This thesis examines the use of actor-based Applied Theatre methods within the workplace. Typically such methods are employed for behavioural skills training with the intention of enabling staff to effectively perform their work roles in a context of rapid and fundamental change to work practices and structures. This research uses case studies and mixed methods and finds that whilst work-based Applied Theatre may be commissioned for reasons of efficiency, in practice there is also the potential for individual efficacy. Whilst competitive forces drive the imperative for increased efficiency, the practice opens a space where the human consequences of this pressure can be explored. Studies of Applied Theatre have ignored or excluded the workplace as a site of research and consequently applications of these methods are under researched and little understood. This thesis questions the exclusive assumptions of the academic field, presenting a more complex picture of the practice than currently appears in the literature. Whilst the workplace presents many tensions that must be negotiated, this research finds that the participative, embodied and dialogic qualities of the practice can enable a space for catharsis, negotiation, expression and learning not possible through other methods. These dialogic and participatory qualities are found to promote a social model of leadership and interaction that is progressive, facilitating a shift away from pervasive mechanistic command and control approaches to management and leadership. A central quality of this efficacy and impact was found to be the role of the workplace actor which has evolved beyond the delivery of performance and into innovative approaches that aim to increase the actor’s contribution to learning. This emerging hybrid role is defined here as the ‘pedagogical actor’, drawing on skills of calibration, feedback and facilitation in addition to delivering a credible performance. Case Studies include an examination of the use actor-based role-play within financial services company Friends Provident and Forum Theatre used by the multi-national 3M, in addition to numerous case examples.

My first exposure to Brecht and his theories was as a high school drama student. One of our year twelve assessment tasks was to write and perform our own Brechtian drama using three or more alienation techniques. I wrote a piece about Religion and Fundamentalism, an issue that I felt strongly about at the time. By carefully following my teacher’s instructions and adhering to the assessment criteria I received a VHA. I concluded from this experience that political theatre could be made by following a simple recipe and combining key ingredients. As my knowledge of theatre and my own creative practice developed I came to understand the great complexity of Brechtian theory and the extreme difficulty of creating effective political theatre, that is, theatre that changes the world. Brecht’s theories have been so thoroughly absorbed into contemporary theatre practice that we no longer identify the techniques of Epic Theatre as necessarily political, nor do we acknowledge its radical origins. I have not yet seen a professional production of a Brechtian play but I’ve absorbed on countless occasions the brilliant reinterpretations of Brecht’s theories within the work of contemporary dramatists. My approach to creating political drama is eclectic and irreverent and I’m prepared to beg borrow and steal from the cannon of political theatre and popular media to create a drama that works, a drama that is both entertaining and provocative. Hoods is an adaptation for young audiences of my original play Kingswood Kids (2001). The process of re-purposing Kingwood Kids to Hoods has been a long and complex one. The process has triggered an analysis of my own creative practice and theory, and demanded an in-depth engagement with the theories and practice of key political theatre makers, most notably Brecht and Boal and more contemporary theatre makers such as Churchill, Kane, and Zeal Theatre. The focus of my exegesis is an inquiry into how the dramatist can create a theatre of currency that challenges the dominant culture and provokes critical thinking and political engagement in young audiences. It will particularly examine Brecht’s theory of alienation and argue its continued relevance, exploring how Brechtian techniques can be applied and re-interpreted through an in-depth analysis of my two works for young people, Hoods and Children of the Black Skirt. For the purposes of this short exegesis I have narrowed the inquiry by focusing on four key areas: Transformation, Structure, Pretext, Metatext.

This diploma thesis deals with the possible applications of the dramatic method called Forum theatre in the work with children and teenagers. The theoretical part is divided in to three chapters and where the first chapter introduces Forum theatre. The second chapter describes the formation of the Theatre of the Oppressed concept, whose main technique is the examined method. The third part provides a detailed description of the method including the aims, rules a principles for the role of a Joker. The second part of the thesis examines the relationship of the method towards the educational system of the Czech Republic. Concretely it deals with the key competences, personal and social education a dramatic education. The aim of this thesis is to map the current state of the usage of the method, to determine who, whit what goals and with what susses uses the method. Than the original concept, developed by Augusto Boal for work with adults is confronted with the currently used variations of this method. Based on this analysis some principles, which might be used in the future practice are set. Key words: Forum Theatre, relationships in class, developmental psychology, theme, Joker, personal and social education, primary prevention,drama education, key competencies,

