ABSTRACT
Adele Clarke uses the terms micro, meso and macro to understand the complex interplay of relational hierarchies in a research situation. Using two moments from participatory theatre and performance workshops conducted in an inner city area of Johannesburg as part of a year-long public art work (the Izithombe 2094 project), this chapter combines Clarke’s lens with theatre and performance studies theories to parse out the shifting power dynamics in the different situations of workshop participants’ lives. The chapter explores the ways in which the workshop processes were able to momentarily unsettle power dynamics positively and offer participants experiences of authority in all senses of the word.
