Within contemporary performance arenas young people are fast becoming part of the vanguard of contemporary performance. Performativity, convergence and openness of form are key animating concepts in the landscape of Theatre for Young People (TYP). To ignore what is taking place in the making of performance for and by young people is to ignore the new possibilities in meaning-making and theatrical form. In this period of rapid technological change young people are embracing and manipulating technology (sound, image, music) to represent who they are and what they want to say. Positioned as &quotcultural catalysts", &quotthe new pioneers" and &quotfirst navigators" young people are using mediatised culture and digital technologies with ease, placing them at the forefront of a shift in cultural production. Performance commentators (Schnechner 2002; Shusterman 2000; Auslander 1999; Hill and Paris 2001; Phelan 1993 and Kershaw 1992) believe that there has been a profound shift in the nature of making theatre and performance works. The forces of globalisation, the new economy and advancements in new media technologies have affected young people's making of performance. Three key concepts animate contemporary young people's performance devising and presenting processes. These concepts can be defined as: performativity, convergence and openness of form. These three categories can be harnessed under the umbrella concept of deterritorialisation. The processes of deterritorialisation allows for the synthesis of new cultural and performance genres by fragmenting and hybridising traditional cultural categories and forms including the use of new media technologies. Almost half of all TYP performances now incorporate the technologies of reproduction. The relationship between live and mediated forms, the visceral and the virtual is allowing young people to navigate and make meaning of cultural codes and cultural forms as well as to engage in an open dialogue with their audiences. This thesis examines the way young people are using elements of deterritorialisation to become producers of new performance genres.

abstract: Guided by Clifford Geertz's notion of culture as symbolic stories people tell themselves about themselves, the purpose of this study is to examine how youth in an urban area of Phoenix, AZ experience collectively creating and performing original documentary theatre. I pay attention to the ways youth participants--also known as artist-researchers--construct, perform, and/or perceive their identities as they practice drama techniques including improvisation, physical theatre, and Theatre of the Oppressed for the purposes of making docutheatre for social justice. First the artist-researchers chose the topics for their play. Next, they learned and applied drama and research skills to gather and examine data sources used to construct a script that explores hiding and exposure. In the process of sharing and gathering true stories our unique docutheatre-making culture was created. This multimodal qualitative research case study draws upon the genres of arts-based research and visual ethnography as primary modes of data collection and interpretation. Narrative description and the ethnodramatic mode of representation are used in conjunction with still images and this study's companion website (www.meant2see.com) to report research findings. Primary data sources include participant observation fieldnotes, over twenty hours of recorded video footage, photographs, and the project's original script and performance of To Be What's Not Meant to See . Further data include journal entries, drawings, and social media. All data were coded using In Vivo and Process Coding methods and analyzed through a cultural studies lens. Codes were sorted into phenomenological categories representative of recurring ideas and themes. Assertions were then solidified once specific key linkages were constructed. This study's key assertions are: Key Assertion 1: Participation in devising documentary social justice theatre influences and affects the construction, perception, and/or performance of urban youth identities through profound connections made with interviewees during the interview process and through the collection of true stories that provide new information and rare opportunities for self-reflection and self-realization; Key Assertion 2: Portions of the roles urban youth play in their identity narratives are disguised or hidden--purposefully, reluctantly, and/or subconsciously--in order to appeal to friends, families, or the codes of dominant culture. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Theatre 2014

