Social theater as a tool to enhance dialogue between different communities

Abstract

In nowadays Ukrainian society, there are pretty many events at the intersection of conflict situations that require understanding, dialogue, and platforms to build connections between members of different social communities. One of the ecological ways of building dialogue is social theater.Each theater is inherently social, but we talk about free theatrical format aimed at public dialogue. In general, public dialogue is a dialogue between classes and social groups to reconcile their interests in the distribution of economic, political and cultural resources. In a specific definition, it is also the process of proclamation and converging positions so that to reach an understanding and making common decisions across different social groups.Modern forms of the social theater include playback (narrative theater), forum theater (oppressed, invisible, etc.), educational theater (medicine, pedagogy), therapeutic theater, theater in the proposed circumstances (prison theatre, Theatre of War Productions), performances (museum theater, improvisation). Mostly they are spontaneously organized by “amateur” theaters, which are founded by activists and enthusiasts. Their focus is on the dramatic events of individuals who represent invisible groups that have specific social problems.Thus, the general functions of the social theater can be divided into communicative, consolidating, cognitive, therapeutic, adaptive, rehabilitative, and creative.Judith Ackroyd talks about the dual purpose of social theater to promote changes in public opinion and behavior as well to encourage the public to the partnership. That is why it is hard to overestimate the role of social theater to get unity, cooperation, and activity.