About the Book:

HARD TO FIND BOOK, only a very limited number of copies are still available.

Hamlet and the Baker's Son is the autobiography of Augusto Boal, an influential figure in world theatre. He developed a set of techniques that he called the Theatre of the Oppressed, which was based on the concept that theatre is not an event but a way of life in which everybody can take part.

Augusto Boal was a visionary theatre director and dramatist as well as a product of his times – the Brazil of military dictatorship and artistic and social repression and was once imprisoned for his subversive activities. His theories about the power of drama to change society and transform lives attracted followers in many countries, and social activists mention him in the same breath as Brecht and Stanislavski.

From his early days in Brazil's political theatre movement to his experiments with theatre as a democratic political process, Augusto Boal's story is a moving and memorable one. He devised a unique way of using the stage to empower the dis-empowered, and took his methods everywhere from the favelas of Rio to the rehearsal studios of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

A distinctive warmth and humour fill these pages, demonstrating Augusto Boal's commitment to his personal/political slogan: "Have the courage to be happy!"

What people say:

"This readable autobiography ... is an interesting story of an extraordinary life and will no doubt inspire practitioners and students of theatre." — Research in Drama Education

"Hamlet and the Baker's Son is written with a spirit of generosity and sincere affection for Brazil and its theatre. The intense vitality and shrewd accuracy of observation of the human condition that are Boal's trademarks shine through and reward the reader with a deeper understanding of one of the most influential theatre innovators of our time ... an engaging tale that swerves away from the stated purpose of theatrical history on enough occasions to keep the book from becoming dry and didactic." — Theatre Journal

About the Author:

Augusto Boal (1931-2009) was a Brazilian theatre director, theorist, writer, teacher, social activist, and politician. He was born and grew up in Rio de Janeiro and trained as an industrial chemist, first graduating in 1952 and then researching at New York's Columbia University. Fascinated by theatre, he spent his time in the United States studying drama as well as chemical engineering. He was the founder of Theatre of the Oppressed, a theatrical form originally used in radical popular education movements.