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JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH

themselves in these situations in real life and through this form
they are given a possibility to prepare for a potential future.

After twenty years of development, it is currently used in various
forms and variants around the world. It appears in schools,
universities, cultural centers, hospitals, prisons and other
workplaces. However, its use must correspond to the situation
and problems of the given society, which not only affect the
whole society but also individuals.

As we mentioned above, the most important role in every
performance of the Forum Theater is played by the Joker, who
mediates the contact between the audience and the actors and at
the same time leads the whole play.

It also evokes the

atmosphere. At the beginning, he should organize "warm-up"
activities, acquaint the audience with the rules of the Forum
Theater and introduce them to the characters of the story that
will be performed. The Joker has the last word in any decision. It
motivates viewers to stop situations, encourages their initiative,
the courage to accept the role and responds to their wishes.
During the performance, it is important for the Joker to focus on
the audience's reactions and not on how the actors play. At the
same time, he tries to maintain the thematic line of the entire
event and returns to solving the problem. He leads the final
discussion at the end of the performance. The Joker should be
able to react quickly to unexpected situations, improvise and
create procedures for the present group according to its specifics.

Actors have a more challenging role in this type of performance,
as they need to follow the instructions of the Joker and take the
initiative from the audience. They can only play one role, but
there are also cases where they act in the position of several
characters (each character should be a characteristic feature, such
as clothing, props etc.). Actors must be able to quickly adapt to
new solutions mediated by the audience or by the Joker,

and at

the same time they should be able to maintain the individual
features of the characters even after multiple changes and replay
of specific situations. An integral part of their expression should
be the ability to improvise in connection with the reactions of the
audience.

Audience at the Forum Theater does not have a passive role, but
is actively involved in the performance. In the first moment, they
watch the first playback of the performance with a specific
theme, then the Joker invites them to a discussion to express
their opinion on the performed story. They have the opportunity
to intervene, go back to a situation, design their own solution, to
which the actors and the Joker respond, either guide the actor to
a certain course of action or take on a placeholder/characteristic
feature. They may repeat this principle several times until they
reach a satisfactory outcome. However, it should not happen that
the "substitutes", thus the audience, exceed the number of actors
in the story (in this case, the situation is mediated by the Joker).

2.1 Principles and Rules of the Forum Theater

The Forum Theater has certain rules defined in its productions,
which should always be adhered to. But if viewers possibly wish
to change some of them, it depends on the specific situation and
whether the audience is bold enough to enter and change the
course of the story. Each performance is mediated as an
"antimodel", which initially contains a tragic conclusion or a
negative solution to the situation. During the course, the viewers
are provided with key moments that lead to a gradual
deterioration of the situation for the main character (it must be
clear from each part who the oppressed is and who is the
oppressor). The performance usually lasts no more than 15
minutes and the theme may be based on the social or political

HORÁKOVÁ,

A. 2016. Divadlo fórum jako nástroj primární prevence

rizikového chování. Olomouc: Univerzita Palackého, 2016. s. 16.

UCHYTILOVÁ, B. 2003. Divadlo fórum Augusta Boala. In:

Tvořivá dramatika,

č. 2, 2003. s. 1.

OPLUŠTILOVÁ,

A. 2007. Divadlo fórum jako

nástroj pro

změnu

postojů. [Bachelor work]. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2007. s. 18, 19.

HANZLÍKOVÁ,

I. 2010. Realizace Divadla fórum s klienty

chráněného

bydlení Domov

Klíč - CSS Olomouc. [Diploma work]. Olomouc: Univerzita

Palackého, 2010. s. 23.

sphere. After the first show, the Joker turns attention to the
audience and ask them for help, as he has doubts about whether
the protagonist (oppressed) behaved correctly. After the second
demonstration, viewers have the opportunity to enter the story,
stop it, propose another solution, change the situation in a certain
part to change the course of events, give instructions that could
lead to a better conclusion.

However, the following conditions

must be met throughout the change process:

there must be no change in the social background,
occupation, age and other attributes of the character,

the character of the protagonist must not be altered,

no supernatural forces are used to resolve the situation,

it is forbidden to depict violence or use vulgarities on
stage,

different ways may be used to reveal characters‘
motivation to act.

If the actor is replaced by a spectator, they observe the whole
situation and are ready to return to the play, according to the
Joker's instructions. The spectator who takes the place of the
actor should promote their action and not just construct it in the
form of a discussion. In this way they can safely test his designs
and put them into practice. This experience should then extend
into the real life of the participants through their actions, thus
being able to cross the line between theater and real life. Other
actors must accept the situation and environment created by the
audience.

3 Use of Dance Elements in the Forum Theater

We decided to incorporate the Forum Theater into II. stage
primary education, with pupils aged 12-15. This form can be
implemented in primary art schools in the literary-dramatic or
dance field and in primary schools in the subject of civics or
ethics. Within the framework of the presented proposal, we place
emphasis on the application of methods of creative drama,
specifically on pantomime-movement methods, which are based
on pantomime and movement (dance) etudes. They help to
develop the coordination, control of movements and also largely
contribute in the field of nonverbal communication.

For this

model of performance, we decided to use movement, or slightly
stylized dance depiction of situations, respectively. We place
emphasis on non-verbal communication, i.e. mediating the
emotions of individual characters through movement. In the
scenes described below, apart from the final fifth, any verbal
expression is absent. Since the performers have, in addition to
the use of natural movements (walking, running, working with
props, etc.) and gestures, the possibility to slightly stylize the
movement, we briefly describe what dance techniques can be
applied in the interpretation.

3.1 Jazz Dance

Jazz dance developed together with jazz music in the
environment of dance and entertainment companies. It
developed in two directions: ballroom and stage dance. As a
result of the penetration of jazz dance onto dance stages and the
scene, the dancers were exposed to the issue of increasing
demands on their natural sense of rhythm, spontaneous dance
and captivating dynamics. Increased demands gradually forced a
special method of jazz dance training. Unlike classical dance, for
example, the starting posture and position do not try to create an
impression of ease, but emphasize strength and a strong
connection to the ground.

MERTOVÁ,

T. 2006. Romové a Divadlo Fórum. [Bachelor work]. Brno:

Masarykova univerzita, 2006. s. 26, 27.

With its African origins, the rhythm

in jazz music and dance has multiplied into a polymetric and
polyrhythmic form, and the multicultural European origins have

OPLUŠTILOVÁ,

A. 2007. Divadlo fórum jako

nástroj pro

změnu

postojů. [Bachelor work]. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2007. s. 17.

JINDRA, M. 2011. Využití vybraných forem Divadla

Utlačovaných A.

Boala

při práci s adolescenty. [Bachelor work]. Brno: JAMU, 2011. s. 21.

VALENTA, J. 2008. Metody a techniky dramatické výchovy. Praha: Grada,

2008. s. 352.

ŠIMEK, R. 1981. Džezgymnastika. Praha: Olympie, 1981. s. 84.

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