Post by Sume [ADMIN] on Jan 27, 2016 22:37:00 GMT
Theatre for Social Change and Development
Pearly Wong
Introduction:
‘Theatre’ is often associated with traditional western stage performance for wealthy spectators with luxurious costumes and beautiful backdrops. While this is certainly a very prominent form of theatre, there are also various other forms which have been used for purposes beyond mere entertainment, such as to convey religious, educational, political, social or economic messages (UNESCO, 2006). For instance, the use of theatre for the purpose of development has been a practice in Northern Uganda since the mid-1980s (Dinesh, 2005). ‘Theatre for Development’ was initially inspired by Paulo Freire, a Brazilian cultural and educational theorist and practitioner, who believed that people possess knowledge through life experience but are persuaded by the oppressor to believe that their knowledge is irrelevant. Stimulating people to become conscious and to generate knowledge in their own interests is called the pedagogy of the oppressed (Freire, 1970). This has influenced Freire’s own student, Augusto Boal, who developed the ‘Theatre of the Oppressed’: a form of popular theatre, of, by, and for people designed to help people learn ways of resisting oppression in their daily lives (Boal, 1982).
Initially, the use of theatre in a development environment has involved performing plays to convey strong social messages, with little or no audience participation. Gradually, the potential of theatre as a platform of discussion and of exploring pertinent issues within a particular community is being realized (Scott-Danter, 1999). There are generally three types of popular theatre: theatre produced by a theatrical group but oriented towards the people; theater organized by and for the people, with audience; and theatre organized by and for the people involving audience as part of the performance (Mdoe, 2002). The first category involves actors, directors and dramatists producing for the community to inspire social change, by conveying education message and encouraging audience to tackle problems faced by their community. The second category of theatre is conducted by people without professional expertise to present stories containing elements from their community and people (ibid). The third category, also called forum theatre (Boal, 1982) or playback theatre, performs a local issue in front of targeted audience, and encourages them to intervene and join in the act to resolve the situation, thereby formulating strategies to resolve their own problems.
Theatre for Reflection
Theatre as a media of communication constantly mirrors and reflects the society. This has been emphasized by Yerima (2007), who quoted Shakespeare: “Theatre is a mirror for highlighting man’s humanity and also a tool for understanding why man also finds it so easy to transgress that same humanity”. The dramatic representation of real stories or phenomena brings the hidden values or questions in the society to people's awareness, thus induces people to reflect on problems (Aprill et al., 2006). While we might witness a particular phenomenon and hear of someone’s story in our daily lives, they will not have as strong an impact without a dramatic representation that engages people’s emotions. Without art, authenticity doesn’t mean much’, said Richard William (1970), the writer of the film Nil by Mouth, which narrated the real life experience of alcoholism and drug-taking by a man called Gary Oldman. When real life experiences are captured within the dramatic form, strong emotions and resonance can be aroused among audience and powerful outcomes such as change in attitudes, behaviours or even causes of life are possible (Somers, 2008). For this reason, popular theatre has been utilized to project reality or a specific local issue to guide participants and targeted audience into analyzing their own real-life situations (Mdoe, 2002). For instance, after the civil war in Mozambique between 1975 and 1992, a social survey and a theatre presentation were conducted among the displaced people who remained in the area of Nawagene (Scott-Danter, 1999). While the social survey raised the issues of lack of local services such as need for clean water and accessible health centres, the theatre presentation brought out more subtle concerns of social-relationship and the social causes inhibiting development (ibid). Theatre thus sensitizes a community on priority issues (Akashoro, Kayode & Husseini, 2010), clarifies on people’s common visions and purposes, and inspires them to work towards achieving them. The reflect process stimulated by theatre also leads people to discover neglected patterns of thought or behaviour, notice new potential within themselves and experience new ways of perceiving reality (Reich, 2012). Those can then serve as the basis to be strengthened into an act of resistance or assertion (ibid).
Theatre for Mutual Understanding and Reconciliation
Theatre can also function to bridge understanding among members in a community by providing an insight into others’ point of view (Kasoma, 1974). This occurs when stories are narrated from the perspective of a particular character, or when audience participate in acting different, or even opposite characters from themselves. For example, in the film "Reaching Rural Families" , a family planning worker plays the role of an ignorant mother, while the mother takes on the role of the family planning worker (ibid). This promotes mutual understanding and tolerance by permitting the audience or actors to experience a different perspective or a role. Someone who was previously seen as the other becomes familiar and gains empathy (Akashoro, Kayode & Husseini, 2010). The community gets a richer understanding and more complex view of its own people. Any movement towards social change might emerge from such changes in perception of self and others (Somers, 2008). In Lebanon, forum theatre was incorporated into a conflict transformation framework in order to build relationships between formerly conflicting parties by employing its capacity to relate, experience and understand via bodily interactions, with and without words (Reich, 2012). On the other hand, when performed for outsiders, theatre can sensitizes the authority or practitioners to the needs and aspirations of a community, and show others their problems to encourage more understanding (Scott-Danter, 1999). One example is in Arua, Uganda, where a powerful piece of theatre on the theme of family neglect has been developed by the local community. The play captured, through the stories of members of a family, a range of interconnected issues from prostitution and alcoholism to domestic violence, school drop-out, early marriage and petty crime. At the end of the performance, the audience consists of government and NGO officials were invited to discuss the issues raised and the role of their institutions to address the root causes of the problems.
