This book, based on components of Drama for Life, addresses the subject of “innovative methods for applied drama and theatre practice in African contexts”. It does so by providing chapters that share the rich, multilayered, and reflexive work that has taken place at Drama for Life from 2008 to the present day. It invites the reader to learn from the experiences of Drama for Life as shared by the authors, understand the role it has played and continues to play in advocating for, and extending the work of, Applied Drama and Theatre practice, and engage in critical, dialogical spaces to examine and interrogate current debates and practices in the field of Applied Drama and Theatre. The volume is invaluable for anyone interested in the extensive body of work generated by Drama for Life and its innovative approaches to learning and teaching, as well as performing arts practitioners, artists, teachers, people in community development and service work, and anyone involved in researching Applied Drama and Theatre practice, particularly in an African context, but also globally.

This book, based on components of Drama for Life, addresses the subject of â oeinnovative methods for applied drama and theatre practice in African contextsâ . It does so by providing chapters that share the rich, multilayered, and reflexive work that has taken place at Drama for Life from 2008 to the present day. It invites the reader to learn from the experiences of Drama for Life as shared by the authors, understand the role it has played and continues to play in advocating for, and extending the work of, Applied Drama and Theatre practice, and engage in critical, dialogical spaces to examine and interrogate current debates and practices in the field of Applied Drama and Theatre. The volume is invaluable for anyone interested in the extensive body of work generated by Drama for Life and its innovative approaches to learning and teaching, as well as performing arts practitioners, artists, teachers, people in community development and service work, and anyone involved in researching Applied Drama and Theatre practice, particularly in an African context, but also globally.

This accessible book outlines the key ideas that define the global phenomenon of applied theatre, not only its theoretical underpinning, its origins and practice, but also providing eight real-life examples drawn from a diversity of forms and settings. The clearly arranged topic sections entitled When, What, Who, Why and Where emphasise the responsive nature of applied theatre, its social context and the importance of a beneficial outcome for participants, which can connect fields as disparate as health, criminal justice, education and migration. Labels and terms are explained, along with applied theatre’s core values, motivations and objectives, allowing the reader to build a coherent understanding of its distinguishing features. Applied Theatre: The Key Concepts is aimed at students, academics, artists and practitioners of applied theatre as well as those with an interest in this vital blend of social and creative practice.

Drama for Life, University of the Witwatersrand, aims “to enhance the capacity of young people, theatre practitioners and their communities to take responsibility for the quality of their lives in the context of HIV and AIDS in Africa. We achieve this through participatory and experiential drama and theatre that is appropriate to current social realities but draws on the rich indigenous knowledge of African communities.” Collected here is a representative set of research essays written to facilitate dialogue across disciplines on the role of drama and theatre in HIV/AIDS education, prevention, and rehabilitation. Reflections are offered on present praxis and the media, as well as on innovative research approaches in an interdisciplinary paradigm, along with HIV/AIDS education via performance poetry and other experimental methods such as participant-led workshops. Topics include: the call for a move away from the binaries of much critical pedagogy; a project, undertaken in Ghana and Malawi with people living with AIDS, to create and present theatre; the contradictions between global and local expectations of applied drama and theatre methodology, in relation to folk media, participation, and syncretism. Three case studies report on mapping as a creative device for playmaking; the methodology of Themba Interactive Theatre; and applying drama with women living with HIV in the Zandspruit Informal Settlement. The essays validate the importance of play in both energizing those in positions of hopelessness and enabling the distancing essential to observe one’s situation and enable change. The book stimulates the ongoing investigation of current practice and extends an invitation to further develop innovative approaches. Hazel Barnes is a retired Head of Drama and Performance Studies at the University of KwaZulu–Natal, where she is a Senior Research Associate. Her research interests lie in the field of applied drama, including the contexts of interculturalism and post-traumatic stress.

FUTURES & BEYOND and 4IR Virtual Conference was hosted online by UJ Arts & Culture on 30 and 31 August 2022. The University of Johannesburg has positioned the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) as its visionary focus in research and higher education, and UJ Arts & Culture, as a division of the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture (FADA), has been facilitating an ongoing discussion on how thinking around the notion of the 4IR connects to the creative industries, specifically within the South African context and African continental context more broadly. The Futures and Beyond conference was an entirely new initiative coming out of this discussion. The thematic approach to the conference was divided into two streams, with one being ethics, intellectual property, and technology, and the other being creative industries, innovation, and development.

