How can the power and invention of Forum Theatre inform radical histories of oppressed groups, such as the homeless?
For World Homelessness Day, Peter Jones spoke with Adrian Jackson MBE, Founder and Joint CEO of Cardboard Citizens–a theatre company which works with homeless people. In 2021, Adrian stepped down as Artistic Director of Cardboard Citizens after three decades of important work creating outstanding theatrical productions, which put the stories of people with lived experience of homelessness firmly in the spotlight. This interview reflects on that journey, ranging widely across topics, including the power of Augusto Boal’s ‘Theatre of the Oppressed’ methodology to activate social change, the politics of ending homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic, and forum theatre as a tool of the Left–an anti-dogmatic means of accommodating the voices of those subjected to the rolling historical crisis of homelessness.
Produced by Marybeth Hamilton