Theatre for Therapy
A good theatre might possess therapeutic effect, for both its participants and audiences. By watching or participating in a play that is tightly connected to one’s memory/personal story, one can re-categorize their memories, reedit their personal stories, and re-establish meanings from a complex, reflexive relationship between dramatic experience and personal identity (Somers, 2008). People find telling their stories surprisingly therapeutic, as reported by Scott-Danter (1990) about an ex-detainee who helped in a play about asylum seekers which took place in Oxford in 1997. The Crude Theatre in Kibingo Village, Uganda for instance, invited old people without families to retell memorable events of their lives, serving as a therapy for the old and linkages across generations (Dinesh, 2005). For a specific group of audience who have defective well-being but embarrassed to share the issues they are facing with those they feel may not understand, watching a story which recognizes and understands their problems and circumstances is itself sufficient to alleviate pain and combat isolation (ibid). Theatre can illustrate a shared experience of many within the same community and provides ‘de-solating’ effect (ibid), making people realize that they are not alone in their struggles, and that they are somehow being understood by others. Written by Somers, ‘The Living at Hurford’ dealt with the struggle of small family farms to stay in business following the foot and mouth disease outbreak in 2001. A farmer approached after the performance and said to Somers, ‘That’s my life you put up there tonight.’ As a group which often finds expression of emotions difficult, farmers were able to provide advice to the main character, Chaplain and shared his pain, thus providing some sorts of healing and restoration (Somers, 2008). These healing effects towards both the audience and the actors themselves are important for empowerment, meaning-making, identity formation and even collective recognition of social injustice, which can potentially provide seeds for future social transformation.
Theatre for Participation
Theatre also serves as a participatory tool by inviting audience to participate in the act, making it a genuine two-way medium for communicating information (Kasoma, 1974). Forum theatre or playback theatre, for instance, transforms the audience into actors and creators of the drama. Members of the audience are encouraged to actively engage themselves in the process, critically reflect on, challenge and change the course of the play and try out different solutions . They can interrupt a performance and suggest different actions for the actors who in turn carried out their suggestions, thus giving the spectators themselves an opportunity to come up with different solutions of a collective problem (Rizoaica, unknown). Theatre has been employed as a research tool by multiple development projects for engaging the community in a dialogue, and mobilizing communities to rally and support development activities (Kamlongera, 2005). One example is the Primary Health Care (PHC) system in Malawi, which works together with the Chancellor College Theatre for Development team to probe, stimulate and tease out ideas from the community (Kalipeni and Kamlongera, 1996). The theatre team used a technique called “opening up the play”, which involves asking direct questions to the audience at critical points of the story line in the play and then incorporating their responses to the plot. As a result, a bigger picture of the community’s health status emerged. Everybody in the community contributed to the dialogue (ibid). The “play” nature of drama serves as a democratizing tool, as anybody present at performances felt free to voice out their opinions. Participation and self-expression, especially from those who often go unheard is encouraged (Akashoro, Kayode & Husseini, 2010).
Theatre for Imagination
As a dynamic mix of fiction and reality, theatre offers opportunity for people to express and challenge ideas and issues using a fictional voice and symbolic situations . Theatre creates space and distance, which helps to reduce sensitivity of certain topics or taboos like sexuality. People are able to explore their personal experiences and ideas without feeling exposed (UNESCO, 2006). By involving participants in a fictional experience that does not focus on their own attitudes, feelings and behaviour (but which has relevance to them), the immersive yet distancing effects of theatre (Mdoe, 2002) can create opportunities to address a whole range of issues and offer conducive environment for positive transformation . For this very reason, theatre has been promoted as a tool to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS issue (UNESCO, 2006). Interactive theatre creates a transitional space for social imagination where one can safely experiment on different roles and test out new ways of behaving before using them in real life. This ’imagination’ exercise also encourages people to find their own creative solutions and remedies to problems, rather than looking to outside forces for intervention or replication, which is sometimes inappropriate for local culture or conditions. Even when an outside intervention is required, theatre can help people to think more about how best this can be innovated and channeled into local circumstances, and what are their own roles in it (Dinesh, 2005).
Theatre and Social Change
Theatre is an outstanding tool due to its accessibility to a wide range of audience. The combination of oral communication, physical expression, dance, image, music and song can capture and maintain the attention and interest of a great number of people over time (UNESCO, 2006). The fact that theatre is a cheap (Kasoma, 1974) and predominantly oral medium also widens its audience group to include the poorest groups and classes who are often left out of development activities because of their illiteracy or lack of understanding of other languages (Hosking & Penny, unknown). Plays can also be easily adapted to local realities, because they possess the flexibility to be performed anywhere, at any time (UNESCO, 2006), with any content, and thus can be brought to the doorsteps of the marginalized and the poor, in a language and story relevant to them. Unlike other art forms, theatre is essentially a group activity. The collective experience of creating something together creates the context for cooperation rather than individual thinking and action. It creates the possibility for mutual inspirations or peer learning rather than top-down, one-way communication. It builds social connections, creates collective ownership of individual stories (Ho, 2012) and potentially strengthens the unity among community members towards a common vision. Compared to other kinds of activists’ campaigns that directly propagate selected messages, the meaning conveyed by theatre essentially lies in the audiences’ own interpretations and resonance without imposition.
