Critical Perspectives on Applied Theatre for Social Change: Defamilarising Key Words in the Field

A key aim of the research project reported on in this volume was to broadly explore texts related to applied theatre and map the intentions, values, understanding of success and references to change. In exploring the recruitment of these themes in 139 documents related to applied theatre, there emerged a repetition of key discourses – social justice, community, education, and participation. The repetition suggests orthodoxy in certain ways of thinking about applied theatre. It is clear that contemporary rationales for applied theatre have developed and depend upon these kinds of ideals. In this chapter we take stock of these repetitions in order to ask critical questions and interrogate the logics at play in the field. Essentially, we are interested in how and why dominant ideas in applied theatre make sense. The discussion presented here attempts to understand the ways representations of applied theatre work in public documents (evaluations, academic papers, websites and so on) produce ‘truths’ and therefore, in turn, exercise power (Ball, What is policy? Texts, trajectories and toolboxes, The Australian Journal of Education Studies, 13(2), 10–17, 1993).