Tim Prentki and Sheila Preston, eds. The Applied Theatre Reader

Abstract

TIM PRENTKI and SHEILA PRESTON, eds. The Applied Theatre Reader New York: Routledge, 2009. 380 pp., index. The Applied Theatre Reader is a remarkable collection of theory, project testimonials, and creative writing about the kind of that breaks the barriers of mainstream production in a wonderful variety of ways. Although the term theatre is unattractive and uninspiring--connoting the concept of applying as one would mathematics to a particular issue--it is frequently used as an umbrella term for the many processes of play creation that grew out of post-WWII progressive movements and gained momentum in the second half of the twentieth century. Editors Tim Prentki and Sheila Preston include a variety of genres in the Reader--community theatre, for social change, popular theatre, for development, drama in education, prison theatre--and transparently discuss the challenges of organizing such a broad spectrum of work. Rather than simply filing the selected papers under categories of applied theatre, the editors focus on ideological objectives and describe the journey that helps facilitators, participants, and sponsoring organizations realize them. Citing Philip Taylor on applied as a transformative encounter: [t]he becomes a medium for action, for reflection but most important for transformation. Prentki and Preston consider transformation as an overriding discourse of applied theatre. Each play or process in the Reader struggles to define and attain this objective, and the collection itself moves purposefully towards the final section, Transformation; on the way, it engages with the complex and thorny issues of representation, ethics, intervention, participation, and border crossing (11). Apart from a few puzzling editorial choices--there is a focus on carnival that seems disproportionate in light of the case studies presented, the inclusion of two pieces by Edward Bond seem slightly out of place, and there is a conspicuous absence of writing on labour or union arts--the Reader works because it is a dialogic mix of theory and case study. The inclusion of more recent theory, like excerpts from Chantal Mouffe's On the Political or Noam Chomsky's Profit Over People, or bell hooks's Choosing the Margin as a Space of Radical Openness, enhances the fundamental theories of Bertolt Brecht and Augusto Boal, and contextualizes the applied projects of the twenty-first century. Delightfully, the Reader begins with a Prologue--an excerpt from Dario Fo's Mistero Buffo (The Birth of the Jongleur), in which an oppressed peasant becomes a jongleur by the grace of Jesus. With his skillful articulation, my tongue whirls, almost like a knife, the jongleur tells of his oppression and ridicules those in power (1). As in many of the social justice projects recounted in this collection, the voice of the oppressed rings out to crush the oppressor (5). But not always. For what if the oppressor turns out to be the sponsor of the applied project? What is at risk if the coordinators and/or funders must be challenged (for example, in the case of development agencies which have global objectives that do not always coincide with local needs)? Is it ethical to bite the hand that feeds you? Or as Fo's jongleur might one day discover, can he make jokes about Jesus and keep his new-found talent? Or in our case, funding, space, or community support? Several contributors candidly discuss the contentious issue of critiquing the facilitators or project sponsors (sometimes the government). Who's Got the Power? Performance and Self Advocacy for People with Learning Disabilities and Child Rights Theatre for Development with Disadvantaged and Excluded Children in South Asia and Africa, for example, probe this dilemma. In the first, adults with learning disabilities in South East London created a play for their organization's AGM and brought their concerns to their sponsors' attention. …