A Global Perspective on Theatre for Social Change

Abstract

A mask workshop with incarcerated offenders. An AIDS education play in rural Zimbabwe. An interactive drama about racism and refugees in northern England. What do these performances have in common? All are examples of applied theatre, a vibrant and expanding field that blends theory and practice in efforts to use theatre for social and political change. The Applied Theatre Reader adds a global perspective to the growing library of academic works investigating how theatre workers put into practice the theories of Bertolt Brecht, Augusto Boal and educator Paulo Freire. This anthology of short articles by academics, artists and facilitators presents a wide variety of recent applied theatre projects around the world. The breadth of the book demonstrates the diversity of the field, while at the same time revealing that questions of efficacy and ethics remain crucial issues for any theatre concerned with social transformation.