Nevertheless, theatre faces its own challenges to perform as an effective tool as social change. Externally, funding agencies might see theatre as irrelevant or less appealing compared to other projects. The theatre groups in refugee camps in Northern Uganda for instance, cited funding as their major obstacle (Dinesh, 2005). Multiple funders noted that funding arts for change work is hindered by a lack of rigorous but accessible documentation and metrics for impact (Korza & Bacon, 2010). Like any other kind of activism, theatre also might be seen as risky or politically threatening. While artist stereotype allow them to experiment, some may be forced to pull back by partners or authority when the plays get uncomfortable of challenges preconceived ideas or institutional power (Aprill et al., 2006). Internally, theatre groups face challenges to translate stories into local languages and to ensure its compatibility with the culture of the target audience (Kasoma, 1974). Message of the play needs to be explicit enough (Dinesh, 2005) for audience to understand the underlying messages while subtle enough not to be perceived as an open protest towards those in power. Also, verification of the sustained impact of theatre is rather difficult (Somers, 2008) as similar experiences can stimulate different response from individuals under different circumstances and direct causal-relationship assumed is rather problematic. While occasionally pivotal events might bring immediate visible changes, more often the effects would be more subtle, such as making people more receptive to similar information in the future, and affecting general ethical framework (Curtis, 2003). To translate changes in individuals' perceptions and mentality into a meaningful transformation at societal level is another problematic gap (ibid). Even when a theatre motivates audience to come out with local solutions for the issues they perform, it cannot guarantee resources to support local communities to carry out such solutions (Dinesh, 2005).
Yet, social change events closely linked with theatre are far from being absent in the history. Agit-prop (from agitation and propaganda) was an early form of political theatre developed during the 1920s in Russia, born in the Marxist fervor of the Russian Revolution. It brought the day’s news to illiterate peasants and factory workers to enlist their support for the massive economic and social changes in the aftermath of the revolution (Felnor and Orenstein, 2006). This is then replicated abroad, such as during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) to inspire the people to fight against fascism (ibid). In the 1960s, groups such as El Teatro Campesino used agit-prop techniques to fight for immigrants’ rights. Drawing from Brecht's theatrical methods , El Teatro Campesino evolved out of the organized strike led by Cesar Chavez against grape growers in California, when they repeated everything the grape growers were yelling at them, annoying and frustrating them until they eventually left (Smith, 2007). The roles of theatre in the Phillippines, South Africa and Chile in movement against their oppressive regimes and apartheid governments have also been recognized (Schechner, Boal & Turner, 1988).
In India, people's theatre by the Action for Cultural and Political Change, a team initiated by 6 young graduates in Southern Tamil Nadu region in 1975, has been an effective tool in harijan (people of lower castes and the untouchable) mobilization. The team entered a village upon invitation, lived with and like the harijan villagers, working on harijan leadership. In a case described by Kidd (1981), by the end of the first phases of the organizational work, the newly formed agricultural labourers' movement had won two major wage strikes, obtained written agreements from landowners to stop all beatings, had taken possession of some farming lands, had released a number of families from bonded labour and had successfully pressurized government to provide basic services to the harijans (Malik, Raha & Kidd, 1988).
In the 1950's, the agricultural extension systems in Ghania and Uganda planned an itinerary across the country to dramatize financial losses from pests and plant diseases in order to persuade farmers to join production schemes. Their success influenced the Malawian government to set up a permanent agricultural information programme involving 13 mobile puppetry vans putting on an estimation of 4000 shows per year reaching to 1.5 million audience (Etherton & Ogubinyi, 1988). More recently, many African countries have officially trained their agricultural extension workers to use theatre as a communicating tool to promote the use of fertilizers and improved methods of cattle production (ibid). Theatre has also been used to promote rural health education (Nigeria and Sierra Lone), family-planning (Nigeria and Ghana) and literacy programme (Tanzania and Bostwana) (ibid). The continuation and spread of the theatrical method as an official effort supported by different government suggest that they are better in effecting change than traditional teaching approach.
Given the examples above, dismissal of social impact of theatre can be sometimes attributed to uninformed or stubborn perceptions, rather than its inefficacy in reality. Like any other advocacy campaigns, theatre is not itself the sole revolution maker, but contributes its part to the accumulation of skepticism and agitation required to effect social change. It is recognized that theatre is only the first, but important step that potentially triggers people’s awareness and change in attitudes or mentality, which has to be further supplemented by other resources to effect social change. As noted by the late Professor Rose Mbowa, one of the pioneers of ‘Theatre for Development’ in Uganda: “Rehearsing for reality is the great way to begin. Sustaining the reality is the next challenge.”(Dinesh, 2005)
Theatre and ecology
The contemporary issue of environmental sustainability, popularized by the notion of 'Sustainable development' (United Nations, 1992) , is crucial for the development of current times. The role of theatre in projecting and promoting such theme as a worthy development issue could not be more relevant, given the enormity of the subject matter. While previous examples given demonstrate incorporation of conventional development issues such as healthcare in theatre performances, Chaudhuri (1994) posits that a theater tradition that defines drama as conflict between and about human beings makes it essentially humanist and “anti-ecological.” However, a different proposition was held by Heinlein (2006), drawing from Rosenblatt's (2000) and Clayton's (2003) idea that humans themselves have an inborn identification with the ecological world such as connections to specific natural objects like pets, trees, mountain formations, or particular geographic locations, and that this identification would be powerful in reorienting socio-ecological behavior. She proposed that theatre holds the ability to induce socio-environmental change, notably by creating the opportunity for 'moments that facilitate a re-convening with our green impulses'. (Heinlein, 2006). This can be done by having theatre conducted in a natural environment, or through non-natural representation, combined with the power of imagination (McKibben, 2005). Such proposition has given immense power to theatre as a forum to create social-environmental change.
