The Vocation of Advocacy

Abstract

Abstract This chapter argues that theatre and the college experience are not escapes from the real world, but instead platforms to practice advocacy, seek justice, and challenge oppressive structures. During the liminal college years, students engage in transforming the world as they are transformed by experiential learning in community. Students committed to a vocation of advocacy are answering a call to honor our interdependence by responding to injustice. Students can cultivate skill sets to be change agents and advocates in their field and on their vocational journeys through applied theatre practices. This chapter demonstrates that through applied theatre practices such as participatory dialogue, students are prepared to contribute to the common good and bring skills of transformative leadership to their work and lives. Specific examples come from the Common Good Players, an applied theatre troupe that devises creative scholarship that advocates for a more just world.