Since the beginning of the Global War on Terrorism in 2001, the United States has relied heavily on volunteer National Guard troops to protect our country. Thousands of youth have been affected by deployment, yet we rarely hear their stories. This thesis explores how digital storytelling, as an applied theatre practice, can help increase youth visibility and voice in the Army National Guard community. Through qualitative research methods of narrative thematic analysis and thematic coding methods, the author examines how digital storytelling can be used to build community among Army National Guard youth, as well as provide an agentive space for youth to name their experiences and perspectives while self-advocating for their needs and desires. Their digital stories became a site for youth to play with the complexity of naming their experiences, as well as a way to increase their visibility within military spaces. The document concludes with a discussion of how digital storytelling and applied theatre functions within National Guard youth communities, the limitations of the research and model, as well as a discussion of sustainability for applied theatre programs in this community. / text

The goal of this paper is to examine the practice of Applied Theatre in order to better define the genre and make a case for its legitimization and inclusion in higher theatre education. By looking at the theatre practitioners of the 20th century who paved the way for its existence as well as modern practitioners, a definition will be distilled down to five core characteristics of the practice with several case studies illustrating those characteristics. Once a clear distinction has been made between Applied Theatre and other similar genres, the case will be made for why the field should be considered mainstream. Additionally, it will be revealed how underserved the genre is in higher education and why its inclusion is important in college theatre programs.

Contemporary theatre has crossed boldly into therapeutic terrain and is now the site of radical self-exposure. The recent and expanding use of people’s personal stories in the theatre has prompted the need for a robust framework for safe, ethical, flexible and intentional practice by theatre makers. Such a framework is needed due to the risks inherent in putting people’s private lives on the stage, particularly when their stories focus on unresolved difficulties and cross into therapeutic terrain. With this ethical and practical imperative in mind, and in order to create a broader spectrum of ethical risk-taking where practitioners can negotiate blurred boundaries in safe and creative ways, this study draws on relevant therapeutic theory and practice to re-connect therapy and theatre and promote best practice in the theatre of personal stories. In order to promote best practice in the theatre of personal stories (a term I will use to cover the myriad forms of theatre that make use of people’s personal stories), I describe a new framework that synthesises theory and practice from the fields of psychodrama, attachment narrative therapy, and theatre and performance studies. The benefits of this integrative framework for the theatre practitioner are that it promotes safer, more ethical and purposeful practice with personal stories, and encourages more confident and creative artistic expression. The framework provides these benefits because it offers a structured model for decision-making by theatre practitioners who work with personal stories, and suggests ways that the practitioner can explore fresh artistic possibilities with clear intentions and confidence about the boundaries and ethics of the work. The integrated framework has been developed through the grounded theory process of reflective inquiry, using in particular the models of action research, the Kolb experiential learning cycle and applied phronesis. The framework has four elements, which are explored respectively in chapters one to four: 1) History: understanding the roots of the theatre of personal stories in traditions of art, oral history, social activism, theatre and therapy; 2) Ethics: incorporating wide-ranging ethical issues inherent in staging personal stories; 3) Praxis: structuring participatory theatre processes to regulate the level of personal disclosure among participants (a model for structuring practice and regulating personal disclosure is offered — called the Drama Spiral); and 4) Intentions: working with a clear focus on specific intentions — especially bio-psycho-social integration — when working with personal stories. The study concludes, in chapter five, with a critical analysis of two exemplars of practice, examined through the lens of the Drama Spiral.

This qualitative study reflects on my experiences as a queer pedagogue developing a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered/Transsexual, Questioning/Queer, and Ally (LGBTQA) youth theatre ensemble, Outside the Lines. Through the analysis of my pedagogy and the pedagogy of three practitioners affiliated with the Pride Youth Theatre Alliance, I explore how my queer culture, language, expression and politics influence my Applied Drama & Theatre practice within educational and community spaces. It is hoped that by inviting other practitioners and allies into my process this document will generate constructive dialogue around queer pedagogy and its fluid performance. Furthermore, this document aims to serve as a reference for future practitioners that work with queer youth and in queer spaces. / text

In this thesis, I explore applied theatre and site-specific performance workshops as methods for public participation in city planning. “The Ghosts of Waller Creek” program worked to foster interest in and facilitate dialogue around the redevelopment of an abandoned urban creek area in Austin, TX. I explore three guiding questions: How does an applied theatre practitioner foster collaboration with non-theatre artists on a creative project that achieves common goals? How can applied theatre and site-specific performance workshops and events foster place attachment and engage citizens in city planning? How does an applied theatre practitioner translate participatory, applied theatre workshops into an artifact that is useful to city planners? Using reflective practitioner research processes and qualitative coding methods, I examine these questions through an analysis of surveys, interviews, performances, discussions, field notes, and observations. I first explore the role that goals, communication, and reflection played in my partnership with an urban designer. I then use place attachment theory to examine how the workshops and events shifted participants’ interest in, and engagement with, Waller Creek and city planning. Next, I investigate how performative artifacts such as audio maps and interactive performances can communicate participants’ opinions about Waller Creek to city planners and to the general public. Finally I discuss how the project situates in the field of arts-based civic dialogue and address guidelines for future projects. This thesis invites applied theatre practitioners to consider how their work can contribute to arts-based civic dialogue in their own communities. / text