Compared to the other themes, environmental issues often require a communication of complicated scientific knowledge, and is at times contradictory to the capitalist society we are living in. A 1994 issue of Theater reported that “our playwrights’ silence on the environment as a political issue and our critics’ neglect of the ecological implications of theatrical form are rather astonishing” (Munk, 1994). Nevertheless, contemporary green theatre history can be traced back to the 1960's in the US, when 'Bread and Puppet' theatre founded by Peter Shumann was conducted in natural environment to engage its spectators, instead of mimicking through naturalistic set designs. Throughout 1970's, other presentation of environmental matter in traditional theatrical form emerged, such as 'Drink the Mercury' which illuminates the effects of heavy metal pollution on the fishing community of Minamata in Japan, and 'Angel Falls' which focuses on people trapped because of the nuclear meltdown and potential devastation of their natural environment (Heinlein, 2006). Other notable green theatre groups include Precipice and Blue Man Group in the 1980's, and the Evergreen Theatre and Stage Kids in the 1990's. These groups focus on engaging diverse audience and environmental education (ibid). In the 2000's, when environmental awareness is at its height, a shift in ecological consciousness is mirrored in performing arts in Finland, which focus on a range of themes such as relationship between human and non-human, ecological thriller about environmental disasters, relationship between nature and society and indigenous culture (TINFO, 2012).
The issue of climate change particularly, has not been popularized in theatrical forms until much more recently. The lack of climate change art had been lamented by McKibben (2005) in his article in Grist.org. Things have changed since with a number of performances staged, such as 'The Contingency Plan', 'Earthquakes in London', 'The Heretic' and 'Greenland' in the UK (Bottoms, 2012) and 'The Great Immensity' in the US (Wasserman & Young, 2013). The challenge of staging such issue is of double fold – to communicate the complicated scientific knowledge involved while retaining an all-rounded perspective on the controversial issue. The staging of 'The Great Immensity' for instance, involves enormous research documented by Wasserman and Young (2013). Moving from the rather crude, apocalyptic narratives apparent in mainstream film treatments of the subject, these plays attempt to grapple—in various ways—with the necessary uncertainty around scientific findings and future projections. They also attempt to dramatize the ‘new cultural politics of climate change’ (Smith, 2011) by examining the relationships between, and contrasting responsibilities of, scientists, politicians, and the lay public (Bottoms, 2012). More than the mere function of reflecting social issues, theatre which projects environmental themes also becomes a tool for a more efficient and engaging means to communicate scientific knowledge.
Curtis's work in Australia has focused on using the visual and performing arts to promote environmental sustainability with the support by his government. He elaborated three things visual and performing arts do to advocate environmental change, i.e. by communicating information, by re-connecting artists or audience to the nature, and by being incorporated into urban or rural designs for sustainable development. In Curtis's work, various interviews and surveys had been conducted with participants of art events, results of which affirm the influence of performing art of people's knowledge, mentality and behaviour. However, Curtis himself noted that at the societal level, the effect of art is more contradictory as art as an industry is firmly part of the society of consumerism, which ultimately promotes exploitation of the environment (Curtis, Reeve & Reid, 2007).
Indeed, most of the literature about green theatre refer to those taking place in western modern society, where people approach theatre as a form of high culture. The major purposes have been to raise awareness and inspire voluntary behavioural change. Theatre for those immediately vulnerable to climate change and natural resources degradation, particularly in the developing nation, is less well documented, probably either due to its grassroots nature, or simply the lack of it. The contradiction suggested by Curtis would not apply to such theatre taking place outdoor in the natural environment near to the people without fancy costumes and backdrop, but to effect changes in agricultural practices, adaptation strategies and risk management as a tool for empowerment.
Conclusion
We live in a media culture, with battles of ideas and values (Aprill et al., 2006). While artists and ordinary people might lack the political and economic power to implement changes, they possessed the ability to influence feelings and ideas through their work (Carter, 2009) of acting and performing, which has potentially more profound impact on people’s attitudes and mentality. Theatre is one such media where artists and ordinary people with stories can become indirect activists, and contribute their part towards achieving a better world. Its promotion of reflection, reconciliation, therapy, participation and imagination leads to empowerment of its participants and spectators, turning them into potential creators or resolvers of their own circumstances. Theatre representation of the contemporary environmental themes also add to its new important role of communicating scientific information. History provides evidence for the potential of theatre in generating lasting social impacts. Theatre as a tool thus deserves appropriate recognition, research, support and advocacy from activists, academicians and donors as a valid strategy to instill societal transformation.
References:
1. Akashoro, G, Kayode, J. & Husseini, S. (2010). Theatre and Development: Opportunities and Challenges in a Developing World. In Communication 1(2): 107-112
2. Boal, A. (1982). The Theatre of the Oppressed (2nd Ed.). New York, USA: Routledge Press.
3. Bottoms, S. (2012). Climate Change 'Science' on the London Stage. WIREs Climate Change 3:339–348. doi: 10.1002/wcc.173
4. Carter, C. (2009). Artists and Social Change, Marquette, Michigan: Marquette University e-Publication. Retrieved from epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1026&context=phil_fac
5. Chaudhuri, U. (1994). There Must Be A Lot of Fish in that Lake’: Toward an Ecological Theater.”Theater 25.1: 23-31.
6. Clayton, S. & Opotow, S. (2003). Identity and Natural Environment: The Psychological Significance of Nature. Cambridge: MIT Press.
