Theatre of the Oppressed – Augusto Boal (Pluto Press)

Signal Compressed in use for Theater of the Oppressed, “the book that started a revolution in modern theatre.”

For the cover of the new edition by Pluto Press, David Pearson used Signal Compressed exclusively in capitals from a single big size. Arranged in five stacked lines, the type fills the complete height. The bold letters with the reversed contrast are shown red against black. Each glyph additionally got a horizontal gradient treatment that highlights some parts of the letter while shading the rest, creating an effect that oscillates between motion and dimensionality. Art direction by Melanie Patrick.

Augusto Boal (1931–2009) was a Brazilian theater practitioner, drama theorist, and political activist. Written in 1973, while in exile from the Brazilian government after the military coup-d’etat, this book is a work of subversion and liberation, which shows that only the oppressed are able to free themselves. Originally published in 1974 as Teatro del Oprimido, the book was translated by Charles A. and Maria-Odilia Leal McBride and Emily Fryer.