Implicated Theatre has worked since October 2011 including collaborations with the Migrants Resource Centre, UNITE's Hotel Workers union and Justice for Domestic Workers with theatre director Frances Rifkin.

The experimental workshops explore the relationships between political speech and action, the self and the collective, voice and silence. Forming close relationships with migrant’s rights groups and unions, Implicated Theatre creates theatrical interventions inspired by the real-life struggle and highlighting issues of social justice.

For more information please contact amalk@serpentinegalleries.org

English for Action (EFA) London provides English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses for migrant communities across London. Our aim is to reach people who may be excluded from mainstream ESOL courses. We believe that ESOL classes, with the correct focus, can enable migrants to access the social, economic and political benefits that would be out of reach without language training and support. 

UtopiaArts along with Serpentine Galleries will be holding open training for ESOL teachers interested in learning more about the project and Theatre of the Oppressed techniques as requested.

For more information on taking part in the workshop and also for being part of a core team of teachers who would like to contribute to finalising a resource for other ESOL teachers, please contact Projects Curator, Amal Khalaf on amalk@serpentinegalleries.org

​What is Theatre of the Oppressed and Forum Theatre?

Theatre of the Oppressed focuses on using theatre in social and political contexts as a tool for promoting education and social change, drawing on both personal and group perspectives. For Boal, the term “oppressed” embodied the notion of resistance, rather than passivity or victimhood.

Forum Theatre involves performance of a scenario showing “an oppression” - a problematic or unjust use of power that is experienced as a difficulty or obstruction. The scenario focuses on a particular situation relevant to the group that allows the possibility to deal with, and reflect on, difficult problems. The actors may be professionals or, as is described here, participants in a workshop: people who are themselves familiar with the kinds of events and relationships depicted in the scene. Theatre makes “an image of reality”, in what Boal designates “the aesthetic space”. This allows groups to work freely and safely with “the reality of the image” and to extrapolate their learning back into reality.

​P A L A T I N E (Performing Arts Learning and Teaching Innovation Network) was the Higher Education Academy Subject Centre for Dance, Drama and Music (2000-2011).

Our role was to provide, for our communities of practice in dance, drama and music higher education across the UK, high quality support, information, expertise, and resources on good, successful and innovative learning and teaching practices. We also promoted and transfered such practices to enhance learning and teaching activity in the performing arts HE sector in particular and to the wider higher education community.

We organised, ran and reported on conferences, seminars and workshops covering all aspects of learning, teaching and assessment in the performing arts. We funded pedagogic projects, through the PALATINE Development Awards scheme, that enhanced or supported dance, drama and music in higher education. We also undertook externally funded projects in association with organisations such as JISC, QAA, etc.

We focused our work around some key issues in higher education, particularly Assessment, Supporting New Academic Staff, and Employer Engagement. We supported and helped to maintain a series of networks within and across our main disciplines, and, as part of the Subject Network of the Higher Education Academy, we contributed to, and bring a discipline-perspective to, Academy-wide and national policy initiatives.