The Improper Vinophile
Sixth Row on the Aisle
Adventures in Wine
Theatre Criticism and Commentary
Anthony Frasca

Elizabeth Bojsza
Adventures in Wine
Theatre Artist and Activist
Every elementary school child could easily recite the legend of Juan Poncé de
Leon searching for the fountain of youth. But did you know that Poncé de Leon had
Leaves Legacy: Augusto Boal
sailed with Christopher Columbus in 1493 on his second voyage? Did you know that
he became Governor of Puerto Rico?
(1931-2009)
The legend of the fountain of youth began with the natives of Hispaniola, Puerto
On May 2, 2009, Brazilian theatre artist, activist, and visionary Augusto Boal
Rico and Cuba. The native Arawaks told early Spanish explorers that in a far-off
succumbed to complications from Leukemia at the age of 78. A pioneer and cham-
island, Bimini, now in the Bahamas, there was a river or spring with waters of mi-
pion of collaborative theatre that activates the passive spectator to a relevant and
raculous healing and restorative powers. The waters were said to be able to allow the
immediate theatrical experience, news of Boal’s death has reverberated throughout
elderly to regain their youth. These natives also talked of great riches and prosperity
the theatre community and world-
on this island.
wide. Up until quite recently, Boal
Poncé de Leon, who had become wealthy as a colonialist, was certainly influ-
was leading his own international
enced by these legends. He went on to equip three ships at his own expense to sail
workshops as well as empowering
to this land to search for the fountain of youth. He was only 53-years old at the time
many trained by him to replicate
and most likely he was really looking for the great riches and prosperity in the form
his work, and his ideas and meth-
of gold that was also rumored to be contained in these islands.
ods have made an indelible impact.
Sometimes the old cliché can be
Personally, I use Boal’s methods to
true, that what you are looking for
teach performance to students in my
usually turns out to be right under
introductory classes—and by the
your own nose. If Poncé de Leon
time this issue of The North-Shorian
was truly looking for restorative
hits the streets, my students will be
waters he probably had them close at
acting out their scenes in my class-
hand and probably on all of his ships
room at Stony Brook University, as
in the form of red wine!
I am sure many others will be doing
The most advanced current
elsewhere in diverse conditions and
research in the search for longev-
places.
ity drugs, the ersatz fountain of
Augusto Boal’s theatre tech-
youth, has focused its microscope on
niques are largely referred to as
compounds in red wine, in particular
Theatre of the Oppressed, which is
the compound resveratrol. So much
also the title of his first book, pub-
so that GlaxoSmithKline recently
lished in the 1970’s. In this work,
bought a start-up company, Sirtris,
he outlines the core principles and
founded to develop drugs with the
thoughts of his theories, as well as
same effects as resveratrol for $720
provides practical exercises. Boal
million. The share holders of Sirtris
believed that the “Aristotelian”
surely struck gold while looking for
method of making theatre—with
the fountain of youth. The company
the actors on stage with their voices
of course based its research and de-
and their agenda and the audience
velopment on chemical compounds
sitting passively and usually quite
closely related to resveratrol.
literally in the dark—is inherently
One French researcher working on resveratrol (listen up track stars, baseball play-
oppressive. He sought to empower audience members to be their own active agents
ers and Tour de France cyclists) was able to turn lazy mice into champion athletes.
through creating a new way of making theatre, theatre that could foster dialogue and
He ran them on a treadmill and was able to double the amount of time the mice could
be a “rehearsal for life.”
run by giving them high doses of resveratrol. You might have to wait for the research
Originally working within the default agitprop mode of 60’s political theatre,
to conclude before attempting to gain a competitive advantage with the resveratrol in
Boal toured the countryside in Brazil working to reach peasants with his company’s
red wine. You would have to drink a hundred bottles a day to get the equivalent dose
message. He came to realize these efforts as well-intended but flawed. Who was he
of resveratrol that the French researchers used.
to visit a community and tell them what was good for them? What evolved was The-
However, researchers from Wisconsin have demonstrated that resveratrol may be
atre of the Oppressed, in which Boal encourages those attending to become “spect-
just as effective in lower doses, wine cellar doses. They found that doses of resvera-
actors”—both witnesses and participants in the theatrical experience. (Boal was
trol equivalent to four glasses of red wine a day may influence health. A wide range
heavily and openly influenced by Paulo Freire’s manifesto on the oppression inherent
of tests performed on middle-aged mice given these doses of resveratrol showed that
in traditional systems of education, Pedagogy of the Oppressed).
they had stronger hearts. The research found that resveratrol can help keep cardiac
The process begins with identifying conditions of oppression (essentially any
tissue healthy and influence cellular aging.
imbalance of power) in a particular community and then developing a scene in which
The good news for red wine drinkers continues unabated. In addition to resve-
this oppression is dramatized. As the scene is played out for members of the com-
ratrol there are many other compounds in red wine that may have the same effects
munity, they are invited to discuss what they observe in the scene, suggest courses
as resveratrol. You may only have to drink up to six ounces of wine daily to get the
of action for the oppressed, and step into the scene themselves. Through improvisa-
benefits of these compounds. This is not really news of course. The “French Para-
tion and conversation, Boal worked to create a theatre in which “a monologue could
dox” has long been studied and the health benefits of the daily consumption of small
become a dialogue,” and those attending could use the theatre as a forum to explore
amounts of red wine have been clearly documented in research conducted for the
real issues and become more cognizant of the power game in their own lives.
past twenty years.
It must have been working because he caught the attention of the Brazilian
But, the studies on longevity are the most appealing. If scientists can isolate these
military regime and was arrested and tortured for three months before being exiled to
other resveratrol-like compounds and do the basic research, they may one day come
Argentina. He then moved to France for several years, where he began to teach his
up with an anti-aging pill.
methods to others. He returned to his home city of Rio de Janeiro after the change in
If they can then make it in a form whereby it must be mixed into a glass of red
government and continued his work on this international movement.
wine to truly be effective they will then surely have discovered the fountain of youth.
One might think that such methods would be inextricably tied to this particular
And, if the pill was only sold on the island of Bimini and you had to go there to get
political climate and geographic location— and that those who lead generally com-
it, then that really would be special.
fortable lives would not be able to find a connection with a technique that centers so
much on oppression. Although there may be some framing to do in order to open up
Anthony Frasca is a freelance writer and photographer. He lives in Setauket with his
the definition of “oppression” to include issues relevant to people who do not have,
wife and three children.
for example, military regimes or institutionalized racism or sexism to contend with,
I have witnessed this type of theatre be evocative and provocative right here in this
2
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