Community Theatre as a Tool for Citizenship Education (original) (raw)
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Between Theatre and Society The Question of Understanding
2002
The theatre artist must communicate to and be relevant in the society, bearing in mind that "an incommunicative art is a dilution of the essential aspect of the art" and more so, that i very work of art is created to satisfy a need, a need passionate enough to give it birth; for as Mao Tse Tung put it, works of art which lack artistic quality have no force, however progressive they are politically. This is why it becomes imperative for the theatre artist to pursue what Haus Arp tags "concrete art" -
The Fate of the Dramatic in Modern Society: Social Theory and the Theatrical Avant-Garde
Theory, Culture & Society, 2014
Avant-garde theatre is often invoked as the bellwether for a society that has become postdramatic – fragmented, alienated, and critical of efforts to create collectively shared meanings. A theatre whose sequenced actions have no narrative (so the story goes) mirrors a social world where the most conflictual situations no longer appear as drama but merely as spectacle: a society where audiences look on without any feeling or connection. Because only half right, these theses about postdramatic theatre and society are fundamentally wrong. As modern societies have expanded and differentiated, the elements that compose performances have become separated and often fragmented in both theatre and society. If they can be brought back together again, performances are viewed as authentic and meaningful. If (re)fusion cannot be achieved, performances fail to communicate meaning. The aim of this essay is to demonstrate that a shared ambition to (re)fuse fragmented performative elements has defined the most important strain of avant-garde theatre over the last two centuries. Most radical theatrical innovation has sought to open live drama back up to the telos of myth and ritual. Neither in theatre nor social life can the world transcend dramaturgy; it is fundamental to the search for meaning in a world beyond cosmological religion.
Applied drama and forum theatre in the classroom: An arts-based research in social integration
Hungarian Educational Research Journal
Applied theatre and drama in the school are able to reveal aspects of social life on dramatic, narrative, reflective, symbolic, and aesthetic levels (revealing the necessity of human conditions), thus eliciting a reaction from the audience: committed creative work and self-reflective feedback, during the increasingly deeper learning process transform the "spectator" into a thinking-playing individual (Boal, 1979/2000). The applied theatre of the 20th century derives from the critical theatre forms developed by Brecht. It is also informed by the critical pedagogy issues of Paulo Freire, the Oppressed Theatre works of Augusto Boal, and British theatre in education programs, while based upon other important antecedents and practices (Boal, 1979/2000; Conrad, 2009; Prentki & Preston, 2009, p. 12). By the beginning of the 21st century, applied theatre practice as a social and pedagogical intervention, associated with the international trends, has been manifested as participatory action research and arts-based research (ABR), making an impact upon traditional theatre art and the social sciences as well (Leavy, 2015, p. 11).
PUBLIC THEATRE'S SOCIAL ROLE AND ITS AUDIENCE a
TEME g. XLV, br. 1 , 2021
Today, public theatre is directed toward adapting to its contemporary socioeconomic context. In doing this, it is trying to preserve its artistic values and at the same time fulfill and diversify its social functions and missions. When we talk about public theatre's social function, i.e. the public value it produces, some of the main issues concern its contribution to the most pressing social matters. In general, these issues concern public theatre's role in strengthening social cohesion, cultural emancipation and social inclusion, its role in the process of opening dialogues, revising formal history and reexamining traditional forms of thinking. Fulfilment of these functions is strongly linked with the character of public theatre's audiences. In more practical terms, the scope of public theatre's social influence is dependent on how homogenous its audiences are. If one considers artistic organizations' need for sustainability as a key factor in their need for constantly widening their audience, and particularly the inclusion of "others" (those not belonging to the dominant cultural group), in the context of contemporary society's need for social and cultural inclusion, then the task of today's public theatres becomes rather difficult. Simply said, there are too many needs to be met at the same time. The main questions this paper is asking is: to what extent do Belgrade's public theatres understand the importance of diversifying its audiences, and how do they perceive their social role? Starting from the fact that human capital is the primary resource and success factor of any theatre organization, we explore in what manner management and employees in these theatres address these issues, i.e. how they redefine theatre's social role and attract audiences that do not fit the dominant theatre audience model.
What Phenomenology Can Bring to Theatre Sociology, and What It Cannot
2012
What contribution can phenomenology make to contemporary theatre and performance studies? What sort of critical tasks is it better suited for than other available modes of analysis? In this article, I will address these questions from the perspective of the study of theatre as a social practice in the sense proposed by Pierre Bourdieu: that is, as a set of set-apart, taught and embodied patterns of social striving, which pursue their own values and are constantly subject to redefinition by their participants. 1 It may seem at first that phenomenology has little in common with this sort of sociological view of the theatrical field. This is only partially correct. The two are distinct but complementary; neither alone can provide as complete a portrait of what theatre does than the two can together.
2016
The discussion that follows was recorded on 28 November 2015 at the Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre Institute in Warsaw. The occasion was the conclusion of the ‘Pop-Up’ project prepared by Agata Siwiak and Grzegorz Niziolek – an anti-theatrical installation where often-ephemeral actions took place in a purpose-built tent, located on the campus of the University of Economics in Krakow, in the public space of the city. The project lasted from 17 October to 15 November 2015. An important current presented within its framework involved artistic practices focused on interaction with various communities including Polish Roma ( Romville , directed by Elzbieta Depta, performed by Martyna Peszko and others), children from the orphanage in Szamocin ( Stay, Stay , directed by Michal Borczuch, performed by Krzysztof Zarzecki and others), and the Polish-Ukrainian community of Volhynia ( Swarka , directed by Katarzyna Szyngiera, co-written with Michal Wlekly, performed by Martyna Peszko and others). T...