Table Of ContentGAMES FOR ACTORS AND NON-ACTORS
Games for Actors and Non-Actors is the classic and bestselling book by the founder of
Theatre of the Oppressed, Augusto Boal.
It sets out the principles and practice of Boal’s revolutionary method, showing
how theatre can be used to transform and liberate everyone – actors and non-
actors alike! This new third English edition includes recently uncovered interviews
and essays from the 1970s, some of which featured in the earliest Portuguese
edition of this book, and a new essay by the theatre director Sergio de Carvalho,
which looks at Boal’s work in the context of Brazilian theatre and politics over
the past ffty years.
This is a vital handbook for theatre makers and activists of all kinds who want
to deepen their understanding of the theory and practice of Boal’s Theatre of the
Oppressed. It is also an excellent introduction for those new to the system.
Augusto Boal was a theatre director, dramatist, theorist, writer and teacher. He
was a Vereador (Legislator) for the Camara dos Vereadores (Legislative Chamber)
of Rio de Janeiro from 1993 to 1996. He was the author of The Theatre of the
Oppressed, Games for Actors and Non-Actors, The Rainbow of Desire, Legislative Theatre,
Hamlet and the Baker’s Son: My Life in Theatre and Politics, and The Aesthetics of the
Oppressed. He died in Rio de Janeiro in May 2009.
Adrian Jackson is a theatre director, playwright, activist and teacher. He was
the Founder and Artistic Director of Cardboard Citizens, a theatre company
working with homeless people, from 1991 to 2021. He has translated fve books
by Augusto Boal with whom he collaborated on a number of occasions and has
taught Theatre of the Oppressed in over twenty-fve countries across Europe,
Asia and Latin America.
‘This is an inspiring and powerful book, a lucid account that will be of substantial
use to people already using Theatre of the Oppressed. It should also act as an
excellent introduction for those new to the system.’
Artscene
‘This is a useful handbook for those who want to explore Boal’s Theatre of the
Oppressed and, as such, is greatly to be welcomed. Boal’s work deserves and
demands emulation.’
Theatre Research International
‘You have achieved what Brecht only dreamt of and wrote about: making a
useful theatre that is entertaining, fun and instructive. It is a different kind of
theatre – a kind of social therapy. It focuses the mind, relaxes the spirit and
gives people a new handle on their situations.’
Richard Schechner
GAMES FOR ACTORS AND
NON-ACTORS
Third Edition
Augusto Boal
Translated by Adrian Jackson
Third edition published 2022
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2022 Augusto Boal
© 2022 Introduction: Adrian Jackson
© 2022 Translation: Routledge
The right of Augusto Boal to be identifed as author of this work has been
asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identifcation and explanation without
intent to infringe.
First edition published by Routledge 1992
Second edition published by Routledge 2002
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Boal, Augusto, author.
Title: Games for actors and non-actors / Augusto Boal; translated by Adrian Jackson.
Other titles: Jeux pour acteurs et non-acteurs. English
Description: Third Edition. | New York : Routledge, 2022. | “First edition published by
Routledge 1992. Second edition published by Routledge 2002”—T.p. verso. |
Includes bibliographical references.
Identifers: LCCN 2021024214 (print) | LCCN 2021024215 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780367203542 (Paperback) | ISBN 9780367203535 (Hardback) |
ISBN 9780429261053 (eBook)
Subjects: LCSH: Acting. | Games.
Classifcation: LCC PN2061 .B49413 2022 (print) | LCC PN2061 (ebook) |
DDC 792.02/8—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021024214
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021024215
ISBN: 978-0-367-20353-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-20354-2 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-26105-3 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9780429261053
Typeset in Meridien
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Originally, Augusto Boal dedicated this book to
Adrian Jackson, for his creative translation;
Helena Reckitt and Talia Rodgers, for their enthusiasm and help; Edla Van Steen
and Sábato Magaldi, forever friends;
Blanca Laksman and Leonardo Thumin, for having invented Cecilia!
We dedicate this new edition to the memory of Augusto Boal himself, whose
work lives on across the world. Viva Boal.
9
Taylor & Francis
Taylor & Francis Group
http:// taylo ra ndfra ncis.com
CONTENTS
List of fgures xxi
Translator’s introduction to the frst edition xxii
Translator’s postscript to the second edition xxvii
Translator’s postscript to the third edition xxix
Preface to the second edition: The Royal Shakespeare Company,
theatre in prisons and landless peasants 1
Postscript: with pride in our hearts 6
Preface to the frst edition: the fable of Xua-Xua, the prehuman
woman who discovered theatre 11
Postscript: actors and non-actors 17
1 THEATRE OF THE OPPRESSED IN EUROPE 18
Introduction 18
The Godrano experience: my frst Forum Theatre in
Europe or the ultimate spect-actor/protagonist! 19
Feminism in Godrano 20
The police again 21
The oppressed and the oppressors 23
2 THE STRUCTURE OF THE ACTOR’S WORK 29
The primacy of emotion 29
Muscular exercises 31
Sensory exercises 31
vii
CONTENTS
Memory exercises 32
Imagination exercises 32
Emotion exercises 32
Rationalising emotion 35
À la recherche du temps perdu 37
The dialectical structure of the actor’s interpretation of a role 40
The will 40
The counter-will 43
The dominant will 45
Quantitative variation and qualitative variation 46
3 THE ARSENAL OF THEATRE OF THE OPPRESSED 48
Introduction: a new system of exercises and games from
Theatre of the Oppressed 48
Two unities 49
Five categories of game and exercise 49
I FEELING WHAT WE TOUCH (RESTRUCTURING MUSCULAR
RELATIONS) 50
First series: general exercises 50
1 The cross and the circle 50
2 Colombian hypnosis 51
3 Minimum surface contact 56
4 Pushing against each other 58
5 Joe Egg (aka trust circle) 62
6 The circle of knots 62
7 The actor as ‘subject’: the Greek exercise 64
8 The actor as ‘object’ 66
9 Lifting someone out of a chair 67
10 Equilibrium of the body with an object 67
11 A balloon as an extension of the body 68
12 Racing on chairs 68
13 Rhythm with chairs 68
14 Musical chairs 69
15 Movement with over-premeditation 69
16 Diffculties 69
17 Divide up the movement 70
18 Dissociate coordinated movements 70
viii
CONTENTS
Second series: walks 70
1 Slow motion 71
2 At a right angle 72
3 Crab 72
4 Crossed legs (aka three-legged race) 72
5 Monkey 73
6 All fours 73
7 Camel walk 73
8 Elephant walk 73
9 Kangaroo walk 73
10 Leaning-against-each-other walk 73
11 Strapped-feet walk 74
12 Wheelbarrow 74
13 As you like it 74
14 Imitating others 74
Third series: massages 74
1 In a circle 75
2 The movement comes back 75
3 Sea waves 75
4 The rolling carpet 76
5 Back massage 77
6 The demon 77
Fourth series: integration games 77
1 Person to person, Quebec-style 77
2 The bear of Poitiers 78
3 The chair 78
4 Leapfrog 79
5 The Brueghel game 79
6 Stick in the mud 80
7 Grandmother’s footsteps 80
8 Millipede 80
9 Apple dance 81
10 Sticky paper 81
11 The wooden sword of Paris 81
12 American football (aka British bulldog) 82
13 Three Irish duels 82
14 Little packets 83
15 Cat and mouse 83
ix
