APPliED Til E

Dramatic and theatrical performance for specific purposes besides entertainment

usually taking place beyond conventional theatres usually involving interactivity

__ PO 'TIIEATR nD n

Entertainment Education// Edification Celebration// Affirmation Critique// Levelling

CES Of TIIEATRE & RA what the

Positive Comfort

Reassurance Truths

Affirmation Status quo

Celebration Answers Messages

ofte-Interrogative

Discomfort

Disturbance Uncertainties

Alternatives Change Critique

Questions Open ends

I STORY IPPII ITR

Education // edification Children's play, medieval mystery, didactic theatre

Maoist theatre & opera

Celebration// affirmation Greek tragedy, soap opera & sitcom, village fetes

Independence day parades

Critique II levelling Satirical comedy, commedia, protest theatre

carnivals

t h nt yp Meyerhold, Piscator, Brecht drama for social uses

Jacob Moreno psychodrama, socio-drama >> roleplay training

US & Canada - Drama for self-expression Ward et al • creative dramatics, readers' theatre

RJ

UK & Aust, Canada, Sweden: Social drama - DiE Slade, Way, Heathcote & Bolton, process drama

US Fringe 60s-80s Bread & Puppets, San Francisco Mime Troupe

UK Fringe 50s-80s Participatory TiE, Community theatre, Welfare State, Popular theatre (Hunt, McGrath), Interaction (Berman)

Augusto Boal Theatre of the oppressed, Liberation theatre, Invisible theatre

Theatre for Development PETA, Ngugi wa Thiongo/Wamiiri

Theorists Bond, Schechner, Boal, Bolton et al, Mlama, van Erven

.liE TER APPliED TilER

Co-coined simultaneously

1994 (?)

Griffith University, Brisbane: BA in Applied Theatre 1994,

Centre for Applied Theatre Research 1998

University of Manchester: Centre for Applied Theatre Research 1994/5

From 1998 many others

E

eg. Ackroyd (ATR Journal) 2000, Exeter University MA 2003

p TI'IE

Communal // community

Personal // individuals Pedagogical II education & training

Corporate // commercial

0 MDOIQIU applied community need1

Community theatre

,,.

Celebrating, giving community a voice, voicing concerns

Theatre for development (TfD) HIV, sanitation, environment, democracy, gender

Protest theatre Satire, agitprop, demo performance, carnivals

Theatre of the oppressed Giving a voice, empowerment, literacy

Prison theatre Self-esteem, telling valued stories, rehabilitation

Theatre for trauma Children in war zones, post-natural disaster, rebulilding

Dramatised liturgy & rites Organised religious observance, evangelism

Parades & Processions Government parades, demo marches

ontem.,oraru a.,plied lne per1onal need1

Dramatherapy Psychodrama Access theatre Stress workshops Communication workshops Trauma management

ntem.,oraru ap.,lied I corporate aeed1

Promotional theatre

Q~l·

Openings, municipal celebrations, product promotions

Museum theatre & cultural tourism eg Culloden, IWM, St Helena, Dreamworld, Tjapukai

Conference theming meet & greet, opening performances, workshop interventions, mock keynotes, dinner entertainment

Playback theatre Post-conference, bonding seminars

Managerial I employee workshops Stress, communications, teamwork

ontempotaty apnlied theatre p•dago9ical purpo1•1

Role-play training & education Simulations for policy & planning , adult training , army exercises

Dramatic pedagogy Drama and theatre in education, drama across the curriculum

PS

The baggage trap

The over-ambition trap The patronage trap

The ethical trap The backfiring trap

1YOIDiftG TilE BAGGAGE TRIP (Your clients come with preconceptions about drama)

Start where your clients are at Understand & listen to their needs Find forms that they can cope with Find a hook to engage them Prepare meticulously Give them time Give them time Give them time

0 I TilE OYER·IIIBITIOR TRIP (Your own ideals and plans outstrip your understanding and skills)

Understand your art: Have sufficient drama & theatre skills

(performance & production & timing)

Be able to create and manage applied theatre form (playwriting & directing & design & montage)

Understand your context: Be able to understand your clients' needs

(and their context)

Be able to identify the aesthetic potential (of clients & context)

Be able to manage the elements of the context (time/production/logistical management &/or pedagogy)

YO I Din PATROnAGE TRIP (We who have and who know will help you

who neither know nor have and therefore need us)

Knovv whether, when and why you are wanted Listen to your audience Set out to fulfil their needs [not your own] Start where your audience/clients are at Understand their needs Find forms that they can cope with Find a hook to engage them Prepare meticulously Give them time Be open with clients throughout Check with advisory panel or (very) critical friends

AYOI linG 'T,I ETIIICAl TRAP Drama and theatre are morally neutral

and can be used for good or ill

Do no harm Drama's stances mean it can offer order or change (reinforce orthodoxy by answers or undermine it with questions)

However: no risk and pain, no gain!

So consider in advance Is this worth doing (taking risks)? Why? Identify the stakeholders, positive and negative

Who will gain? Who might lose? Do the potential benefits appear to outweigh potential damage?

Do a SWOT analysis or similar: What are the project's strengths? What are Its weaknesses? What are the opportunities? What are the threats?

DinG IE BACKfiRinG TRIP (The project is not doing what it set out to, or is doing something else)

Take measures to avoid the last four traps!

Be able to recognise when it is backfiring

Be flexible, honest and humble

Be ready to pull the plug (but not too ready)

Reflect with your clients & build from the wreckage

"No [applied theatre] is ever a failure" Bolton

"Experience [in applied theatre] is what you get when your clients are looking for something else" Anon.

...