ABSTRACT
The author focuses on boundary-crossing between two epistemologies: knowledge instilled from one’s home, geographically and culturally, e.g., what the people know from the inside because they live/d there; and that which is acquired through study and exchange far and wide, e.g., what the people learn from extending beyond their home base. Issues cross borders, too, of consciousness. Small towns may appear to be homogenous in terms of race, nationality, political perspective, gender normativity, and more, but reveal deep conflicts between people with different histories, identities, and ideas, in some cases that have been present for a long time but were hidden or unspoken. Applied theater opened the possibility of bringing the personal/domestic into the author writing, through the field’s appreciation of everyone’s experience. The meaningfulness of applied theater has made the author want to elevate its place in the field of performance.
