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14 | Scene | 2010-11 April Issue 3 & 4
Applied theatre, both the term and
the movement, has been steadily gaining
momentum over the years despite what
often appears to be a lack of clarity on
what it actually is. Applied Theatre is an
umbrella term that encompasses a range
of theatre practices from Theatre of the
Oppressed to Museum Theatre, Prison
Theatre to Intergenerational Arts, Conflict
Resolution to Applied Puppetry. What all
these practices have in common is their
concern with personal and social
change, how they can help communities
to question themselves and the world in
which they live. In other words Applied
Theatre stems from a basic desire to
change and/or transform human
behavior and thinking through the
medium of theatre. Of course not all the
practices encompassed are always used
in an applied theatre context, rather they
all have elements that allow them to be
practiced in this way.
Examples of different practices
used in applied theatre:
Dramatherapy
Theatre of the Oppressed
Prison Theatre
Heritage Site based Theatre
Dilemma Plays
Community theatre
Reminiscence Theatre
Carnival
Psycho-drama
Storytelling
Theatre for development
Playback theatre
Museum theatre
Archive theatre
Intergenerational Arts
Theatre in Education
Applied Puppetry
Intercultural Arts
Conflict Resolution
While the term Applied Theatre
emerged in the 1990s a development
from work in Theatre in Education and
Process Theatre there is no real
consensus about what it is. However it is
recognized that the various forms of
theatre, each with their own theories and
practices, all aspire to use drama to
improve the lives of individuals and
societies. As such it is not uncommon
that applied theatre work will draw on
other practices outside of the world of
theatre (such as psychology,
anthropology, sociology and education)
making it simultaneously an
interdisciplinary and hybrid practice.
Discussion has also frequently
centred on the process versus
performance nature of applied theatre.
Over the years there has developed a
general acceptance that process work
is labelled applied drama while
performance work is applied theatre.
However these terms are often used
intermittently not least because process
work often leads to performance, or
performance is used to open the
dialogue into process work.
Good Applied Theatre aims to
devise roles and situations that
explore the human condition, not as
a way of answering the problems of
the world but to help develop a
perspective on the world and to
understand or at least struggle with
the perspective of others as we
move towards a sense of social
justice and equityapplied theatre
operates as a reflective encounter,
but simultaneously it is a
transformative encounter that can
help change or alter human
perceptions of the world.
(Philip Taylor, Applied Theatre,
Heinemann 2003)
Philip Taylor further states that
applied theatre is powered by a need to
change, (it) opens up new perspectives,
poses options and anticipates change.
Taylor refers to the diversity of purpose
involved in applied theatre, highlighting
five areas:
1. Raising awareness (e.g. about
AIDS, starvation in Africa)
2. Posing alternatives / teaching
concepts (e.g. looking at behaviour
patterns as a result often of stuck
situations such as gang mentality,
peer pressure, substance abuse)
3. Healing psychological wounds /
barriers / fractured identities (e.g.
bereavement, post-trauma)
4. An interrogation of human actions
/ Challenging contemporary
discourses (e.g. homophobia,
racism, classism)
5. Voicing the views of the silent or
marginal and change states of
oppression (e.g. bullying, domestic
abuse)
While all this may seem very
interesting in theory it begs the question:
how does applied theatre work in the
classroom? It may feel out of reach or at
odds with the curriculum being taught,
demanding a role of teacher and
students that neither is equipped to fulfil.
However that is one of the great
misconceptions of applied theatre and
the first step to embedding it into a
theatre programme is realising that it is
probably already there in various formats
and to varying levels.
Looking at the list of practices above,
a list that is not exhaustive by any
means, ask yourself how many of these
practices are already in your courses.
How often do we teach our students that
theatre is about more than
performance? Students of applied
theatre quickly learn that it does not
allow for passivity and uncritical
consumerism; it demands reflection,
interrogation, and most of all, action.
Applied theatre makes manifest the use
of theatre for extra-theatrical purposes,
where extra theatrical can refer to such
things as education, social change and
community building. It incorporates
varying forms of theatre and drama to
present to both traditional and non-
traditional audiences in formal and
informal locations and in alternative
spaces. In this way, applied theatre
addresses the ways theatre can be an
agent for change, empowerment,
enablement and transformation.
So how might applied theatre be
used in the classroom? The first
questions to ask are: What is the
project? Who is it for? And Who is the
audience? In other words are you using it
to tackle a class issue, a school issue, to
prepare an issue-based performance, or
workshop issues, is it for a
class/school/external audience? Next it is
key to remember that applied theatre
requires certain things:
Participation: Audience
participation is critical to the success
of the work. As a result participant
autonomy is essential as opposed to
a mindless state in which
instructions must be obeyed,
otherwise participants will be
unthinking.