This book is the first definitive publication to consider the intersections of applied theatre and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – a series of goals which have shaped development and social justice initiatives from 2015 to 2030. It brings together emerging and leading scholars and practitioners engaged in creative and community contexts globally. In so doing, the book offers critical insights to explore the convergences, complexities, and tensions of working within development frameworks, through theatre. Divided into three thematic areas, it maps out the ways in which applied theatre has related to the SDGs, examines issues with global collaborations, and, as 2030 approaches and the SDG era draws to a close, interrogates such practices, envisioning what the role of applied theatre might be in the post-SDG era. The book provokes reflection about this specific era of applied theatre and global development, as well as discussion regarding what comes next. This volume will be of importance to students, artists, scholars, practitioners, and policymakers working in applied theatre and the field of development.

This core text offers insight into theatre-making that takes place in communities across the world. Offering an overview of the theory that underpins practice in applied drama, this thought-provoking text outlines practices in the context of contemporary political and theoretical concerns. It considers the role of artists who work in challenging settings, including prisons, schools, hostels for the homeless, care homes for the elderly and on the street. In so doing, the book poses critical questions about the aesthetics and ethics of applied theatre. It also invites debate about the environments in which applied theatre takes place. Written by an experienced academic in the field, this lively text is the ideal introductory text for students on Applied Theatre degree programmes and those taking Applied Theatre modules on Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies programmes. It is also essential reading for practitioners of applied theatre looking for a comprehensive insight into theatre-making and its impact in an increasingly globalized world.

This book contributes to key debates in peacebuilding by exploring the role of theatre and art in general. Premaratna argues that the dialogical and multi-voiced nature of theatre is particularly suited to assisting societies coming to terms with conflict and opening up possibilities for conversation. These are important parts of the peacebuilding process. The book engages the conceptual links between theatre and peacebuilding and then offers an in-depth empirical exploration of how three South Asian theatre groups approach peacebuilding: Jana Karaliya in Sri Lanka, Jana Sanskriti in India, and Sarwanam in Nepal. The ensuing reflections offer insights that are relevant to both students and practitioners concerned with issues of peace and conflict.

This collection, which centres on the academic as teacher, grew out of the moment of unprecedented change that COVID-19 brought to the world in 2020, when our daily routine of teaching and learning was disrupted. Many of the chapters have a strongly narrative core, recounting the iterative, emergent and imperfect process of designing online courses for Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT). Told to and for other teachers, these stories matter because they transform experience – through reflection – into learning. This work thus contributes to emerging scholarship on pedagogy and disruption in higher education, with a specific focus on the Global South and the ongoing need for contextually relevant, transformative teaching at universities. Animating the collection is the question that preoccupied us during the pandemic: When all this is over, how do you want your teaching to be different? The authors take stock of what, as lecturers, we want to take with us from ERT and what we might want to leave behind – and work to collectively imagine new possibilities for teaching and learning along the continuum from face-to-face to blended, to fully online. This volume is an opportunity for us to keep sharing our innovations and reflecting on the shifts in teaching, learning, course design and assessment practices that occurred during COVID-19 and continue to reverberate beyond. Read together, the studies collected in this volume shed light on the broad and complex ecologies of pedagogic agency, frailty and resilience within which lecturers function as teachers in higher education in the South African context. They offer ideas born out of disruption that aim to support lecturers in similar contexts in developing a more just and equitable higher education. “Of the hundreds of new publications on pedagogy, politics and pandemics, this is easily one of the best available on innovation in higher education inside and since the disruption of those times. The power of reflection and the wisdom of practice combine to ensure the longevity of this remarkable text for university students, teachers and researchers alike. Simply outstanding work!” - Prof. Jonathan Jansen, Distinguished Professor, Stellenbosch University “Pedagogic Innovation Beyond Disruption provides a fascinating reflective perspective by educators in higher education on adapting their practices to manage teaching and learning online during the pandemic. The chapters in the book offer a rich tapestry of strategies and approaches that showcase how educators moved beyond a mere transfer of traditional teaching methods to an online format to ensure that their students remained engaged in their learning and felt cared for and supported online. As such, this book provides a thought-provoking and comprehensive exploration of innovative teaching and learning possibilities in higher education during the unprecedented disruption of the pandemic conditions.” - Dr Jennifer Feldman, Faculty of Education, Stellenbosch University