In Traditional Theater Forms, The Roles of Performer and Audience are Completely Separate

Reading Passage Question

In traditional theater forms, the roles of performer and audience are completely separate, so that performance space can be said to encompass an actors’ sphere and a spectators’ sphere. Even when performers move out into the audience or when there is scripted audience interaction, spectators do not become performers. Finally, while stories may open up the imagination or excite audiences, according to Augusto Boal, they discourage political action by providing catharsis. The passive spectator follows the play’s emotional arc and, once the action concludes, finds the issue closed. Boal reminds us that our theater etiquette creates a kind of culture of apathy where individuals do not act communally, despite shared space, and remain distanced from art.

Workshop theater, such as Boal’s Image Theatre and Forum Theatre, is a response to that. In the workshop form, performance space is created for a select group of people, but the performers’ sphere and the audience’s sphere are collapsed: everyone is at once theater maker and witness. In Image Theatre, participants will come up with a theme or issue and arrange themselves into a tableau that depicts what that issue looks like in society today, versus what the ideal situation would be. They then try to transition from the current image to the ideal image in a way that seems plausible to all the participants. Forum Theatre, on the other hand, creates a narrative skit depicting a certain problem. After the actors have gone through the action of the play once, a facilitator, known as the joker (like the one in a pack of cards), encourages those who have watched the story to watch it again and to stop it at any time to take the place of the protagonist. The aim is to find a solution to the problem, realizing along the way all of the obstacles involved. In Forum Theatre, just as in Image Theatre, there is not always a solution. The main goal of this form, then, is to engage in the action, to reflect, and to understand particular issues as being part of a larger picture, thus using art to re-cast what seem like private troubles in a public, political light.

The main reason Boal developed these workshop styles was to grant audiences agency so that they may create ways to free themselves of oppression. Because he found theater audiences to be locked into a passive role—just like he found the oppressed coerced into a subservient role in relation to their oppressors—he created the “spect-actor,” or someone who simultaneously witnesses and creates theater.

“In Traditional Theater Forms, The Roles of Performer and Audience are Completely Separate”- is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension.
This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 7 comprehension questions. The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are designed for testing candidates’ abilities in understanding, analyzing, and applying information or concepts. Candidates can actively prepare with the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solution and Explanation

1. The second paragraph of the passage serves to

(A) elaborate on the topic of the first paragraph
(B) provide a rationale for an artistic endeavor
(C) discuss an artistic answer to a passive culture
(D) explain the theater’s lack of appeal
(E) evaluate two contrasting styles of theater

2. Which of the following would Boal consider a “spect-actor”?

(A) A person who engages in political action
(B) An audience member who finds catharsis in a play
(C) Any person placed in a subservient role
(D) Any actor
(E) A participant in an Image workshop

3. According to Boal, all of the following are disadvantages of traditional theater forms EXCEPT:

(A) Such productions prevent the actors from going into the audience.
(B) Such productions provide catharsis.
(C) Such productions discourage communal activity.
(D) Such productions obstruct political change.
(E) Such productions distance the audience from the art.

4. All of the following would be characteristic of a Forum workshop EXCEPT:

(A) Productions begin with a narrative script.
(B) Different people often play the protagonist.
(C) Some performances do not achieve catharsis.
(D) Participants arrange themselves into a tableau.
(E) Performances are guided by a mediator.

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