Co-development: There must be a
APPLIED THEATRE:
The mystery unraveled
I By Jennifer Hartley
Scene | 2010-11 April Issue 3 & 4 | 15
partnership between educators and
participants and any project is
developed hand-in-hand.
Open-endedness: The idea is to
raise question not provide definitive
answers.
Participants are encouraged to
discuss/brainstorm/interrogate /
question/be aware of different
perspectives look with new
lenses/debate/dialogue/
reflect/transform/act/create their own
understanding. They will leave with
questions: questions about
themselves, situations, the world in
which they live
Purpose: Know what your reason is
for using applied theatre. It is
dangerous to try to work out the
reason while a project is underway
and will risk it becoming a theatre
project as opposed to an applied
Theatre one.
Flexibility: Objectives may change
as the project develops. While you
may begin a project with clear
objectives, the needs and desires of
the participants may change.
Moreover once the project is
underway it may throw up things
that need to be worked with which
differ from the original objectives.
You may be wondering what kind of
projects might come under applied
theatre. Below are examples of some we
have carried out within a school and
classroom setting:
1. A project about self-image that
culminated in a forum theatre
presentation for the school. Leading
up to the performance students used
image theatre first to establish
understanding and trust to be able to
openly discuss certain issues.
2. A school dealing with lack of
integration among the students due
to racial and cultural issues develops
a project over two terms based on a
better understanding of the situation
for staff, students and parents. All
participate in different stages of the
project and get to discuss their views
through the project work. Finally the
same play is staged three times
each time from a different point of
view, that of the students, the staff
and the families involved.
3. An educational project to explore peer
pressure and understanding about
sexual issues. The project looked at
safe sex issues, sexual orientation
and the ways in which the subject is
approached with young people and
why they were often reluctant to listen
to the standard approach.
4. A bullying project in a school
designed to explore attitudes and
reasons behind concepts of bullying.
The project explored the ideas of
victim and perpetrator and the danger
of labeling and/or stereotyping. It also
looked at alternative behaviours and
approaches.
5. A bereavement project after a suicide
incident in a school. This project was
multifaceted in that the initial objectives
centred around bereavement
counseling but quickly changed to
looking at teenage pressures,
alternatives to dealing with that
pressure, guilt and our basic human
need to understand everything and
neatly package it in a way that seems
acceptable. Seniors went on to create
interactive performances with juniors.
6. An intergenerational project working
with history and CAS (Community,
Action, Service) aiming to understand
aspects of World War II and the Cold
War. This was working with a home for
the elderly, school students and a local
museum. Objectives centred on a
greater understanding of these periods
and giving value to the voices who
had survived it. The culmination was a
teaching performance in the museum
which worked through time periods
allowing the youth and the elderly to
portray the same roles from different
time perspectives.
Looking at the projects mentioned
above generally they all have some kind
of issue as the driving force. However
an issue can equally be used as a means
of teaching the various stages in an
applied theatre project. In this way the
imaginary world of applied theatre
becomes a potent medium for
participants to explore the real world;
rather than the applied theatre being an
escape, it is grounded in real-life
experiences. Project based applied
theatre/drama may or may not lead to
performance. The ideas mentioned above
come from a strong foundation of the
issue being dealt with and performance
being an extra or culmination to the
project. However not all applied theatre
projects come from this angle.
The What happened next? (WHN?)
project was established two years ago to
look at the roles of audience, director,
actor and writer. It questioned the place
of each in a participatory theatre and the
voice each should be given, particularly
in a theatre tradition that often silences
the audience by reducing them to
spectator role with the only form of
feedback coming as applause, or lack
therein. WHN? was an initiative to break
down the writing process and make the
writers directly answerable to their
audience. The project was based on
performance at each stage, with the
audience being invited to speak out and
get up and act as they offered their ideas
for development and their commentaries.
It also served for the audience to learn
how to critically reflect on what they were
seeing.
A sample advertisement for a school
version of WHN?
What happened next?
Five writers.
Five directors.
Five scripts.
Five weeks.
Have you ever walked away from a
play wondering What happened
next?
Have you ever sat through a play
wishing you could change the story?
Have you ever sat there thinking I
could have done a better job?
Well here is your chance to have your
say and get involved. Each week we
get a 5-minute installment of a
developing play. Each week the
audience will get their chance to
comment on and change what they
have seen and where they think it is
heading.
Five writers are being asked to write
five minutes of a 25 minute script
and over 5 weeks the same script
will develop each month leaving us
with five 25 minute complete plays.
Each month is a strict five-minute
piece and the next week is
continuing from where we left off.
The audience will play a role each
month in helping experiment with
ideas and in that way help move the
story in the direction they would like
to see it go, although ultimately the
writer decides what happened
next? you can influence his/her
decision and change the outcome.
Before starting any applied theatre
project ask yourself the following
questions:
1. Who is the audience for the applied
theatre?
2. What does the applied theatre project
aim to achieve?
