Applied Theatre: Participation
By (Author) Dr Taiwo Afolabi
Series edited by Prof Michael Balfour
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Methuen Drama
18th September 2025
United Kingdom
Tertiary Education
Non Fiction
History of Performing Arts
Social groups, communities and identities
Hardback
288
Width 138mm, Height 216mm
This book explores and critiques the concept of participation in applied theatre both theoretically and practically.
Participation is one of the concepts central to applied theatre practice, but its mostly considered when engaging with communities in applied theatre, while the term itself is under-theorized in applied theatre discourses. This study examines and unpacks participation as a tool to foster community engagement and decolonize research and knowledge production in applied theatre practice, especially regarding representation, equity and access.
What does participation even mean What are the new and existing paradigms and frameworks in participation discourses How do these frameworks impact participation from ethical, sociocultural, economic and aesthetic perspectives And in what ways can applied theatre practitioners re-conceptualize and re-position participation meaningfully in their work Through case studies drawn from a diverse range of places including Kenya, Brazil and Canada, this book presents discourses on and experiences of participation for the purpose of repositioning it.
Taiwo Afolabi is Assistant Professor, Director of Socially Engaged Theatre and holds the Canada Research Chair in Socially Engaged Theatre at the University of Regina, Canada.