Theatre as a way of discovering common ground between separate ethnic and cultural groups.

Type of content
Publisher's DOI/URI
Thesis discipline
Drama
Degree name
Master of Arts
Publisher
University of Canterbury. Theatre and Film
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Language
Date
2014
Authors
Dupres, Diane Elizabeth
Abstract

Theatre theorists and practitioners around the world have taken on the challenge of developing strategies for bringing diverse peoples together through the use of a range of activities and techniques, many culminating in public performances designed to celebrate a new or restructured sense of community.

Starting from the foundation provided by Victor Turner, whose ideas of social drama and communitas are essential to this research, the author looks at some of the theorists and practitioners – in particular, Dorothy Heathcote and Augusto Boal– who have worked in this area, in order to explore their ideas and methods for using theatre for social change. The work of these theorists and practitioners helped the author to develop a theatrical model that could be employed for her own project. This thesis culminates in an analysis of the work done to produce a community-based performance and to propose, as a result, a model for approaching this sort of work in the future.

Description
Citation
Keywords
Community theatre, cultural and ethnic groups, Augusto Boal, Dorothy Heathcote, Victor Turner
Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
ANZSRC fields of research
Rights
Copyright Diane Elizabeth Dupres