This thesis presents a comparative study of the aesthetics of three theatre initiatives from development settings: theatre company Nós do Morro in Brazil, multi-disciplinary arts centre Phare Ponleu Selpak in Cambodia, and non-profit organisation Movimiento Teatro Popular Sin Fronteras in Nicaragua. By focussing on how different judgements within the landscape of aesthetic and social worth meet, conflict or interact within the programmes, processes and outcomes of the three theatre organisations, this research articulates the different kinds of ‘values’ attached to the (at times) competing aesthetic criteria for practitioners, government bodies and national and international non-governmental organisations that have stakes in this work. The majority of the data in this research is qualitative, generated by interviews, stories about theatre practitioners’ experiences and my own observations of performances, workshops and rehearsals. After exploring the landscape of aesthetic and social worth across the three case studies, this research points out the many ways in which international economics and global governance – manifest in tax-reduced sponsorships by global corporations, funding decisions of international interveners and cultural policies of national governments – participate and intrude into both the aesthetic and social constructions of applied theatre’s artistic value, therefore framing its aesthetic sphere. The global pressure coming from the United Nations and the international humanitarian community seeking to shape applied theatre companies and make them respond to certain dynamics serves neither art nor community. This also makes it very difficult to locate an aesthetic of applied theatre in a way that is ‘traditional’ in discussions of aesthetics (through definition of the art ‘product’ alone, via reference to ideas of beauty, affect and the senses). This study therefore found a way of understanding the impact of economic and international actors on applied theatre using Appadurai’s concept of the ethnoscape (1991), which offers a theoretical and analytical framework for investigating the determining factors of the aesthetics of applied theatre, and the aesthetic discourses surrounding applied theatre in development settings. I argue that applied theatre practices globally are becoming too uniform: global forms taken by transnational institutions are starting to evolve in new directions. We need to attentively investigate what the level of resistance of applied theatre companies can be. Although each art organisation is trying to find a place for applied theatre in the ‘new’ world, the theatre companies can hopefully resist the pressure to become the same kind of company, living in a state partially organised according to international agendas. As a result, this research proposes a more politicised, historicised kind of practice, teaching and mentoring around these questions. This will support applied theatre practitioners in finding their way in the new global world.

Theatre for Development (TfD) is a process whereby the community uses theatre, especially African traditional theatre forms, to address their development issues. In Tanzania, TfD came as a result of many factors; poor communication approaches used by the state in addressing development in the late 1970s, the economic crisis of the 1970s, the implementation of IMF and World Bank pressure to adopt Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) among others. Liberal policies imposed mostly from Euro-America proposed non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to replace the state in addressing development, as they were perceived to be more democratic and less authoritative. Most of the supported activities of NGOs became those linked to development or that are in the position to bring about development in the fields of health, sanitation, education, gender, and democracy. Therefore, even theatre that was supported by donors was linked to or addressed ‘development’. In most cases, funding institutions have their own objectives, missions, and goals to fulfil. This paper tries to question the role of TfD in present Tanzania. It argues that, since most of the TfD projects have been funded by foreign donors and communities have no economic control of their own development concerns, it is clear that TfD is playing a double deal, community empowerment on the one hand and disempowerment on the other.

The Swedish professional theatre for children and young audiences is in a constant change, development and renewal due to adulthoods shifting view and understanding of the child and childhood through the ages. The shifting discourse of childhood can be seen both in the various theatre performances for children and young audiences throughout the 20th century, but also in the constant shifting discussions and debates about what sort of performances are appropriate for children. The base of this thesis is a performance analysis of a recorded version of Unga Klara’s För att jag säger det from a gender perspective, with a focus on the stage setting and the mise-en-scène, along with the actors’ performative actions. The purpose is to examine if and how these theatrical signs counteracts or correlates with gender and hetero norms, but also investigate if the complex relationship between childhood and adulthood can be seen in the performance. To do this, I use a combination of hermeneutics, theatre semiotics and phenomenology as my main methodological starting point. Theories about gender performativity and discourse analysis in childhood studies serve as perspectives to the analysis and interpretation of the performance. The analysis starts with a brief introduction to the performance along with a discussion about the dramaturgical structure and the course of events and situations taking place in För att jag säger det. The analysis continues with a discussion about the theatrical space, in particular the stage space in relation to the starting point of the performance, along with the theatrical communication between the actors and the audience. Then, I discuss the theatrical signs that first caught my attention; the actors’ performative bodies and the music and stage sounds, where I analyse my comprehension of the actors’ performative bodies from a gender perspective. The analysis then continues to a more argument based interpretation of the interactions between the actors and the audience, and follows by a discussion of the actors impersonation of childhood and adulthood. In the last part of the analysis I identify and discuss my understanding of various themes and messages in För att jag säger det. The result of the study implies that a few sequences of the staging along with the actors’ performative bodies in För att jag säger det correlates to gender and hetero norms, but mostly the performance discourages normativity in general. The complex relationship between childhood and adulthood are however well established in the performance’s staging, and can be found in how the actors portraits childhood versus adulthood. It is also visible in the interactive communicational parts between the stage and the auditorium, which only occurs under the terms and conditions of the actors.

