.” Boal foregrounds the body’s sensory capacities for teaching, learning, and discovery–for knowledge creation. It would be absurd to consider the implications of embodiment in TO without acknowledging that Boal endured two of the most palpable, materially concrete forms of bodily oppression one can experience.
