Why/What is Forum Theatre?

Forum theatre is a way of being able to take a situation, problem, idea – many different things – and look at it from an outside point of view.

It can be helpful for people as it enables them to look at these things without feeling too involved at the time, and will also help to see things from other people’s perspectives. It gives the chance to ‘experiment’ in a safe environment without actually risking putting personal thoughts, ideas, etc into practice in reality immediately. It also gives time for people to think and talk with each other in a more rational and structured way.

How does it work?

There are a few stages to this, even before the event takes place:

STAGE 1 – Before the event

• A situation, theme, etc. is decided upon, and an appropriate script written up.
• A group of people, usually those who are not directly involved with this situation, come on board and will rehearse the sketch until it’s known off by heart and can be performed over and over again without too much difference (if any at all!)

STAGE 2 – The Introduction

• A basic introduction to the scenario may be given, if appropriate
• The characters may be introduced – depending on how easy it is to pick up what is happening in the scenario.
• ‘Take 1’ – The actors perform the sketch one through, with no stoppage

SAGE 3 – Getting into it

• People are given a few moments to gather their own thoughts on the situation as they see it
• The actors begin to run through the sketch again
• At any point, those watching can shout ‘CUT!’ at which time the actors will all freeze. The person who shouted ‘CUT!’ will then go and take the place of one person, by tapping them on the shoulder and swapping places with them.
• The person running the event will then should ‘ACTION!’, and the proceedings continue – but from this point, the drama unfolding is more improvised. The person who has just taken over will try to change how the situation develops by bringing their own thoughts and words into the equation.

STAGE 4 – Mulling it over

• Once the end of this situation has been reached – or an at appropriate time – the person running the event will shout, ‘CUT! That’s a wrap!’
• All those involved – including the original actors if appropriate – sit together and discuss their views about the original time and the second time through – a short discussion will take place.

STAGE 5 – If at first you don’t succeed…

• It’s unlikely that a situation will be resolved this quickly, or that any conclusions, or all possible conclusions or thoughts, etc. have been reached, so the original actors start again – basically stages 3 and 4 are repeated as many times as either seems appropriate, or that time allows.

STAGE 6 – Wrapping it up

Please feel free to download a previous session outline and script that I wrote (Word file) by clicking here. You are more than welcome to use it and with no charge as long as you are not making money out of it.