Healing deurmekaar: theatre, social change and praxes of potential

Abstract

This article proposes a praxis perspective on the use of theatre as a tool for healing and social change that engages with the contemporary complexities of any context in which it is used, rather than relying on the rigid replication of tried forms. The South African colloquialism ‘deurmekaar’ becomes a pivot around which this proposition turns, informed by the dual meanings of the word: on the one hand denoting complexity and confusion, and on the other the literal meaning ‘through one another’. Using the Indian Theatre of the Oppressed organization, Jana Sanskriti (JS), as a case study, I explore the potential of a theatre that both informs, and is informed by, the lived experiences of its participants, as well as prioritizes aesthetic experience as a catalyst for dialogue and consciousness raising. Following this, I argue for entry into the concept of healing and social change through theatre that promotes dialogue and multivocality over singular narratives and insularity. While I advocate for the importance of the use of the performing arts as a tool for reconstruction after an oppressive past, I express what I perceive as the danger of reconciliatory efforts through theatre that ossify the construction of traumatized histories into hegemonic narratives.