On stage, a student asks a pre-service teacher an all too common question: Why do I have to learn this? So began The Echo of Why , a forum theatre production developed at a mid-sized Western Canadian university. The performance emerged... more
On stage, a student asks a pre-service teacher an all too common question: Why do I have to learn this? So began The Echo of Why , a forum theatre production developed at a mid-sized Western Canadian university. The performance emerged out of a pilot project investigating the possibilities of using research-based theatre and forum theatre to generate a communal space for sharing, engaging with, critiquing, and addressing challenging teaching experiences encountered by pre-service teachers. The embodied space created through the theatrical experience encouraged the imagination of new possibilities for responding to these challenges. During script development, performers were afforded an opportunity to deeply reflect on what it means to be a teacher and their motivations for becoming pedagogues. This presentation shares video excerpts from the development and performance of The Echo of Why , impacts on both performers and audience members, and challenges encountered to highlight insig...
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From intimate domestic disputes to politically maneuvered ethnic clashes, power dynamics lie at the heart of conflict. Three organizations—Amani People’s Theatre from Kenya, Budondo Intercultural Center from Uganda, and Presence Center... more
From intimate domestic disputes to politically maneuvered ethnic clashes, power dynamics lie at the heart of conflict. Three organizations—Amani People’s Theatre from Kenya, Budondo Intercultural Center from Uganda, and Presence Center for Applied Theatre Arts from the United States—use Forum Theatre as a nonviolent force for change and leadership development in East African villages and slums, helping communities learn from each other and transform their conflicts from the inside out. This briefing paper provides a theoretical overview of participatory theatre methodologies. It examines seven case studies in which Forum Theatre has identified underlying community issues and offered a laboratory for imagining more just and peaceful alternatives to conflict.