7. Curtis, D. (2003, Dec). Initial Impressions on the Role of the Performing and Visual Arts in Influencing Environmental Behaviour. Paper presented at the TASA (The Australian Sociological Association) 2003 conference, University of New England, New South Whales, Australia. Retrieved from www.tasa.org.au/docs/conferences/2003/Environment/101103%20Curtis%20D.pdf
8. Curtis, D., Reeve, I. & Reid, N. (2007). Creating Inspiration: Using the Visual and Performing Arts to Promote Environmental Sustainability. Barton, Australia: Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation. Retrieved from rirdc.infoservices.com.au/downloads/07-186
9. Etherton, M. & Ogubinyi, Y. (1988). Sub-saharan Arica:Popular, Political and People's Theatre. Communication Research Trends 9: 11-16
10. Felnor, M. & Orenstein, C. (2006). The World of Theatre: Tradition and Innovation (Sample Chapter). New Jersey, USA: Pearson. Retrieved from www.ablongman.com/samplechapter/0205360637.pdf
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23. Munk, E. (1994) “A Beginning and End.” Theater 25.1: 5-6.
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Pearly Wong
Introduction:
‘Theatre’ is often associated with traditional western stage performance for wealthy spectators with luxurious costumes and beautiful backdrops. While this is certainly a very prominent form of theatre, there are also various other forms which have been used for purposes beyond mere entertainment, such as to convey religious, educational, political, social or economic messages (UNESCO, 2006). For instance, the use of theatre for the purpose of development has been a practice in Northern Uganda since the mid-1980s (Dinesh, 2005). ‘Theatre for Development’ was initially inspired by Paulo Freire, a Brazilian cultural and educational theorist and practitioner, who believed that people possess knowledge through life experience but are persuaded by the oppressor to believe that their knowledge is irrelevant. Stimulating people to become conscious and to generate knowledge in their own interests is called the pedagogy of the oppressed (Freire, 1970). This has influenced Freire’s own student, Augusto Boal, who developed the ‘Theatre of the Oppressed’: a form of popular theatre, of, by, and for people designed to help people learn ways of resisting oppression in their daily lives (Boal, 1982).
Initially, the use of theatre in a development environment has involved performing plays to convey strong social messages, with little or no audience participation. Gradually, the potential of theatre as a platform of discussion and of exploring pertinent issues within a particular community is being realized (Scott-Danter, 1999). There are generally three types of popular theatre: theatre produced by a theatrical group but oriented towards the people; theater organized by and for the people, with audience; and theatre organized by and for the people involving audience as part of the performance (Mdoe, 2002). The first category involves actors, directors and dramatists producing for the community to inspire social change, by conveying education message and encouraging audience to tackle problems faced by their community. The second category of theatre is conducted by people without professional expertise to present stories containing elements from their community and people (ibid). The third category, also called forum theatre (Boal, 1982) or playback theatre, performs a local issue in front of targeted audience, and encourages them to intervene and join in the act to resolve the situation, thereby formulating strategies to resolve their own problems.
Theatre for Reflection
Theatre as a media of communication constantly mirrors and reflects the society. This has been emphasized by Yerima (2007), who quoted Shakespeare: “Theatre is a mirror for highlighting man’s humanity and also a tool for understanding why man also finds it so easy to transgress that same humanity”. The dramatic representation of real stories or phenomena brings the hidden values or questions in the society to people's awareness, thus induces people to reflect on problems (Aprill et al., 2006). While we might witness a particular phenomenon and hear of someone’s story in our daily lives, they will not have as strong an impact without a dramatic representation that engages people’s emotions. Without art, authenticity doesn’t mean much’, said Richard William (1970), the writer of the film Nil by Mouth, which narrated the real life experience of alcoholism and drug-taking by a man called Gary Oldman. When real life experiences are captured within the dramatic form, strong emotions and resonance can be aroused among audience and powerful outcomes such as change in attitudes, behaviours or even causes of life are possible (Somers, 2008). For this reason, popular theatre has been utilized to project reality or a specific local issue to guide participants and targeted audience into analyzing their own real-life situations (Mdoe, 2002). For instance, after the civil war in Mozambique between 1975 and 1992, a social survey and a theatre presentation were conducted among the displaced people who remained in the area of Nawagene (Scott-Danter, 1999). While the social survey raised the issues of lack of local services such as need for clean water and accessible health centres, the theatre presentation brought out more subtle concerns of social-relationship and the social causes inhibiting development (ibid). Theatre thus sensitizes a community on priority issues (Akashoro, Kayode & Husseini, 2010), clarifies on people’s common visions and purposes, and inspires them to work towards achieving them. The reflect process stimulated by theatre also leads people to discover neglected patterns of thought or behaviour, notice new potential within themselves and experience new ways of perceiving reality (Reich, 2012). Those can then serve as the basis to be strengthened into an act of resistance or assertion (ibid).
