A three day workshop with Brazilian theatre director, joker and actor Barbara Santos exploring a feminist Theatre of the Oppressed on 10 – 12 September 2026.
The workshop Feminist Aesthetics for Political Poetics – TEATRO DE LAS OPRIMIDAS delves into the challenges and discoveries made during practical applications developed since 2010 with theatre groups and artist-activists from Latin America, Europe and Africa. And theoretical formulation of a theatrical methodology dedicated to the portrayal of oppressions intertwined with the intersections of gender, race and class, all from a structural standpoint. The objective is to reframe perceptions of oppression and the associated responsibility to initiate change, all while avoiding the pitfalls of individualising the issue or assigning blame to the people who contend with it.
They work with a repertoire of original exercises, games, and techniques, employing feminist aesthetics from an anti-racist, decolonial and community perspective, in a practical demonstration of the method’s applicability. Also working with the strategies for enacting a theatrical dialogue that is both horizontal and contextual to foster a collaborative atmosphere among audience members during Forum Theatre proposals, enabling collective interactions. In this dynamic, each individual, drawing from their unique social standing and position, collaborates with others to collectively craft and improvise alternatives to the problem being portrayed on stage.
This workshop is open to all people interested in aesthetic tools which aim of a view to dismantling patriarchy.
Bárbara Santos
Playwright, director, actress, kuringa, author, poet/melodist, screenwriter, filmmaker, researcher and feminist-anti-racist-decolonial activist, Bárbara Santos is the artistic director of the KURINGA theatre space and the Madalena-Berlin group in Berlin, Germany; consultant to the Center for the Theatre of the Oppressed, editor of METAXIS magazine and artistic director of the groups Cor do Brasil, Madalena-Anastácia, and Cia Teatral CTO RIO, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and founder of the Ma-g-dalena International Network of Teatro de las Oprimidas, made up of theatre groups from Latin America, Africa, and Europe. Her artistic journey includes diverse experiences in more than 40 countries.
For further information, please contact gavin@activeinquiry.co.uk (Gavin Crichton), call 07714 321629 or visit https://shorturl.at/gzima.