True Colors: Out Youth Theater at The Theater Offensive is a Boston based program that focuses its theatrical and social mission on engaging Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered (GLBT) at-risk, youth and the community that surrounds them. Through the process of generating an original touring production, True Colors employs theatre as a tool for personal, social, and artistic expression, empowerment, and activism. The program's balance of both process and product focused goals creates an environment of multifaceted engagement and provides an example of how art can thrive in a structure of youth outreach. Though directors and facilitators guide the process and final product, a fundamental mission of True Colors is to provide a student or youth-centered experience where inspiration, decisions, discussions, and leadership generates directly from participants. By observing and participating in the creation of one of these productions, I explore the impact of this student-centered structure on the personal perspectives and artistic growth of the GLBT participants and the artistic process of creating the production. My goal is to discover True Colors' effectiveness of achieving its mission to both create an impactful and positive process for the youth and also develop a final product that is artful and evokes social change. Additionally, by studying similar programs, I establish a basis of comparison against True Colors in order to develop a broader view of the field and evaluate the variances in methodology and the impact on youth and communities.

Since March 2020, community-based performance social groups have shifted drastically. With COVID-19, quarantining and social distance protocols, the ongoing pandemic has altered in-person social work and the way communities interact. The information shared in this thesis is drawn from 4 semi-structured qualitative interviews. The data showcases folks who are community leaders, teachers and social workers who use performance techniques with their clients. My study asked the Participants about their history using theatre arts within their practice and investigated how COVID-19 impacted their endeavours. The data collected implies that community work using theatre has an ongoing potential to support social change efforts toward rebuilding and sustaining connection. Yet, the data also discovered a growing divide that is further affecting marginalized folks who can not access community within a digital world. Inspired by the works of Lisbeth Berbary (2011) and Jonathan Gross (2021) this thesis artistically re-imagines the collected data as a social performance amongst the Participants involved. With permission from the Participants, an ethnographic screenplay using a creative analytical approach (Berbary, 2011), transformed the semi-structured qualitative interview findings to highlight key discoveries. These key discoveries outline a nuanced understanding of how performance for social change has been transformed and the tensions that arose, particularly the growing social divide for access (the divide between those who can access online community performance groups and those who lose out from a lack of technological accessibility). Analyzing these conflicting advantages and disadvantages can help build toward an inclusive and equitable approach for theatre as a vehicle for social justice. / Thesis / Master of Social Work (MSW)

When directors in professional Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) practice inclusive casting, or, in other words, cast an actor with a disability in a role that is not written with a disability, several provocative questions emerge: What are the social implications of inclusive casting? How might stories on stage change due to inclusive casting? What does inclusive casting mean for professional TYA companies and directors? How might performers with disabilities examine their personal and professional relationship to disability when participating in inclusive casting? How might a young audience’s perspective change when inclusive casting is implemented? This thesis examines these questions through interviews with directors, performers, and young audience members. / text

Theatre is the passport to the creation of a balanced educational system in the United States (US), while standardized testing is the downfall of the ideology behind ‘No Child Left Behind’ (NCLB). As an educator, I was greatly influenced by Howard Gardner, theorist of Multiple Intelligences and Neil Fleming theorist of learning modalities. This work has carried over into my work in theatre as a director. Theatre does not have to didactically serve formal education, which emphasizes mathematics and reading/writing, nor does it have to be merely a spectacle. Theatre can be experimental, artistic, cathartic, foster social and intrapersonal skills and increase intelligences in all areas for children and adults. The adaptation of the children’s book The End by David LaRochelle into a play for children demonstrates the potential that lies within the art of theatre to be more than just entertainment. Furthermore, my work on the adaptation of The End was greatly influenced by my research and participation in the production of Pinocchio with Ohio Valley Summer Theatre in the fall of 2008. From this production, I gained considerable knowledge on the topic of Commedia Del’ Arte which impacted my work on my own production The End.

Theatre "Minor" From The Year 1989 Up To Present (Changes In a Staging Style) This thesis concerns itself with the Minor Theatre after the year 1989, namely with changes in a staging style of this prague platform that focuses mainly on a production for the child audience. In the production of the theatres principal directors (Karel Makonj, Jan Jirků, David Drábek, Jiří Adámek) we can observe distinctive courses of staging methods, that shape the Minor's character. The primary aim of this thesis is to attempt to reflect these staging courses and demonstrate them using profile plays. An excursus into the history of the Minor Theatre precedes these analyses to define its character. Biographies of the said directors are also included in the thesis, as well as the list of theatre's plays form 1990 (with the dates of premieres) and photographic material ilustrating the theatricals analysed here.