Theatre for Mutual Understanding and Reconciliation
Theatre can also function to bridge understanding among members in a community by providing an insight into others’ point of view (Kasoma, 1974). This occurs when stories are narrated from the perspective of a particular character, or when audience participate in acting different, or even opposite characters from themselves. For example, in the film "Reaching Rural Families" , a family planning worker plays the role of an ignorant mother, while the mother takes on the role of the family planning worker (ibid). This promotes mutual understanding and tolerance by permitting the audience or actors to experience a different perspective or a role. Someone who was previously seen as the other becomes familiar and gains empathy (Akashoro, Kayode & Husseini, 2010). The community gets a richer understanding and more complex view of its own people. Any movement towards social change might emerge from such changes in perception of self and others (Somers, 2008). In Lebanon, forum theatre was incorporated into a conflict transformation framework in order to build relationships between formerly conflicting parties by employing its capacity to relate, experience and understand via bodily interactions, with and without words (Reich, 2012). On the other hand, when performed for outsiders, theatre can sensitizes the authority or practitioners to the needs and aspirations of a community, and show others their problems to encourage more understanding (Scott-Danter, 1999). One example is in Arua, Uganda, where a powerful piece of theatre on the theme of family neglect has been developed by the local community. The play captured, through the stories of members of a family, a range of interconnected issues from prostitution and alcoholism to domestic violence, school drop-out, early marriage and petty crime. At the end of the performance, the audience consists of government and NGO officials were invited to discuss the issues raised and the role of their institutions to address the root causes of the problems.
Theatre for Therapy
A good theatre might possess therapeutic effect, for both its participants and audiences. By watching or participating in a play that is tightly connected to one’s memory/personal story, one can re-categorize their memories, reedit their personal stories, and re-establish meanings from a complex, reflexive relationship between dramatic experience and personal identity (Somers, 2008). People find telling their stories surprisingly therapeutic, as reported by Scott-Danter (1990) about an ex-detainee who helped in a play about asylum seekers which took place in Oxford in 1997. The Crude Theatre in Kibingo Village, Uganda for instance, invited old people without families to retell memorable events of their lives, serving as a therapy for the old and linkages across generations (Dinesh, 2005). For a specific group of audience who have defective well-being but embarrassed to share the issues they are facing with those they feel may not understand, watching a story which recognizes and understands their problems and circumstances is itself sufficient to alleviate pain and combat isolation (ibid). Theatre can illustrate a shared experience of many within the same community and provides ‘de-solating’ effect (ibid), making people realize that they are not alone in their struggles, and that they are somehow being understood by others. Written by Somers, ‘The Living at Hurford’ dealt with the struggle of small family farms to stay in business following the foot and mouth disease outbreak in 2001. A farmer approached after the performance and said to Somers, ‘That’s my life you put up there tonight.’ As a group which often finds expression of emotions difficult, farmers were able to provide advice to the main character, Chaplain and shared his pain, thus providing some sorts of healing and restoration (Somers, 2008). These healing effects towards both the audience and the actors themselves are important for empowerment, meaning-making, identity formation and even collective recognition of social injustice, which can potentially provide seeds for future social transformation.
Theatre for Participation
Theatre also serves as a participatory tool by inviting audience to participate in the act, making it a genuine two-way medium for communicating information (Kasoma, 1974). Forum theatre or playback theatre, for instance, transforms the audience into actors and creators of the drama. Members of the audience are encouraged to actively engage themselves in the process, critically reflect on, challenge and change the course of the play and try out different solutions . They can interrupt a performance and suggest different actions for the actors who in turn carried out their suggestions, thus giving the spectators themselves an opportunity to come up with different solutions of a collective problem (Rizoaica, unknown). Theatre has been employed as a research tool by multiple development projects for engaging the community in a dialogue, and mobilizing communities to rally and support development activities (Kamlongera, 2005). One example is the Primary Health Care (PHC) system in Malawi, which works together with the Chancellor College Theatre for Development team to probe, stimulate and tease out ideas from the community (Kalipeni and Kamlongera, 1996). The theatre team used a technique called “opening up the play”, which involves asking direct questions to the audience at critical points of the story line in the play and then incorporating their responses to the plot. As a result, a bigger picture of the community’s health status emerged. Everybody in the community contributed to the dialogue (ibid). The “play” nature of drama serves as a democratizing tool, as anybody present at performances felt free to voice out their opinions. Participation and self-expression, especially from those who often go unheard is encouraged (Akashoro, Kayode & Husseini, 2010).
Theatre for Imagination
As a dynamic mix of fiction and reality, theatre offers opportunity for people to express and challenge ideas and issues using a fictional voice and symbolic situations . Theatre creates space and distance, which helps to reduce sensitivity of certain topics or taboos like sexuality. People are able to explore their personal experiences and ideas without feeling exposed (UNESCO, 2006). By involving participants in a fictional experience that does not focus on their own attitudes, feelings and behaviour (but which has relevance to them), the immersive yet distancing effects of theatre (Mdoe, 2002) can create opportunities to address a whole range of issues and offer conducive environment for positive transformation . For this very reason, theatre has been promoted as a tool to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS issue (UNESCO, 2006). Interactive theatre creates a transitional space for social imagination where one can safely experiment on different roles and test out new ways of behaving before using them in real life. This ’imagination’ exercise also encourages people to find their own creative solutions and remedies to problems, rather than looking to outside forces for intervention or replication, which is sometimes inappropriate for local culture or conditions. Even when an outside intervention is required, theatre can help people to think more about how best this can be innovated and channeled into local circumstances, and what are their own roles in it (Dinesh, 2005).
