Revelations about the theatrical practice and its evolution.
Insights in Applied Theatre offers an inside look into the advent of applied theater and its development as an area of practice and research. Much more than an archive, the texts in this collection present vivid, pertinent voices and messages from the pioneers of applied theater. The nineteen articles chosen by the editors of Applied Theatre Research represent key themes and elements from the start of the practice. The articles—many of which were influential in their own time—have much to say to the contemporary scene. They have been arranged in sections according to key themes and issues discovered, investigated, and stumbled across by the trailblazing writers in the collection. A vital new contribution to the field, the book raises questions about the contested issues of power, partnerships, and voice in applied theater.
Introduction: Then and now John O’Toole PART 1: INSPIRING STORIES 1. Life drama Papua New Guinea: Contextualising practice Andrea Baldwin 2. Audience participation, aesthetic distance and change: Reflections on Fifty Square Feet, a theatre in education programme on urban poverty Chan Yuk-Lan (Phoebe) 3. Converging worlds: Fostering co-facilitation and relationships for health promotion through drama at the grassroots Christine Sinclair and Andrea Grindrod 4. Shakespeare in Nicaragua Els van Poppel PART 2: WHAT IS APPLIED THEATRE? 5. Applied theatre: Problems and possibilities Judith Ackroyd 6. Applied theatre and the power play: An international viewpoint Bjørn Rasmussen 7. Conversations with the devil Tim Prentki 8. Applied theatre: An exclusionary discourse? Judith Ackroyd PART 3: RISKY BUSINESS: GOOD INTENTIONS AND THE ROAD TO HELL 9. Ethical tensions in drama teachers’ behaviour Shifra Schonmann 10. Community theatre in a South Samic community: The challenges of working with theatre in small communities Tordis Landvik 11. Spectacular violence and the Kachahari theatre of Sindhuli, Nepal Alberto Guevara PART 4: THE DESIRE FOR CHANGE: VOICE, POWER AND PARTNERSHIP 12. Tabula rasa: Starting afresh with classroom drama Kathleen Gallagher 13. Making a break for it: Discourse and theatre in prisons James Thompson 14. Evaluating the efficacy of community theatre intervention in/as performance: A South African case study Kennedy Chinyowa 15. ‘We like good disco!’: The ‘public sphere of children’ and its implications for practice Nora Roozemond and Karola Wenzel PART 5: THEATRE OF INNOVATIONS 16. Theatrical reflections of health: Physically impacting health-based research Julia Gray 17. Playing the game, role distance and digital performance John Carroll and David Cameron PART 6: A NOD TO THE ANCESTORS 18. Educational and critical dimensions in Turkish shadow theatre: The Karagöz Theatre of Anatolia Mehmet Takkaç and A. Kerin Dinç 19. Christmas traditions and performance rituals: A look at Christmas celebrations in a Nordic context Stig A. Eriksson
John O'Toole has worked in drama education and applied theatre for over 50 years, and has taught students of all ages at all levels. In 2014 he was awarded the Order of Australia (AM) for services to drama. Penny Bundy is adjunct professor of applied theatre at Griffith University Australia. For over 40 years she has been teaching, practising and writing about drama education and applied theatre. Peter O’Connor is director of the Centre for Arts and Social Transformation at the University of Auckland. He has been making and researching applied theatre for over 30 years.
