Applied Theatre: Ethics

Applied Theatre: Ethics explores the ethical implications of applied theatre practice, particularly when working with vulnerable groups. It provides an overview of critical debates and case studies from around the world, offering recommendations for community-based ethical approaches.

Format: Hardback
Length: 296 pages
Publication date: 24 February 2022
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Applied Theatre: Ethics delves into the significance of conducting applied theatre practice ethically, exploring its impact on the work done with communities and participants. It examines how practitioners can balance aesthetics and ethics when crafting performances, particularly with relatively inexperienced and often vulnerable groups of people who are being asked to both tell and stage their stories. The two sections amalgamate theoretical and practical approaches for theatre-makers to examine the ethics of their applied theatre projects.

Part One provides an overview of critical debates and the editors' reflections on their own practice. It introduces readers to ethics in applied theatre, informed by the thinking of philosophers, scholarly literature, and the editors' own experiences, including Indigenous perspectives on ethics and theatre. For applied theatre practitioners, it offers recommendations for community-based ethical approaches, working with principles of voice, agency, care, service, collaboration, presence, relationality, and reciprocity.

Part Two presents a diverse range of international case studies that explore how the theories and issues are worked out in various diverse practices. It considers ethics from varying critical perspectives and contexts, encompassing projects in Greece, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Philippines, and Canada. The case studies encompass work with participants of various ages, including the work of a professional dance theatre company working with individuals in substance abuse recovery in the UK, interactive drama used in an educational context in Nigeria, and the complexities surrounding an applied theatre project on race in the US.

Through these case studies, Applied Theatre: Ethics offers valuable insights into the ethical considerations and challenges involved in applied theatre practice. It provides a framework for practitioners to navigate the complexities of working with diverse communities and participants, ensuring that their work is both artistically compelling and ethically responsible.

Weight: 496g
Dimension: 146 x 223 x 25 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781350161320