Article by Germana Girelli – Materahub
Ph. by Attilio Bixio – attiliobixio.it | Act In Circus
When talking about theatre, there are several soft skills that can be acquired such as team working, active listening, confidence and self-esteem. My theatre experience has been really important in my life and, in particular, for my personal and professional development.
THE THEATRE SOFT SKILLS I HAVE DEVELOPED
Since I was a teenager I have joined several theatre classes as I was passionate about acting and theatre performance in general. This personal passion gave me the opportunity to discover different ways of being myself working on my positive and negative emotions, being aware of the people’s needs and managing different things at the same time.
My current job is mainly based on planning and managing different tasks, setting deadlines and building relationship with people from different countries, so I find the soft skills, developed so far, very important.
Thanks to the theatre, I can use empathy and imagination, important aspects of the creative sector. I am able to understand others and find creative solutions to problems when dealing with people, with my colleagues or a specific target.
I also pay attention to detail, on the space and place I belong to, on the feelings of the people around me.
Today I feel more confident on myself: I can speak in front of the public and facilitate groups of people during training sessions and workshops, I also know and use some practical exercises like ice breakings, team building activities and role-plays which have connections with the theatre too.
WHAT IS FORUM THEATRE?
During my life experience in London as a migrant, I have discovered another interesting and amazing technique called Forum Theatre which helped me to feel more engaged to another culture without any judgement and also more confident in my communication skills.
Forum theatre, also known as ‘popular theatre’ or ‘participatory theatre’, is a form of participatory art, founded by an innovative and influential practitioner Augusto Boal from Brazil: it is one of the techniques under the term of Theatre of the Oppressed.
The play reflects the community’s lived experience of a chosen issue and culminates in unresolved crisis on which the audience is called to replace or add to the characters on stage to present their interventions or alternative solutions to the problems faced.
SOFT SKILLS YOU CAN DEVELOP THANKS TO FORUM THEATRE
It is a really powerful method used nowadays in social inclusion context and it is designed to develop mainly:
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- Trust
- Creativity
- Confidence
- Community development
- Listening and awareness
- Problem solving
There are many theatre techniques, from classical to contemporary practice, but all of them have in common the same values and goals.
I highly recommend to everyone to join some theatre class at any age of your life: it is a great experience that can help you to grow, to improve and know more about yourself and the others.
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