Columbian Hypnosis
1970s-present · Brazil / global
Also known as Colombian Hypnosis, The Hypnosis Game, Boal Hypnosis
One player holds a hand a hand's width from a partner's face; the partner must keep their face that exact distance away, following wherever the hand leads in slow silence.
Known for
- Created by Augusto Boal and documented in Games for Actors and Non-Actors, the foundational text of Theatre of the Oppressed.
- The leader controls the follower's whole body through one hand, surfacing real dynamics of power, control, and submission.
- Variations include one leader with two followers (a hand for each face) and pairs that swap leader and follower.
- Now a fixture in applied-theater, activist organizing, and leadership workshops as a lived study of power.
Connected to
Games
Concepts
Notes
Boal’s name for it (Columbian) reflects the workshop circuit where he developed it; the spelling Colombian Hypnosis is equally common. Belongs to the same lead-and-follow family as Spolin’s Mirror but with an explicit power frame.