Theatre and Social Change
Theatre is an outstanding tool due to its accessibility to a wide range of audience. The combination of oral communication, physical expression, dance, image, music and song can capture and maintain the attention and interest of a great number of people over time (UNESCO, 2006). The fact that theatre is a cheap (Kasoma, 1974) and predominantly oral medium also widens its audience group to include the poorest groups and classes who are often left out of development activities because of their illiteracy or lack of understanding of other languages (Hosking & Penny, unknown). Plays can also be easily adapted to local realities, because they possess the flexibility to be performed anywhere, at any time (UNESCO, 2006), with any content, and thus can be brought to the doorsteps of the marginalized and the poor, in a language and story relevant to them. Unlike other art forms, theatre is essentially a group activity. The collective experience of creating something together creates the context for cooperation rather than individual thinking and action. It creates the possibility for mutual inspirations or peer learning rather than top-down, one-way communication. It builds social connections, creates collective ownership of individual stories (Ho, 2012) and potentially strengthens the unity among community members towards a common vision. Compared to other kinds of activists’ campaigns that directly propagate selected messages, the meaning conveyed by theatre essentially lies in the audiences’ own interpretations and resonance without imposition.
Nevertheless, theatre faces its own challenges to perform as an effective tool as social change. Externally, funding agencies might see theatre as irrelevant or less appealing compared to other projects. The theatre groups in refugee camps in Northern Uganda for instance, cited funding as their major obstacle (Dinesh, 2005). Multiple funders noted that funding arts for change work is hindered by a lack of rigorous but accessible documentation and metrics for impact (Korza & Bacon, 2010). Like any other kind of activism, theatre also might be seen as risky or politically threatening. While artist stereotype allow them to experiment, some may be forced to pull back by partners or authority when the plays get uncomfortable of challenges preconceived ideas or institutional power (Aprill et al., 2006). Internally, theatre groups face challenges to translate stories into local languages and to ensure its compatibility with the culture of the target audience (Kasoma, 1974). Message of the play needs to be explicit enough (Dinesh, 2005) for audience to understand the underlying messages while subtle enough not to be perceived as an open protest towards those in power. Also, verification of the sustained impact of theatre is rather difficult (Somers, 2008) as similar experiences can stimulate different response from individuals under different circumstances and direct causal-relationship assumed is rather problematic. While occasionally pivotal events might bring immediate visible changes, more often the effects would be more subtle, such as making people more receptive to similar information in the future, and affecting general ethical framework (Curtis, 2003). To translate changes in individuals' perceptions and mentality into a meaningful transformation at societal level is another problematic gap (ibid). Even when a theatre motivates audience to come out with local solutions for the issues they perform, it cannot guarantee resources to support local communities to carry out such solutions (Dinesh, 2005).
Yet, social change events closely linked with theatre are far from being absent in the history. Agit-prop (from agitation and propaganda) was an early form of political theatre developed during the 1920s in Russia, born in the Marxist fervor of the Russian Revolution. It brought the day’s news to illiterate peasants and factory workers to enlist their support for the massive economic and social changes in the aftermath of the revolution (Felnor and Orenstein, 2006). This is then replicated abroad, such as during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) to inspire the people to fight against fascism (ibid). In the 1960s, groups such as El Teatro Campesino used agit-prop techniques to fight for immigrants’ rights. Drawing from Brecht's theatrical methods , El Teatro Campesino evolved out of the organized strike led by Cesar Chavez against grape growers in California, when they repeated everything the grape growers were yelling at them, annoying and frustrating them until they eventually left (Smith, 2007). The roles of theatre in the Phillippines, South Africa and Chile in movement against their oppressive regimes and apartheid governments have also been recognized (Schechner, Boal & Turner, 1988).
In India, people's theatre by the Action for Cultural and Political Change, a team initiated by 6 young graduates in Southern Tamil Nadu region in 1975, has been an effective tool in harijan (people of lower castes and the untouchable) mobilization. The team entered a village upon invitation, lived with and like the harijan villagers, working on harijan leadership. In a case described by Kidd (1981), by the end of the first phases of the organizational work, the newly formed agricultural labourers' movement had won two major wage strikes, obtained written agreements from landowners to stop all beatings, had taken possession of some farming lands, had released a number of families from bonded labour and had successfully pressurized government to provide basic services to the harijans (Malik, Raha & Kidd, 1988).
In the 1950's, the agricultural extension systems in Ghania and Uganda planned an itinerary across the country to dramatize financial losses from pests and plant diseases in order to persuade farmers to join production schemes. Their success influenced the Malawian government to set up a permanent agricultural information programme involving 13 mobile puppetry vans putting on an estimation of 4000 shows per year reaching to 1.5 million audience (Etherton & Ogubinyi, 1988). More recently, many African countries have officially trained their agricultural extension workers to use theatre as a communicating tool to promote the use of fertilizers and improved methods of cattle production (ibid). Theatre has also been used to promote rural health education (Nigeria and Sierra Lone), family-planning (Nigeria and Ghana) and literacy programme (Tanzania and Bostwana) (ibid). The continuation and spread of the theatrical method as an official effort supported by different government suggest that they are better in effecting change than traditional teaching approach.
