Devising as Pedagogical Practice in Latin American Theatre

• Published in: Latin American theatre review 2016-12, Vol.50 (1), p.61-77
• Main Author: Castillo, Debra A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Boal, Augusto; Collaboration; Creative processes; Latin American theater; Pedagogy; Spanish language; Theatre of the Oppressed
• ISSN: 0023-8813; 2161-0576; 2161-0576
• DOI: 10.1353/ltr.2016.0060

Reading through a special issue of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education journal "Theatre Topics" on devising is a peculiar experience for a Latin Americanist theater scholar or practitioner. There is not a single example or case study from the Hispanic or US Latino world, despite a token acknowledgment in many of the articles of the widespread influence of Brazilian Augusto Boal and his fundamental work on the Theatre of the Oppressed. Castillo works with a theater troupe named Teatrotaller, a largely student-run project whose mission is the production of high quality plays in Spanish and Spanglish for the local community. She says that while a strong final production is an important goal for the troupe, her own interest lies, in the final analysis, less in product and more in process--pedagogy rather than (pre)professional training. Hence devising, a form that responds profoundly to the "taller" part of the troupe's name, and the focus in this article on process rather than the content of any specific final script or on a performance review of any of the troupe's shows.