This thesis reflects the author's views on the use of the medium of community drama within the method of community social work. Through participant observation, the author gained an insight into the medium over a period of four years in which he undertook some experiments himself, observed experiments undertaken by others, discussed the variables with colleagues and, through a literature search, compared notes. This thesis is an outcome of that research. The author regards community drama as derived from psycho- and sociodramatic principles and roleplay, and as offering part of community theatre; but a unique contribution as a communication medium when facilitated by the social worker (enabler) to enlist local support in working on community needs. Within community social work, the medium consists of the following phases: the introduction and preparation, performance, audience involvement and the follow-up phase. The enabler is viewed as an important link to facilitate the various phases, and guidelines are provided to ensure that the first critical attempt with the medium will be successful. Effective employment depends not only on the enabler following these guidelines, but also relies on the co-operation of others involved with the issue, and calls for a unified objective shared by all participants. For this reason, the 'actor' target group must be carefully selected by the enabler before introducing the idea of community drama to the community. The introduction should follow a sequence of steps to transform the community's shared common idea/need into spontaneous dramatisations.

Includes bibliographica references (leaves 34-40). / This research sought to investigate new aesthetic approaches in the creation of feminist Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA), specifically for early adolescent girls, through two collaborative workshop processes designed to be ethical and respectful of the participants' contribution. The parallels between the research into a new aesthetic for TYA and current trends in Applied Theatre practice led the researcher to shift focus into self-study and a critique of practice to enhance self-reflexive praxis, which strives to be ethical. Issues surrounding representation took precedence in an attempt to speak to the lived experiences of the early adolescent South African girl. The difficulties in the process resulted in an inequitable relationship between the researcher and the participants who were unable to meet the criteria for successful theatre making without the researcher's facilitation.

Contemporary artists have been successful in breaking into prisons and persuading the prison institutions, the general public and prison educators to legitimize artistic activity. However, the discourses on prison theatre have been largely dominated by therapeutic and rehabilitative agendas, possibly at the expense of theatre practice - its aesthetic strategies, and aural and visual qualities. This research comes against such a background. The research project was developed in response to the debates and concerns about artistic work in applied prison theatre. It was located at the borders of what can be articulated about aesthetic intervention 'without purpose' in a prison setting; - without purpose in the sense of eschewing big claims of social and psychological efficacy. Through the practice of a/r/tography, which is a means of inquiry through a method of art making, the research examined what is possible about the work. Of particular interest was the potential to explore possibilities for aesthetic intervention understandings and nuances in prison theatre. Be that as it may, although there was a conscious moving away from the applied umbrella as overtly instrumentalist, it can be argued from the findings that there is a possible tension of falling under the umbrella.

This is a practice as research (PAR) study that investigates Process drama as a pedagogical methodology for second language acquisition. The dramas were structured around role play in fictional situations designed to improve the pupils' vocabulary in English, mainly using the strategies of Teacher in Role and Mantle of the Expert. This research demonstrates the effect and affect of placing the pupils in experiential learning environments that empower him/her to be a co-creator of knowledge, as well as the skills needed by the researcher to facilitate this process. The pilot study was designed for implementation over four months, with pupils in second language English classes in grades 2 and 3 (i.e. seven/eight years old). Qualitative research methods were used, including critical and reflexive ethnography, simple questionnaires, and unstructured interviews with teachers and pupils, Teachers' and Visitors' feedback, video recordings and the researcher's journal. The sample of participants was too small to make recommendations, but the study tested the Process Drama method and the techniques of role, Teacher-in-role and Mantle of the Expert. The analysis of the project draws from the theoretical principles applied in other case studies by practitioners in the field, comparing the methods used and their outcomes. As well as the assumption that Process Drama is a good way to teach language because it creates the space for emotion and cognition to co-exist within the learning space.

Includes bibliographical references. / The purpose of the study is to investigate the manner in which performance can facilitate communication amongst family members in dealing with the challenges facing families in which there is a member with ‘special needs’. Special needs range from problems of mental or emotional anguish, care, disability or chronic illnesses. My interest in this study is on how these special needs impact on the functioning of the family and family dynamics. Theatrical representation and audience participation is at the heart of exploring the empowering role of applied theatre to engage family members in expressing their difficulties and discussing their issues together.

