Reflections on the Technique of Forum Theater and Its Role in Pedagogical Mediation

Abstract

The following article presents a resource of pedagogical mediation through the technique of forum theater at the National University of Costa Rica. The technique is used as a collective tool of debate and group reflection around certain social problems, and whose objective is to represent a short play, in which oppressive situations are exposed, and the main discourses and social roles present in daily life are recognized. The technique is applied with university students as a continuation of two previous courses whose name was Theater of the Oppressed: a practical perspective of humanism (2016-2018) and within the framework of the project A Window to the Theater: Artistic Contributions in Pedagogical Mediation (2015-2017). Therefore, this technique is implemented as a means to encourage critical reflection and the active intervention of the public in search of solutions to the problem exposed in each performance. The dialog that takes place between theatrical art and student participation builds a greater sense of community, listening, and empathy, appealing to social awareness and greater political advocacy in the different spaces of academic action.