The Madalenas Laboratory – Theater of the Oppressed and the contributions of Lev Vygotsky and Augusto Boal: intertwining art and life

Abstract

This article establishes dialogues between the Madalenas Laboratory - Theater of the Opressed (LM-T@) and Lev S. Vygotsky and Augusto Boal’s writings on art. Creative processes are fundamental to the Theater of the Oppressed practices insofar as they encourage scene experience and imagining possibilities of change in oppressive situations, increasing the participants’ repertoire of action and calling upon them to create transformative social relationships. Information was collected by participation in LM-T@ activities, which were registered in a field diary and analyzed in dialogue with participants’ publications and the writings of Vygotsky and Boal.