A presentation by Prof John O'Toole (Griffith University and University of Melbourne) about Applied Theatre.

1. APPliED Til E
Dramatic and theatrical performance
for specific purposes besides entertainment
usually taking place beyond conventional theatres
usually involving interactivity

2. __ PO 'TIIEATR
nD n
Entertainment
Education// Edification
Celebration// Affirmation
Critique// Levelling

3. CES Of TIIEATRE & RA
what the ofte-
Positive Interrogative
Comfort Discomfort
Reassurance Disturbance
Truths Uncertainties
Affirmation Alternatives
Status quo Change
Celebration Critique
Answers Questions
Messages Open ends

4. I STORY IPPII ITR
Education // edification
Children's play, medieval mystery, didactic theatre
Maoist theatre & opera
Celebration// affirmation
Greek tragedy, soap opera & sitcom, village fetes
Independence day parades
Critique II levelling
Satirical comedy, commedia, protest theatre
carnivals

5. t h nt yp RJ
Meyerhold, Piscator, Brecht
drama for social uses
Jacob Moreno
>> roleplay training
psychodrama, socio-drama
US & Canada - Drama for self-expression
Ward et al • creative dramatics, readers' theatre
UK & Aust, Canada, Sweden: Social drama - DiE
Slade, Way, Heathcote & Bolton, process drama
US Fringe 60s-80s
Bread & Puppets, San Francisco Mime Troupe
UK Fringe 50s-80s
Participatory TiE, Community theatre, Welfare State, Popular theatre
(Hunt, McGrath), Interaction (Berman)
Augusto Boal
Theatre of the oppressed, Liberation theatre, Invisible theatre
Theatre for Development
PETA, Ngugi wa Thiongo/Wamiiri
Theorists
Bond, Schechner, Boal, Bolton et al, Mlama, van Erven

6. .iE TER
l APPliED TilER E
Co-coined simultaneously
1994 (?)
Griffith University, Brisbane:
BA in Applied Theatre 1994,
Centre for Applied Theatre Research 1998
University of Manchester:
Centre for Applied Theatre Research 1994/5
From 1998 many others
eg. Ackroyd (ATR Journal) 2000, Exeter University MA 2003

7. p TI'IE
Communal // community
Personal // individuals
Pedagogical II education & training
Corporate // commercial

8. 0 applied
MDOIQIU ,,.
community need1
Community theatre
Celebrating, giving community a voice, voicing concerns
Theatre for development (TfD)
HIV, sanitation, environment, democracy, gender
Protest theatre
Satire, agitprop, demo performance, carnivals
Theatre of the oppressed
Giving a voice, empowerment, literacy
Prison theatre
Self-esteem, telling valued stories, rehabilitation
Theatre for trauma
Children in war zones, post-natural disaster, rebulilding
Dramatised liturgy & rites
Organised religious observance, evangelism
Parades & Processions
Government parades, demo marches

9. ontem.,oraru a.,plied lne
per1onal need1
Dramatherapy
Psychodrama
Access theatre
Stress workshops
Communication workshops
Trauma management

10. ntem.,oraru ap.,lied I Q~l·
corporate aeed1
Promotional theatre
Openings, municipal celebrations, product promotions
Museum theatre & cultural tourism
eg Culloden, IWM, St Helena, Dreamworld, Tjapukai
Conference theming
meet & greet, opening performances, workshop interventions,
mock keynotes, dinner entertainment
Playback theatre
Post-conference, bonding seminars
Managerial I employee workshops
Stress, communications, teamwork

11. ontempotaty apnlied theatre
p•dago9ical purpo1•1
Role-play training & education
Simulations for policy & planning , adult training , army exercises
Dramatic pedagogy
Drama and theatre in education, drama across the curriculum

12. PS
The baggage trap
The over-ambition trap
The patronage trap
The ethical trap
The backfiring trap

13. 1YOIDiftG TilE BAGGAGE TRIP
(Your clients come with preconceptions about drama)
Start where your clients are at
Understand & listen to their needs
Find forms that they can cope with
Find a hook to engage them
Prepare meticulously
Give them time
Give them time
Give them time

14. 0 I TilE OYER·IIIBITIOR TRIP
(Your own ideals and plans outstrip your understanding and skills)
Understand your art:
Have sufficient drama & theatre skills
(performance & production & timing)
Be able to create and manage applied theatre form
(playwriting & directing & design & montage)
Understand your context:
Be able to understand your clients' needs
(and their context)
Be able to identify the aesthetic potential
(of clients & context)
Be able to manage the elements of the context
(time/production/logistical management &/or pedagogy)

15. YO IDin PATROnAGE TRIP
(We who have and who know will help you
who neither know nor have and therefore need us)
Knovv whether, when and why you are wanted
Listen to your audience
Set out to fulfil their needs [not your own]
Start where your audience/clients are at
Understand their needs
Find forms that they can cope with
Find a hook to engage them
Prepare meticulously
Give them time
Be open with clients throughout
Check with advisory panel or (very) critical friends

16. AYOI l nG 'T,
i I ETIIICAl TRAP
Drama and theatre are morally neutral
and can be used for good or ill
Do no harm
Drama's stances mean it can offer order or change
(reinforce orthodoxy by answers or undermine it with questions)
However: no risk and pain, no gain!
So consider in advance
Is this worth doing (taking risks)? Why?
Identify the stakeholders, positive and negative
Who will gain?
Who might lose?
Do the potential benefits appear to outweigh potential damage?
Do a SWOT analysis or similar:
What are the project's strengths?
What are Its weaknesses?
What are the opportunities?
What are the threats?

17. DinG IE BACKfiRinG TRIP
(The project is not doing what it set out to, or is doing something else)
Take measures to avoid the last four traps!
Be able to recognise when it is backfiring
Be flexible, honest and humble
Be ready to pull the plug (but not too ready)
Reflect with your clients & build from the
wreckage
"No [applied theatre] is ever a failure" Bolton
"Experience [in applied theatre] is what you get when your
clients are looking for something else" Anon.

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