Given the examples above, dismissal of social impact of theatre can be sometimes attributed to uninformed or stubborn perceptions, rather than its inefficacy in reality. Like any other advocacy campaigns, theatre is not itself the sole revolution maker, but contributes its part to the accumulation of skepticism and agitation required to effect social change. It is recognized that theatre is only the first, but important step that potentially triggers people’s awareness and change in attitudes or mentality, which has to be further supplemented by other resources to effect social change. As noted by the late Professor Rose Mbowa, one of the pioneers of ‘Theatre for Development’ in Uganda: “Rehearsing for reality is the great way to begin. Sustaining the reality is the next challenge.”(Dinesh, 2005)
Theatre and ecology
The contemporary issue of environmental sustainability, popularized by the notion of 'Sustainable development' (United Nations, 1992) , is crucial for the development of current times. The role of theatre in projecting and promoting such theme as a worthy development issue could not be more relevant, given the enormity of the subject matter. While previous examples given demonstrate incorporation of conventional development issues such as healthcare in theatre performances, Chaudhuri (1994) posits that a theater tradition that defines drama as conflict between and about human beings makes it essentially humanist and “anti-ecological.” However, a different proposition was held by Heinlein (2006), drawing from Rosenblatt's (2000) and Clayton's (2003) idea that humans themselves have an inborn identification with the ecological world such as connections to specific natural objects like pets, trees, mountain formations, or particular geographic locations, and that this identification would be powerful in reorienting socio-ecological behavior. She proposed that theatre holds the ability to induce socio-environmental change, notably by creating the opportunity for 'moments that facilitate a re-convening with our green impulses'. (Heinlein, 2006). This can be done by having theatre conducted in a natural environment, or through non-natural representation, combined with the power of imagination (McKibben, 2005). Such proposition has given immense power to theatre as a forum to create social-environmental change.
Compared to the other themes, environmental issues often require a communication of complicated scientific knowledge, and is at times contradictory to the capitalist society we are living in. A 1994 issue of Theater reported that “our playwrights’ silence on the environment as a political issue and our critics’ neglect of the ecological implications of theatrical form are rather astonishing” (Munk, 1994). Nevertheless, contemporary green theatre history can be traced back to the 1960's in the US, when 'Bread and Puppet' theatre founded by Peter Shumann was conducted in natural environment to engage its spectators, instead of mimicking through naturalistic set designs. Throughout 1970's, other presentation of environmental matter in traditional theatrical form emerged, such as 'Drink the Mercury' which illuminates the effects of heavy metal pollution on the fishing community of Minamata in Japan, and 'Angel Falls' which focuses on people trapped because of the nuclear meltdown and potential devastation of their natural environment (Heinlein, 2006). Other notable green theatre groups include Precipice and Blue Man Group in the 1980's, and the Evergreen Theatre and Stage Kids in the 1990's. These groups focus on engaging diverse audience and environmental education (ibid). In the 2000's, when environmental awareness is at its height, a shift in ecological consciousness is mirrored in performing arts in Finland, which focus on a range of themes such as relationship between human and non-human, ecological thriller about environmental disasters, relationship between nature and society and indigenous culture (TINFO, 2012).
The issue of climate change particularly, has not been popularized in theatrical forms until much more recently. The lack of climate change art had been lamented by McKibben (2005) in his article in Grist.org. Things have changed since with a number of performances staged, such as 'The Contingency Plan', 'Earthquakes in London', 'The Heretic' and 'Greenland' in the UK (Bottoms, 2012) and 'The Great Immensity' in the US (Wasserman & Young, 2013). The challenge of staging such issue is of double fold – to communicate the complicated scientific knowledge involved while retaining an all-rounded perspective on the controversial issue. The staging of 'The Great Immensity' for instance, involves enormous research documented by Wasserman and Young (2013). Moving from the rather crude, apocalyptic narratives apparent in mainstream film treatments of the subject, these plays attempt to grapple—in various ways—with the necessary uncertainty around scientific findings and future projections. They also attempt to dramatize the ‘new cultural politics of climate change’ (Smith, 2011) by examining the relationships between, and contrasting responsibilities of, scientists, politicians, and the lay public (Bottoms, 2012). More than the mere function of reflecting social issues, theatre which projects environmental themes also becomes a tool for a more efficient and engaging means to communicate scientific knowledge.
Curtis's work in Australia has focused on using the visual and performing arts to promote environmental sustainability with the support by his government. He elaborated three things visual and performing arts do to advocate environmental change, i.e. by communicating information, by re-connecting artists or audience to the nature, and by being incorporated into urban or rural designs for sustainable development. In Curtis's work, various interviews and surveys had been conducted with participants of art events, results of which affirm the influence of performing art of people's knowledge, mentality and behaviour. However, Curtis himself noted that at the societal level, the effect of art is more contradictory as art as an industry is firmly part of the society of consumerism, which ultimately promotes exploitation of the environment (Curtis, Reeve & Reid, 2007).
Indeed, most of the literature about green theatre refer to those taking place in western modern society, where people approach theatre as a form of high culture. The major purposes have been to raise awareness and inspire voluntary behavioural change. Theatre for those immediately vulnerable to climate change and natural resources degradation, particularly in the developing nation, is less well documented, probably either due to its grassroots nature, or simply the lack of it. The contradiction suggested by Curtis would not apply to such theatre taking place outdoor in the natural environment near to the people without fancy costumes and backdrop, but to effect changes in agricultural practices, adaptation strategies and risk management as a tool for empowerment.
Conclusion
We live in a media culture, with battles of ideas and values (Aprill et al., 2006). While artists and ordinary people might lack the political and economic power to implement changes, they possessed the ability to influence feelings and ideas through their work (Carter, 2009) of acting and performing, which has potentially more profound impact on people’s attitudes and mentality. Theatre is one such media where artists and ordinary people with stories can become indirect activists, and contribute their part towards achieving a better world. Its promotion of reflection, reconciliation, therapy, participation and imagination leads to empowerment of its participants and spectators, turning them into potential creators or resolvers of their own circumstances. Theatre representation of the contemporary environmental themes also add to its new important role of communicating scientific information. History provides evidence for the potential of theatre in generating lasting social impacts. Theatre as a tool thus deserves appropriate recognition, research, support and advocacy from activists, academicians and donors as a valid strategy to instill societal transformation.
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