3. How can the applied theatre be
designed to meet the needs of the
audience?
4. How will you ensure participants have
ownership of the project?
5. Is there going to be a performative
element for a wider audience?
6. What ethics need to be considered?
16 | Scene | 2010-11 April Issue 3 & 4
7. How will reflection be built into the
project?
If you look at the projects mentioned
above, the approach and the exercises
used will vary depending on who the
audience is and why the project is being
created. Always ask yourself who are
your participants and never forget that
they must take ownership of the project.
Remember that you are working towards
incomplete moments even when a
performance is involved. Incompleteness
is essential or it becomes a didactic
approach where answers or preferred
courses of action have been decided
beforehand and are being presented and
solutions appear definitive. The
teacher/joker/facilitator must never
impose their own solutions but rather be
the vehicle through which others can
open up and express their ideas. Of
course with any group that means a
multiple of ideas may be presented, each
with their own consequences but that is
because there are multiple perspectives
and every project should embrace such
multiplicity and develop a framework in
which it can be presented.
Reflection is key to all applied theatre
practice. It is critical because it
demonstrates that you are asking what is
happening at any given point as you
implement the work. Reflection does not
come in at the end of the project as a
means of evaluation, rather it is
consistent and sustained throughout as
the work is in a constant state of
development and even flux.
Philip Taylor has outlined a set of
principles for planning an applied theatre
project and these have been adopted
and indeed adapted by practitioners
worldwide. By following these planning
guidelines you can help ensure that any
project embraces the ethos behind the
practice.
The traditional view of theory and
practice is that theory equals the
intellectualizing, the not doing, the
thinking about, while practice was about
the doing, the active aspect, the
process. The word praxis brings these
two aspects - theory and practice -
together, seeing both as part of a
complex dynamic encounter. Praxis is at
the heart of all applied theatre work, as
the theory and practice are developed
simultaneously to bring about
transformation. Applied theatre is
transformative in nature, even if that
change is not what we expected, or
assumed, even if that change is not
evident to us at the close of the project.
A final word on the topic of ethics. The
very nature of applied theatre means that
certain ethical questions will always have
to be taken into consideration. Having
said that, any theatre practitioner should
always be asking themselves certain
ethical questions; the difference lies
perhaps in the consequences if
consideration and planning has not been
given to this area. Ethically it is essential to
remember that a critical element in the
success of an applied theatre programme
is that the group defines the territory to be
covered from the start. Emphasis must be
on the fact that we are not seeking to
solve problems but to raise questions,
there are no judgements brought to the
issue and multiple perspectives are
needed without the teacher/facilitator
imposing their own judgement and/ or a
particular point of view.
Suggested Reading List
If you are interested in finding out more
about Applied Theatre and how to use it in
your own practice I recommend the titles
below:
Blatner, Adam: Interactive and
Improvisational Drama: Varieties of Applied
Theatre and Performance. iUniverse.com
(2007)
Nicholson, Helen: Applied Drama (Theatre
& Performance Practices). Macmillan
(2005)
Prendergast, M. & Saxton, J: Applied
Theatre: International Case Studies and
Challenges for Practice. Intellect Books (2009)
Prentki, T. & Preston, S.: Applied Theatre
Reader. Routledge (2008)
Taylor, Philip: Applied Theatre: Creating
Transformative Encounters in the
Community
Heinemann. (2003)
Thompson, James: Digging Up Stories:
Applied Theatre, Performance and
War. Manchester University Press.
(2006)
Taylors Principles for planning
Applied theatre
1. Applied theatre is thoroughly
researched
2. Applied theatre seeks
incompleteness
3. Applied theatre demonstrates
possible narratives
4. Applied theatre is task-oriented
5. Applied theatre poses dilemmas
6. Applied theatre interrogates
futures
7. Applied theatre is an aesthetic
medium
8. Applied theatre gives voice to
communities
(Philip Taylor, Applied Theatre,
Heinemann 2003)
Things to think about:
Is applied theatre moral/ethical? What
makes applied theatre an ethical
theatre?
In other words, what are the moral
values informing the choices and
the implementation of the
programme/project?
Are we seeking conformity through
such practice?
Whose standard is the applied theatre
enforcing?
When rendering peoples life stories
into the dramatic medium, must
certain confidentialities and
assurances be given?
Should raising emotions be a purpose
of applied theatre?
Applied theatre might leave
participants with more questions than
answers
How can that be catered for?
Who is the project serving?
How do you build an ethical
framework?
What kind of follow work is needed?
I've made some friends that I will keep in touch with for many years to come because they
have inspired me to do my best and also encourage me in a craft that they also adore. Student
I think ISTA was amazing. It is a fun way to explore the theatrical mind of a child. The
experiences we shared as an ensemble were extremely memorablewe got to express our inner
talents in a sophisticated way. Student
The only problem with ISTA is that the festival is not long enough. Student