<p>By means of text creation I approach, reflect upon and try a number of aspects of my own professional existence as a joker in forum theatre and as a forum play pedagogue.This essay is structured like the days of a week and it specifically relates three problematic situations: first, a Monday containing a case of discrimination during the performance, then, a glimpse from a Wednesday when I failed to use the time with enough consideration of our common work and, finally, a Thursday when I was professionally questioned.These three situations are described thoroughly and then they are tried by me. This is carried out partly by reasoning, partly by using for example sociological, pedagogical and above all philosophical texts in order to widen my understanding of my existence as joker and forum play pedagogue. When writing this essay I really realized the importance of taking the reactions of the spec-tators into consideration. I have had the opportunity to develop thoughts about the way in which reflection is created and thoughts about different layers of reflection. I have also pondered over the way in which I distinguish between forum play and therapy as a forum play pedagogue. Yet another question I consider is to what extent the interaction between myself and my clients influences the performance of my work. I have also included thoughts about in what way a person’s professional position and power influence our common work.Finally, my intention is to make my text in some way illustrate its contents. The importance of striving towards this aspect became more and more obvious as the text developed. Among other themes I have focused on for example norms, constructions of time and language metaphors. When writing this essay, I have detected gaps, or inconsistencies, in my performance where ways of thinking are contradictory. I believe these gaps, or inconsistencies, to be the very means for a continued dialogue in the future.</p> / <p>Genom textskapande närmar jag mig, reflekterar och prövar några sidor av min egen yrkestillvaro som joker i forumteater och som forumspelspedagog. Essän är strukturerad som en vecka och rymmer tillbakablickar på tre problematiska situationer: en måndag med diskriminering under en föreställning, en glimt från en onsdag där jag inte disponerade tiden med tillit till det gemensamma arbetet, och en torsdag då jag blev ifrågasatt i mitt yrke.Situationerna gestaltas ingående genom texten och därefter prövar jag dem. Detta sker dels genom eget resonerande, dels via genomlysning med hjälp av texter till exempel hämtade från fälten sociologi, pedagogik och yrkeskunnande men i synnerhet genom filosofiska texter. Arbetet med essän har gjort mig observant på vikten av att uppmärksamma publikreaktioner. Jag har fått möjlighet att utveckla tankar om hur reflektion görs, hur den uppstår och tankar om olika lager av reflektion. Vidare har jag begrundat hur man som forumspelspedagog drar gränsen mellan arbete med forumspel och terapi. Essäskrivandet har likaså fått mig att fundera över hur samspelet med mina uppdragsgivare påverkar utförandet av uppdraget. Genom essän har jag också belyst tankegångar om hur personers ställning och makt påverkar mitt arbete. Jag har genom texten i sig velat ge gestalt åt delar av dess innehåll. Denna aspekt växte sig starkare allteftersom texten växte fram. I texten har jag också belyst till exempel normer, tidskonstruktioner och språkets metaforer. Genom att skriva essän har jag fått syn på glipor där sätt att tänka delvis går emot varandra. Jag menar att just glipor skapar möjlighet till fortsatt dialog.</p>

