Augusto Boal Quotes

#1. Nothing is going to remain the way it is. Let us, in the present, study the past, so as to invent the future.

Augusto Boal

#2. The poetics of the oppressed is essentially the poetics of liberation: the spectator no longer delegates power to the characters either to think or to act in his place. The spectator frees himself; he thinks and acts for himself! Theatre is action!

Augusto Boal

#3. Theatre is the art of looking at ourselves.

Augusto Boal

#4. The theater itself is not revolutionary: it is a rehearsal for the revolution.

Augusto Boal

#5. It is not the place of the theatre to show the correct path, but only to offer the means by which all possible paths may be examined.

Augusto Boal

#6. Theatre is a form of knowledge; it should and can also be a means of transforming society. Theatre can help us build our future, rather than just waiting for it.

Augusto Boal

#7. The theater is a weapon, and it is the people who should wield it.

Augusto Boal

#8. It is forbidden to walk on the grass. It is not forbidden to fly over the grass.

Augusto Boal

#9. We are all actors: being a citizen is not living in society, it is changing it.

Augusto Boal

#10. Empathy is the most powerful weapon [ ... ]

Augusto Boal

#11. The Theatre of the Oppressed is theatre in this most archaic application of the word. In this usage, all human beings are Actors (they act!) and Spectators (they observe!).

Augusto Boal

#12. Anyone can do theater, even actors. And, theater can be done everywhere, even in a theater.

Augusto Boal

#13. Theatre is the most perfect artistic form of coercion.

Augusto Boal

#14. Theatre is a weapon. For that reason it must be fought for.

Augusto Boal