This study analyses, over a three-year period, a theatre programme with forensic psychiatric patients and staff at Fort England psychiatric hospital in Grahamstown/Makhanda, South Africa. Framed as a ‘theatrical playground', programme sessions were structured around theatre games, improvisation and devised theatre processes that culminated in playmaking at the end of each session. Participation in the group was voluntary and constructed to allow involvement in theatrical play on its own terms, set apart from the therapeutic and rehabilitation agendas that govern the institution. By means of a conceptually-driven critical analysis of the empirical practice, the study explores the ethical tensions and possibilities of locating all participants as political actors with agency to develop the stories, characters, and images they choose for themselves. It juxtaposes the democratic principles of the theatre space with the oppression and control of psychiatry when viewed as a Total Institution. I draw on the work of Michel Foucault and Erving Goffman in order to conceptualise a history and critique of psychiatry, and to contextualise how colonial psychiatry developed in South Africa. I compare manifestations of power and control that are part of forensic psychiatric practices with the political possibilities of different resistant theatre spaces, such as the work of the Olimpias artist collective and the Madness Hotel (Vitor Pordeus). I show how these examples, and the theatre project researched here, approach all participants as authors and makers of and on the world. I deploy a Vygotskian lens to discern how participants collectively create a Zone of Proximal Development, which explains the profound shifts in learning and skills observed in participants considered as low functioning or beyond treatment or rehabilitation. The study analyses three aspects of the practice: video documentation of selected workshops and performances; interviews with patient and staff participants; and my reflective practitioner field notes - in order to build the case for the radically humanising effect of the theatre playground. My analysis of key moments in the theatre practice highlights the ways in which patient-participants perform ‘a head taller' than clinical staff's expectations, when offered opportunities to experiment with relationships by means of embodied practices in a creative process set apart from the therapeutic gaze. Reflective and critical analysis of the practice reveals three types of experience in particular: first, hope as an overall affect that aligns with a recovery approach to mental health; secondly, how participation is experienced as humanising by disrupting and playing with institutionalised roles and bodies; and finally, how permission to play with the roles, narratives, and the power structures of psychiatry as an institution, reoriented participants as political actors in relation to the forensic hospital and the wider world. These experiences challenge the stigma and positioning of forensic psychiatric patients as incapable, outside of culture and humanity, and reposition them as legitimate knowers and creators.

Spaces of Storytelling is a project aiming to create alternative theatre spaces, based on the relationship between storyteller and audience. By exploring story, deconstruction of the program, the meeting between set design and architecture, and the relation to landscape on a site in Stockholm, the goal has been to reimagine what a theatre could be. A method has been to go back to the basics of theatre and identify the different components of what theatre is and has been through history. The word storytelling is used to describe theatre in a wider sense, including practises that traditionally might not have taken place in a traditional theatre building. The project resulted in three performing spaces (the interactive theatre, the oral storytelling theatre and the moving audience theatre) each focusing on a specific aspect of storytelling. The Interactive Theatre is designed for audience participation and communal experience. The Oral Storytelling Theatre honours the tradition of passing along a story from one to the other. The Moving Audience Theatre is an open space where the audience member actively choses a point of view. All three spaces encourage the audience to be an active participant in different ways.

This thesis explores ways to transform costuming concepts for theatre productions that provide a more inclusive and comfortable environment for actors while still maintaining the essence of the characters they are portraying. This thesis examines theatrical bodies of work as case studies to illustrate options for incorporating costume designs that take into consideration the emotional and physical welfare of the actors. The purpose of this study is to inform theatre teachers how to create costumes that aid in psychological comfort of students regarding gender identity and age, as well as for flexibility in casting due to disproportionate gender ratios that are typical in public school populations. For my thesis, I focus on the following productions for my case studies, applying my area of concentration at the middle school level: Guys and Dolls, Jr., Are We Scared Yet? and Wicked. Through these case studies, I answer the following questions: Is it possible to incorporate costumes that provide gender nonconformity, gender neutral identity or swapping genders in casting and still maintain the playwright's intention and the essence of the character? When applying these concepts to costuming, what elements of the costume are important to keep and what elements can be adjusted? How will reinventing costuming in this manner change the experience for both the actors and the audience members? How can we ensure our costuming choices are fitting the psychological needs of our actors and students? This thesis includes my research on nonconformity in fashion and its key historical impacts on gender, research of the play/musicals including a character analysis, pictures of original, adapted and newly created costume designs transformed for the purpose of the actor's comfort, and a journal of the process, including self-reflection on the outcome of the designs.

One of the main reasons I have been attracted to the world of theatre is its versatility. Theatre incorporates many other disciplines: Science, Mathematics, History, Language, Philosophy, and Psychology to name a few. I have always had daydreams about running a school program that utilizes a play as the unifying force behind the research and application of traditional academic subject. When I first started as an English teacher, I created many projects that incorporated other disciplines, such as creative writing, acting, and music. When I began teaching theatre, I began to focus solely on skills that applied to theatre. I have been a classroom teacher for the past twenty years, and I find myself becoming disillusioned with the classroom environment. As I transition out of teaching in the public-school sector, I am building on methods I started utilizing in the classroom to create my own educational business that will include live workshops, online classes, and private coaching. I will be exploring two types of arts-related education: Arts as Curriculum and Arts-Integrated Curriculum. The goal of both types of curricula is to inspire students to take ownership of their work and perhaps create enthusiasm for self-directed learning. I would like to incorporate this goal into the mission statement for my business and develop curriculum that will serve not only those looking to learn and improve their performing arts skills, but also students for whom traditional school might not resonate. The predominant part of my business will be courses created to be taught online. The income from those courses will be supplemented by in-person workshops and after-school programs.

This thesis examines the link between sports and theatre from the actor's perspective and concludes that these two practices should be used together to achieve optimal performance. Using context provided by great physical theatre practitioners such as Jacques LeCoq, Vsevolod Meyerhold, and Rudolf Von Laban, the candidate used his past experience as a gymnast and a soccer player, and the teachings of Timothy Gallwey's The Inner Game of Tennis, to craft a rehearsal and performance regimen for Theatre UCF's production of Paula Vogel's Indecent. This regimen included an experiment where he alternated days in which he swam to days in which he did yoga flow, in order to analyze his physical awareness and mental focus on stage every night while using some of Laban's effort actions; the result being that yoga benefitted his process more.