By means of text creation I approach, reflect upon and try a number of aspects of my own professional existence as a joker in forum theatre and as a forum play pedagogue.This essay is structured like the days of a week and it specifically relates three problematic situations: first, a Monday containing a case of discrimination during the performance, then, a glimpse from a Wednesday when I failed to use the time with enough consideration of our common work and, finally, a Thursday when I was professionally questioned.These three situations are described thoroughly and then they are tried by me. This is carried out partly by reasoning, partly by using for example sociological, pedagogical and above all philosophical texts in order to widen my understanding of my existence as joker and forum play pedagogue. When writing this essay I really realized the importance of taking the reactions of the spec-tators into consideration. I have had the opportunity to develop thoughts about the way in which reflection is created and thoughts about different layers of reflection. I have also pondered over the way in which I distinguish between forum play and therapy as a forum play pedagogue. Yet another question I consider is to what extent the interaction between myself and my clients influences the performance of my work. I have also included thoughts about in what way a person’s professional position and power influence our common work.Finally, my intention is to make my text in some way illustrate its contents. The importance of striving towards this aspect became more and more obvious as the text developed. Among other themes I have focused on for example norms, constructions of time and language metaphors. When writing this essay, I have detected gaps, or inconsistencies, in my performance where ways of thinking are contradictory. I believe these gaps, or inconsistencies, to be the very means for a continued dialogue in the future. / Genom textskapande närmar jag mig, reflekterar och prövar några sidor av min egen yrkestillvaro som joker i forumteater och som forumspelspedagog. Essän är strukturerad som en vecka och rymmer tillbakablickar på tre problematiska situationer: en måndag med diskriminering under en föreställning, en glimt från en onsdag där jag inte disponerade tiden med tillit till det gemensamma arbetet, och en torsdag då jag blev ifrågasatt i mitt yrke.Situationerna gestaltas ingående genom texten och därefter prövar jag dem. Detta sker dels genom eget resonerande, dels via genomlysning med hjälp av texter till exempel hämtade från fälten sociologi, pedagogik och yrkeskunnande men i synnerhet genom filosofiska texter. Arbetet med essän har gjort mig observant på vikten av att uppmärksamma publikreaktioner. Jag har fått möjlighet att utveckla tankar om hur reflektion görs, hur den uppstår och tankar om olika lager av reflektion. Vidare har jag begrundat hur man som forumspelspedagog drar gränsen mellan arbete med forumspel och terapi. Essäskrivandet har likaså fått mig att fundera över hur samspelet med mina uppdragsgivare påverkar utförandet av uppdraget. Genom essän har jag också belyst tankegångar om hur personers ställning och makt påverkar mitt arbete. Jag har genom texten i sig velat ge gestalt åt delar av dess innehåll. Denna aspekt växte sig starkare allteftersom texten växte fram. I texten har jag också belyst till exempel normer, tidskonstruktioner och språkets metaforer. Genom att skriva essän har jag fått syn på glipor där sätt att tänka delvis går emot varandra. Jag menar att just glipor skapar möjlighet till fortsatt dialog.

The South African school curriculum recognises the vital importance of life skills acquisition through the learning area, Life Orientation (referred to in the primary school as Life Skills). The Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) Life Skills (Creative Arts) for the Intermediate Phase promotes drama-based instruction in life skills learning. The curriculum links to Forum Theatre techniques which are aimed at the learner’s holistic development through, among others, social game playing, improvised role-play and devising and performing a problem play which includes audience participation mediated by a ‘Joker,’ a facilitator role usually filled by an experienced and trained teacher. Children learn about the self, their peers and society through reality-based exploration and the conflicts that arise due to socialisation and power-based problems. Cognitive behavioural, existential and experiential learning theories and the theatrical theory and practice of Augusto Boal, who invented Forum Theatre as part of the Theatre of the Oppressed, formed the framework for this performative case study inquiry conducted in a South African primary school. A researcher-designed Forum Theatre intervention was implemented by the Grade 6 (Creative Arts) teacher with four Grade 6 classes over eight weeks in Life Skills (Creative Arts) classes, culminating in Forum Theatre performances by the four classes, respectively. Data were gathered through classroom observation in which the researcher assumed the role of observer-participant, conducted individual and focus group interviews with Grade 6 teachers, did interviews with Grade 6 learners, took video recordings of learners’ classroom activities, recorded the Forum Theatre performances, and collected the learners’ written reflections. The findings indicated: the process adjustments required to facilitate Forum Theatre activities in a primary school setting; effectiveness of experiential learning of life skills through game-playing and discovery; performative pedagogy fostered life skill acquisition; performative pedagogy harnessed nonverbal, embodied learning to build social insight; and describes the teacher experience in implementing a Forum Theatre intervention. Recommendations for practice include teacher training for experiential, explorative, and performance-based teaching in line with the CAPS document, which provides for a range of performative teaching and learning activities to promote effective life skills acquisition in primary school learners. / Educational Studies / Ph. D. (Education)

Theatre for social change is a term used to describe a wide range of theatre-based techniques and methods. Through implementation of performance techniques, participants are encouraged to creatively explore and communicate various ideas with the specific intention of eliciting a societal or political shift within a given community. Through this thesis, I will explore the impact of applying theatre for social change in a youth-centered environment. I will discuss my journey as creator, facilitator, and project director of interACTionZ, a queer youth theatre program in Orlando, FL formed through a partnership between Theatre UCF at the University of Central Florida and the Zebra Coalition®. I will give specific focus throughout this project to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ+) youth and straight advocates for the LGBTQ+ community.

Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Comparative Education)

Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Comparative Education)