Mable K. Buchanan NYU [email protected]

“T” is for Theatre of the Oppressed: Reconciling and Augusto Boal

In his groundbreaking work Theatre of the Oppressed, scholar-activist Augusto Boal criticized Sesame Street in an aside, arguing that the series corrupted captive audiences with competitive, capitalist values and failed to empower its viewers. But since the book’s original 1974 publication, much has changed in this mythical urban monster village. Rather than imposing an inegalitarian values system, the child-monsters of Sesame Street encourage viewers to think critically, use the Socratic method, and take action for social justice. Because the line between child and puppet is blurred, children are taught to own their unique agency and rehearse new social skills for higher-stakes, real-world stages. As a result, songs like “The Word is No,” “Rebel L,” and “A New Way to Walk” share common cause with Boal’s poetics of liberation - and his techniques, including his stages of transformation from spectator into actor, are evident in Sesame Street skits as well as in Jon Stone and Michael Smollin’s The Monster at the End of This Book. Additionally, Sesame Street’s continued evolution - from its 1960s public access programming to its recent efforts in the Syrian response region - and even its roots in Viola Spolin and -style showmanship suggest that these lovable monsters aren’t just moving toward more of a "people’s theater” over time. Instead, this spirit is ingrained in their nature. Drawing on perspectives from Paulo Freire, dramatic theory, instructional design, analytical psychology, and children’s storytelling for the screen, this presentation will demonstrate that there are no spectators on Sesame Street - and there’s less of a difference between the philosophies of and Boal than meets the eye.