Introduction

This is the second metamorphosis of a book that, since its first appearance in 1980, has striven to define, describe and debate the salient features of one of the most important – and radical – developments in contemporary theatre. (See Jackson 1980, 1993.) Theatre in education (TIE) may – at least in its ‘classic’ form – have had its heyday in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, but, in various permutations, and not always under the same name, continues to be a vital, innovative and inspiring practice for many concerned with the use of drama and theatre for educational purposes. Indeed, as one of the main precursors of what is now more widely termed ‘applied theatre’, it has become, in the view of the current editors, even more necessary to capture, promote and critically interrogate the qualities of TIE that have consistently been at the cutting edge of how the participatory arts contribute to the learning of young people – and, latterly, adults. Interest in the subject has scarcely diminished since the last edition

in 1993 (certainly if the number of reprints is anything to go by – fifteen at the last count), but of course the world has moved on since then. TIE has faced endless challenges and has itself changed in response to those challenges. In 1980 it was possible to celebrate fifteen years of what had become, in the UK at least, an identifiable movement in socially and educationally committed theatre, and to spend time and space advocating its wider use. By 1993, the fault lines had already become manifest: there had, in the UK, been severe funding cuts (in local authority education budgets and Arts Council budgets alike); more critical, reflective assessments of what TIE could do, and what it claimed to do; an acknowledgement that the lines between TIE and other forms of theatre had begun to blur noticeably (and not without good reason); and a widening of TIE practice globally. Now, at the time of writing (in 2012), that second edition has been overtaken by events in many respects. The shifts over the past twenty years have been seismic – technologically, economically and

culturally. They have profoundly affected the realms of theatre and the arts, education provision and, even more broadly, the ways we think about ‘learning’ and the complex relations between learning, the arts and society at large. The relatively recent identification of a field of ‘applied theatre’ is just one symptom of these shifts. While the descriptor ‘applied theatre’ has moved to the forefront,

both in the academy and in professional practice, the roots of many of its diverse practices lie deep within a longer (if discontinuous) set of practices stretching back to the pioneering days of educational drama and creative dramatics, to the living newspapers of the 1930s and, perhaps most vibrantly, to the burgeoning of TIE from the late 1960s to the mid-1990s. In our view, TIE sits comfortably under the umbrella of applied theatre but at the same time can lay claim to playing a significant, if often unrecognised, part in shaping its various educational, social and political aspirations, its theoretical frameworks and its wide range of eclectic practices. For these reasons alone, the justification for a new edition is a compelling one. There is still in our view a need for a book that can:

‘tell the story’ of this vital art form offer insightful accounts of TIE (or TIE-related) practice in a variety

of contexts theorise that practice in ways that are directly helpful – and sti-

mulating – to practitioners, teachers and students in the present illuminate the central influence that TIE has had on the wide range

of practices now broadly termed ‘applied theatre’, and generate debate on the value, usefulness and possible future shape

of this work.