Chapter 4, Poetics of the Oppressed, Experiments with People's Theater in Peru, pages 142-156 Summary and Analysis

The fourth stage involves more finished theater. Newspaper theater, developed by the Nucleus Group of Sao Paulo, Brazil's Arena Theater, transforms news into drama. A news story may be read outside the context of the newspaper, or two may be read together, each giving meaning to the other. Information, historical parallels, ironic context, musical accompaniment, or rhythms may be added to a reading. Actors may mime context, or the news may be improvised. Graphic events may be enacted and made concrete.

Invisible theater is enacted in a public place. In one example, actors sat at tables in a hotel restaurant. An actor complained about the food and ordered the better, more expensive, barbeque a la pauper. After...