Alternating Between Flow and Reflexivity: Transformational Dramaturgy of Boal and Semiotic Autonomy of Spect-actor

Abstract

In experimental modes of performance and especially Postdramatic theatre, the question of spectatorship has become the core of theatrical aesthetics. In his Theatre of the Oppressed, Augusto Boal introduced a transformational dramaturgy derived from Brechtian aesthetics, in which theatre is treated as ‘event’ and performed through  devices of ‘interruption’, ‘dialogism’, ‘polyvocality’, ‘detachment’ and ‘de-representation’. Boal modeled his audience members ‘Spect-actors’ who when invited on stage oscillate between ‘flow and ‘reflexivity’; between the character and speaking about the character. This paper explores Boal’s theoretical framework in an attempt to reveal how his unique style of performance transforms a spectator into an actor who transports between the ‘real world’ and ‘world of performance’. The paper reveals how the use of interruption as a technique enables the spectator to use/deploy his/her intellectual and semiotic capabilities. The paper explores the significance of ‘interruption’ as theatrical device in liberating the spectator through restoring his/her semiotic autonomy.