ABSTRACT

The Applied Theatre Reader is the first book to bring together new case studies of practice by leading practitioners and academics in the field and beyond, with classic source texts from writers such as Noam Chomsky, bell hooks, Mikhail Bakhtin, Augusto Boal and Chantal Mouffe.

This new edition brings the field fully up to date with the breadth of applied theatre practice in the twenty-first century, adding essays on playback theatre, digital technology, work with indigenous practitioners, inter-generational practice, school projects and contributors from South America, Australia and New Zealand. The Reader divides the field into key themes, inviting critical interrogation of issues in applied theatre whilst also acknowledging the multi-disciplinary nature of its subject, crossing fields like theatre in educational settings, prison theatre, community performance, theatre in conflict resolution, interventionist theatre and theatre for development.

A new lexicon of Applied Theatre and further reading for every part will equip readers with the ideal tools for studying this broad and varied field. This collection of critical thought and practice is essential to those studying or participating in the performing arts as a means for positive change.

part |16 pages

Part I

chapter 1|7 pages

Applied theatre

An introduction

chapter 2|7 pages

Lexicon

part II|52 pages

Poetics of representation

chapter 4|6 pages

Rabelais and his world

chapter 5|5 pages

Brecht on Theatre

chapter 6|10 pages

Laughing and yelling in the trouble

Spaces of consensual courage

chapter 7|6 pages

Provoking intervention

chapter 8|7 pages

‘Lift your mask’

Geese Theatre Company in performance

chapter 9|7 pages

Geographies of hope

Exploring departures in applied theatre work with people living with advanced dementia

part III|60 pages

Ethics of representation

chapter 12|3 pages

The work of representation

chapter 13|3 pages

On the political

chapter 15|6 pages

Drama for moral education in mainland China

Tensions and possibilities

chapter 17|8 pages

Inside Bitch

Clean Break and the ethics of representation of women in the criminal justice system

chapter 18|5 pages

The ethics of aesthetic risk

chapter 20|9 pages

Theatre for democracy

part IV|52 pages

Participation and inclusion

chapter 24|7 pages

Participation

chapter 25|2 pages

On arrival

chapter 26|9 pages

Mobile Arts for Peace (MAP)

Curriculum for music, dance and drama in Rwanda

chapter 27|8 pages

Lest all things be held unalterable

Brecht’s message to ‘zombie democracies’

chapter 28|6 pages

Being imperfect

Breakin’ away from relating competitively in Singapore

chapter 29|6 pages

The gratitude enquiry

Investigating reciprocity in three community projects

part V|38 pages

Intervention

chapter 30|3 pages

Introduction to intervention

chapter 31|7 pages

Profit over people

chapter 32|7 pages

When people play people

chapter 34|9 pages

Act smart

Using C&T’s Prospero technology to shape efficacious theatre practices in the digital century

part VI|42 pages

Border crossings

chapter 36|3 pages

Introduction to border crossings

chapter 37|7 pages

Border crossings

chapter 38|7 pages

Decolonising the mind

chapter 39|7 pages

Home, away and back again

chapter 40|7 pages

Brecht in Sicily

A dialogue between theatre and drama therapy

chapter 41|9 pages

The TransActing project

Why trans, non-binary and gender diverse people value spaces without cisgender people when engaging in creative practices

part VII|40 pages

Change

chapter 42|3 pages

Introduction to change

chapter 46|8 pages

Opening doors, not filling boxes

Policy kinesis and youth performance with the Black Friars Theatre Company, Aotearoa New Zealand

chapter 47|7 pages

EducaSwitch

Preventing bullying and advocating social and emotional literacy in schools for children and young people in Chile

part VIII|8 pages

Applied theatre and globalisation

chapter 49|6 pages

Applied theatre in global meltdown