Witnessing Change: Applied Theatre and Youth Agency

This book theorises and articulates new models of understanding ‘change’ in current applied theatre practice with young people. It extends and amplifies current discourses in the discipline of applied theatre, challenging and rethinking some of its tensions, particularly in relation to the concept of impact and what this means in practice.

Applied theatre projects can struggle to attain evidence and sustain change beyond an initial intervention, this is arguably because what is valued and ‘witnessed’ as change for communities can often feel overlooked if they do not meet impact agendas or indicators. It is a key issue that, critically, needs further attention as our field develops and with increasing global pressure on the practitioner to account for and justify the ‘impact’ of their work.

This book explores current models of practice and related theoretical concerns that will enable students and practitioners to gain insights into innovative practices that aim for change from applied theatre practitioners in the UK, Singapore, and New Zealand. The book thereby intends to focus on different models of practice happening in geographically urban contexts with young people to provide readers with a rich array of projects to engage with detailed case studies of current thinking around what change means in applied theatre practice. To understand how change manifests and make a case for nuancing the way we might articulate and value change, this book offers a conceptual framework around the role of witnessing and change to consider new ways to argue for the worth of practice that may challenge current impact agendas, but importantly locates the lived experience of participants and practitioners directly engaged in practice at the heart of this articulation of conversation about what counts.