Searching for Power on the Collective Laugh

The following selection of materials has been assembled in alignment with the methodological structure outlined in the text Mining Laughter: A Journey through Gold, Power, and Street Comedy in Peru (Section 2.1 of the Mining Life thesis), which frames the Act 2: Searching for Power on the Collective Laugh . This section specifically highlights the first two methodological strategies described therein: Theatre of the Oppressed – A Horizontal Collaboration, and Field Research and Narrative Creation.

The materials range from video excerpts of our Theatre of the Oppressed workshops—facilitated by Ricardo Gálvez, an educator and expert in Forum Theatre—to field research reports by Antonio Fernandini, an anthropologist and environmental activist who investigated the complex network of actors involved in illegal gold mining in the Madre de Dios region of the Peruvian Amazon.

Together, these documents offer insight into the collaborative and interdisciplinary processes that shaped the project, while also reflecting the socio-political landscape in which it was grounded.

Theatre of the Oppressed: A Horizontal Collaboration

Field Research and Narrative Creation