Augusto Boal (16 March 1931 – 2 May 2009) was a Brazilian theatre practitioner, activist and theorist. He is best known for creating Theatre of the Oppressed, a set of exercises and techniques that used theatre as a means of promoting social and political change. Boal’s work was translated into 29 languages, and continues to be taught around the world, from Brazil to the UK, France to India, and the USA to Africa.
Augusto Boal
You and your students can access a range of resources on Brazilian theatre practitioner Augusto Boal.
- Discover exclusive resources direct from Boal’s personal archive.
- Save time with ready-to-go workshops, interviews and written materials.
- Provide historical and political context to your students’ learning.
The Boal Collection in collaboration with Instituto Augusto Boal and People's Palace Projects
- 11Video resources
- 6Written resources
Discover video and written resources to help you teach the works of Augusto Boal, including exclusive interviews, workshops, and contextual guides.
Top resource picks
Explore a selection of popular resources to help you teach the works of Augusto Boal.
Introduction to the Work of Augusto Boal by Julian Boal
In this exclusive interview from the personal archive of Augusto Boal, Julian Boal discusses his father’s work and the importance of political theatre.
All Human Beings are Theatre: A Lecture by Augusto Boal
Hear one of the many international talks Augusto Boal gave on Theatre of the Oppressed, as he presents his techniques alongside their history, development and practice.
Forum Theatre Workshops
Captured in the 1990s, give your students exclusive access to three Forum Theatre workshops led by Boal himself at the Theatre of the Oppressed Laboratory in New York.
A Concise Introduction to Augusto Boal
Give your students the ultimate introduction to the life and work of Augusto Boal with this concise introduction, written by scholars Jan Cohen-Cruz (Syracuse University) and Mady Schutzman (California Institute of the Arts).
Interviews with Augusto Boal: From 1971 to 2009
Introduce your students to Boal’s politics and aesthetics with this exclusive collection of interview footage, charting his entire career and influence around the world and giving unique insights into the development of his work.
Augusto Boal in Conversation with Marc Weinblatt
Discover the origins of techniques such as Form Theatre and Legislative Theatre in this conversation with Marc Weinblatt in 1997, as Boal discusses the development of Theatre of the Oppressed.
Theatre of the Oppressed
Explore three of Boal’s main methods – Invisible Theatre, Forum Theatre and Legislative Theatre – and their transformative, liberating nature with this remarkable archival footage of early games and workshops run by Boal around the world.