Critical Regards
Aesthetic-Political Reflections
Word in Action: Slam, Participation, and Political Theater Today
WITH Julian Boal and Roberta Estrela D’Alva
MODERATED BY Lucas Miyazaki
- March 11, Wednesday, 4pm–6pm
- iBT – Brazilian Institute of Theater | 1st Floor
- The event will feature Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) interpretation
- Free | Ticket reservation via Sympla
SYNOPSIS
Drawing from two fields in which the word functions as public practice — Theater of the Oppressed and slam poetry — Julian Boal and Roberta Estrela D’Alva discuss how performance can generate awareness, listening, and action without being reduced to a “message.” Roberta brings her experience as a pioneer of poetry slams in Brazil, creator of ZAP! Zona Autônoma da Palavra, and founding member of Núcleo Bartolomeu de Depoimentos, where orality and rhythm structure a distinct theatrical language. Julian draws from his work transmitting and updating the tools of Theater of the Oppressed as a living practice of education, mediation, and participation to examine what performance gains — and risks — when it calls upon the audience: how to avoid both didacticism and the ritual emptiness of “participation.”
BACKGROUND
Julian Boal is an educator and researcher dedicated to disseminating Theater of the Oppressed. He is cofounder of the School of Popular Theater (ETP) in Rio de Janeiro and of the Augusto Boal Institute. With international activity, he leads workshops and lectures on theater’s political function. He is the author of Theater of the Oppressed: Roots and Wings and has collaborated with social movements worldwide.
Roberta Estrela D’Alva is an actress, MC, director, researcher, and slammer. She holds a PhD in Communication and Semiotics from PUC-SP and is a founding member of Núcleo Bartolomeu de Depoimentos – Hip-Hop Theater and the transdisciplinary collective Frente 3 de Fevereiro. She created and serves as slammaster of ZAP!, Brazil’s first poetry slam. In 2014, she published Hip-Hop Theater – The Poetic Performance of the Actor-MC. From 2016 to 2018, she hosted the TV Cultura program Manos e Minas. With Tatiana Lohmann, she directed the documentary SLAM – Voz de Levante (2018), winner of the Special Jury Prize and Best Director at the 19th Rio Festival.
Lucas Miyazaki is a writer and performer working at the intersection of literature and performing arts. He is cofounder of the theater group Dispêndio, where he creates documentary and performance-based works. Author of Catálise and Elefantes, he holds a master’s degree in Comparative Studies from USP, researching literary narrative as a field of experimentation in contemporary art.