The critical understanding of 'development' presented in this thesis has its focus on the Green Revolution and its effects. The general view that resulted from this analysis points to how development policies have worsened life for large sections of the world's population but favoured global trade in a scale unthinkable during colonial times. Different types of practices that are identified with the term Theatre for Development were classified into three categories. This helped to highlight the specific contributions of the Dialogical Theatre for Development' approach, which is based on Paulo Freire's principle of respect for the knowledge and culture of rural and urban community members. This category is presented as the one that could help to resist the injustices of market-oriented globalisation. Aside from an affirmation of the methods of the Dialogical Theatre for Development practices, this thesis presents a criticism of its discursive approach. The 'poetically correct' theatre I am advocating should search for a poetical expression, have the right to use fantasy and imagination, and to experiment with both form and content as part of its creative process, without losing touch with reality. How could the Dialogical Theatre for Development approach be 'poetically correct'? The suggestion presented is based on the expansion of Freire's concept of codification to include imaginary representations of reality. Three contemporary practices of Theatre for Development in Brazil, England and the Philippines, are presented, in order to identify current trends and to try to improve understanding about methods and form in the Dialogical Theatre for Development. The expected results of this thesis include the clarification of the meaning of Theatre for Development, an increased awareness in relation to the importance of methods of interaction with communities, and a challenge for those who support theatre practices within communities of the First and Third Worlds, to develop works in which the imagination is free to consider reality.

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This thesis examines how a two-year Drama and Theatre Studies Advanced (A) Level course is being delivered by a selection of teachers in schools and colleges in both urban and rural English settings. I analyse this subject's specifications from three awarding bodies and closely examine how they are being implemented in six sixth form centres. The government's proposed alternative to the A Level system, the 14-19 Education and Skills White Paper (DfES, 2005a), is also outlined. I offer a summary of the key features of this White Paper and then identify how the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) interpreted this proposal when drafting their subject criteria for Drama and Theatre Studies. Each awarding body interpreted these criteria and then designed new draft General Certificate of Education (GCE) specification proposals. These three proposals are detailed here, but at the time of this study are being considered for accreditation by the QCA.;The reader is invited to question whether change to the delivery of this performing arts subject is needed and encouraged to consider the implications of these contemporary changes in Drama and Theatre Studies classrooms. Although there are many studies that focus on the effects of drama techniques in primary and secondary school classrooms, this research is different. It is unique because it emphasises the debate about how to deliver this specialist subject in sixth form settings. In addition, by outlining the latest processes that are ongoing during this period of educational change, this thesis questions how governmental reform impacts educational practice.

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This thesis explores the emergence of the theatre in England as significantly congruent with the horological evolutions of the late sixteenth to mid-seventeenth centuries. It examines the cultural texture of England's shifting notion of time, and demonstrates that the theatre was not simply an event that occurred within time, but a powerful cultural institution that actively deployed it. Through an exploration of the works of playwrights such as William Shakespeare, Ben Johnson, John Fletcher, Robert Green, Margaret Cavendish, and William Davenant, and an engagement with a range of theoretical paradigms, this thesis resituates early modern England and the theatre in the horological narrative and establishes the theatre as a significant time-keeping institution.

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Not only edited, but also written almost exclusively by Edward Gordon Craig, and spreading over a period of 21 years (1908-1929), <i>The Mask</i> appears as one of the first journals to be specifically and passionately devoted to the 'Art of the Theatre' (as the concept is understood in the late 19th century in its total and arguably totalitarian dimensions); as such it is worthy of a closely focussed study with regard to its author, his strategies and his ideological background. The journal springs from the tradition of the Arts and Crafts movement, which incorporates other similar ventures of periodicals promoting a particular aesthetic stance. Additionally it slowly moves Craigian thought and sensibility into a Modernist context. The thesis argues that, more than Craig's books, <i>The Mask</i> provides a plausible interpretation of those aspects of his theorising that are problematic and apparently contradictory. It offers valuable evidence of his ideological/theoretical background which enables a fuller reading of his work as a whole. His Orientalism, his fascination with puppets, with the Commedia dell'Arte and with masks are all explicit in the periodicals.

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The purpose of this thesis is to explore the principles of selected Korean training sources for contemporary psychophysical performer training towards the development of a performer’s ‘receptive’ body. Those training sources are including Ocheubub, a martial art Taekkyun, and Bongsan Masked Dance training. More specifically this thesis explores the following questions: What is the meaning of a performer’s ‘receptive’ body as understood through an exploration of selected Korean source traditions (Ocheubub, a martial art Taekkyun, and Bongsan Masked Dance training)? How can the practices and principles of the training sources be understood and transmitted from ‘traditional’ to ‘contemporary’ theatre practice in Korea? How has the notion of a performer’s ‘receptivity’ been understood or used by key theatre practitioners including Grotowski, Barba, Suzuki, Lee, Oida, and Zeami in their training? The practical investigation was carried out as a series of three projects which focused on the performer’s ‘being in the moment on stage’ as a point of departure to work as a performer. The principles of the training sources have been used to facilitate the performer’s internal readiness or preparation centering on being from the invisible (Sang, portent or sign) to the visible (Hyoung, a form or style) in working with improvisation and generating material for performance. In adapting the original source training, this thesis has developed a set of devised exercises and practices which examine and develop those underlying key principles as a framework for training, improvisation, and performance.

This is an investigation of dramaturgy and the role of the dramaturg within creative devising process. The submission presents new perspectives on the nature of dramaturgy, both as a field of study and as a practice. The complexity of the term is demonstrated with view to arguing that it can be applied to other contexts and processes than drama and theatre. It is argued that dramaturgy need not be viewed as a method or particular structure, instead it can be understood as an inherently contextual term and practice. My investigation of dramaturgy offers a new perspective on the nature of dramaturgical practice. It demonstrates that dramaturgy has evolved to become an increasingly interdisciplinary field. With reference to my own practice it is argued that the dramaturg is a creative collaborator within the devising process. The conclusion is that the nature of devising and the open process has necessitated a rethinking of the dramaturgical role. The investigation of dramaturgy is presented through a series of different products within the submission, ranging across different formats and publication styles, some of which relate to practical performance practice. This combination of material’s demonstrates that dramaturgical practice encompasses theory and practice.