Antagonist (Boal / Scene Work)
In Forum Theatre, the character who embodies the oppression; more broadly in improv, the role of generative resistance that makes the protagonist's arc visible.
Known for
- In Boal, the antagonist is structural, not personal — they represent the system, not private villainy.
- Improv teachers outside applied-improv tracks sometimes borrow the term to replace 'villain' — less moralizing, more dramaturgically useful.
- In Forum Theatre rehearsals, the antagonist actor is trained to hold the oppression firmly so interventions have something to push against.