Theatre Community & Social Change: Advanced ((4 Credits))

Catalog description

How can the tools of theatre be used to engage communities in dialogue and to move toward a more just world? Students will gain experience in applied theatre – theatre that engages issues ranging from social justice to heath education to conflict resolution. We will look at the work of Augusto Boal, Paolo Freire, the Federal Theatre Project and others who have developed relevant theories and practices. Students will learn to develop strategies to respond to particular settings, issues, and concerns, to critically examine the underlying assumptions of this work, and to think about the historical and theoretical contexts of the applied theatre field. We will examine how these and other concepts and strategies inform performative responses to and interventions in times of crisis, and how such work combines affect (aesthetics and emotional impact) with effect (social impact).