Forum Theatre
A short scene shows a situation where someone is stuck or treated unfairly and things end badly. The scene is played once, then again; this time anyone in the audience can shout 'Stop!', replace the protagonist and try a different approach while the other actors stay in character. A facilitator called the Joker runs the session and asks the audience what worked and what did not.
Use at an offsite when a team keeps meeting the same difficult situation, such as a meeting where one voice dominates or a customer conflict, and wants to rehearse ways of handling it.
Solves: Teams talk about how they would handle a hard moment differently, but never practise it, so the next time it happens they do the same thing.
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Step 1: Warm up with a few theatre games so the group is loose and willing to move (15 min).
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Step 2: Prepare or present the anti-model: a short scene, built from a real situation the group recognises, that ends badly (15-20 min).
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Step 3: Play the scene once through while the audience watches (5 min).
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Step 4: Play it again. Anyone can shout 'Stop!', take the protagonist's place and try something different; the other actors respond in character (30-60 min).
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Step 5: After each intervention the Joker asks the audience what changed and what it cost (throughout).
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Step 6: Close by naming the interventions that worked and what they would take in real life (10-15 min).
- Build the scene from situations the group actually lives with. Invented cases get invented answers.
- The Joker stays neutral and never judges an intervention; the audience does that.
- Only the protagonist can be replaced, not the antagonist. Replacing the antagonist makes the problem disappear by magic.
- Use professional actors to play the scene and keep the group in the spect-actor role.