ABSTRACT
This chapter explores issues of social justice in relation to public and civic engagement by reflecting on an applied theatre project, entitled Curious Coventry, which was funded by the University of Warwick's 'Public Engagement Award Scheme'. The boxes represented curiosity, repressed memories, a migrant's personal history, hidden emotions. Curious Coventry aimed to offer the pupils a chance to make sense of the dynamic, diverse and complex nature of these 'global-local' aspects of Coventry. In order to distance the material away from the original storyteller, there were two rules: One of the pupils had to take on the role of the postgraduate student; and they had to incorporate the use of a matchbox in the moving image. Devising theatre emphasises student-centred and collaborative learning and this has prompted many drama educators to highlight its pedagogical potential as site of civic engagement in which pupils participate in forming an ensemble or bonded community of influence.