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abstract: The purpose of this mixed methods case study was to evaluate a dramatic arts curriculum focused on building protective factors including resiliency, cognitive flexibility, self-efficacy, and hope in eight to ten adolescent male sex offenders undergoing treatment at a residential behavioral health facility in Mesa, Arizona. The impetus for this research was suicide prevention efforts. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for ages 15-24 in the United States (CDC 2013), and prevention efforts demand complex approaches targeting major risk factors like lack of belonging and hopelessness. Arts-based prevention efforts have shown promise for building pro-social preventative factors. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Theatre 2018

In the past three decades, the HIV pandemic has struck sub-Saharan Africa and resulted in devastating consequences. Increasingly studies have shifted from applying a bio-medical approach to HIV to applying a social approach. This study focuses on applying a social approach. One of the major factors that contributes to the high HIV prevalence is women’s inferior social status. Women are unable to challenge their partners in situations of sexual intimacy and as such they are often at risk of contracting HIV. In Malawi, patriarchyis the dominant ideology structuring gender roles. These gender roles reinforce social hierarchies where women’s capacity to practice agency is significantly decreased. The domestic responsibilities female scholars carry often leads to their drop-out from school. Their lack of formal education, as a result, decreases their ability to pursue income generating activities. Furthermore their inability to acquire income increases their dependence on their partners. It is in part this dependence that perpetuates women’s vulnerability and ultimately increases their risk of contracting HIV. This study focused on how women are socialised to perform certain gendered roles and how this socialisation ultimately affects their capacity to negotiate safe sex.Various institutions and organisations have driven intervention programmes in communities in Malawi in order to address the issue of HIV/AIDS. This study looks at how socialisation of young women living in a peri-urban community in Malawi has changed and how this change has influenced their capacity to negotiate safe sex. The study found that although socialisation had changed and had some impact on increasing female scholars efficacy with regard to their education, they still remain constrained by their social status in a patriarchal context. Through the adapting of the curriculum, schools address issues of gender inequality and the changing roles of women. However, these institutions continue to remain male dominated. This poses an obstacle as they reinforce gender roles of subordinate women and in doing so diminish the impact of the new curriculum. Gender roles continue to make it difficult for women to practice agency in particular with regard to negotiating safe sex. In instances where women have suggested condom use, they have been subjected to domestic abuse or faced the withdrawal of financial support for a given period. This study proposes a continuum of agency ranging from submissive to autonomous. It suggests that women are never entirely submissive or autonomous. They either practice agency by manipulating their boundaries or pushing their boundaries. This study revealed that although there have been significant changes in the process of socialisation, women’s ability to practice agency is considerably limited. Where it is exercised, it often results in separating from their spouses. However, in spite of all the difficulties, women do practice agency on various levels. It also revealed that scholars are developing agency with regards to education. However, social structures continue to reinforce patriarchy. This creates contradictory messages which the scholars are not always able to negotiate. / Dissertation (MSocSci)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Sociology / unrestricted

Social stigma about sexuality across the life course is pervasive and deeply rooted in “Anglophone West” and patriarchal society that strives to police the sexuality of youth and older adults in diverse yet interconnected ways. Using an Intergenerational and Community-Based Applied Theatre approach to address common misconceptions about sexuality across the life course, I sought to offer a space to share lived experiences of youth and older adults with each other and their community. The community-based project created with the Victoria Target Theatre Society, Victoria High School, and Island Sexual Health Society offers insight into an avenue for social change based on the reactions from collaborators before and after the devising and performance process, in addition to audience responses. Furthermore, these findings can inform action in the form of policy change that aims to address systemic stigmatization of older adult and youth sexuality as well as the lack of education for healthcare providers to offer unbiased care and resources. / Graduate / 2021-04-08

Applied theatre projects that aim to address social justice issues almost exclusively involve those who are experiencing injustice; while members of the state, who actively maintain the status quo, are frequently overlooked, despite the fact that they are essentially gatekeepers of social justice. In projects that do involve current and/or future members of the state, the root cause of social injustice and the systems, institutions, and ideology which support capitalism are only briefly mentioned, if at all. For this arts-based, anti-oppressive research, I facilitated three applied theatre projects that involved future and/or current gatekeepers. For each project, I considered the conditions that provided participants the opportunity to identify and question dominant ideology through the dramatic process. Having analyzed each case, I found that when applied theatre is structured using a revolutionary approach, it can cultivate felt understanding and deepen critical consciousness. In order to truly address issues of social justice with the goal to ending them, I argue for dedicated spaces where future and current gatekeepers can participate in applied theatre to critically examine the ideas that support capitalism, and the tendency and temptation to draw lines in the sand between “us” and “them”. / Graduate