The Methuen Drama Handbook of Performance and Social Action

How are theatre and performance makers seeking to address social inequalities and support political change through socially engaged work?

Presenting a sweeping view of performance practice, innovation, and reformation from around the world, this anthology demonstrates how the arts and theatre makers are urgently reshaping the way we must now represent, facilitate, and protest.

Featuring contributions from scholars and practitioners who are making activist interventions in the social justice crises of the world, this collection showcases the many ways in which artists are engaging with communities to bring about change: from prison theatre in Brazil, to digital theatre experiments in Calcutta during the COVID-19 lockdown, from using theatre to tackle ageism and shame, to a participatory theatre project with LGBTIQ+ Zimbabwean youth.

Featuring applied theatre work that addresses specific and localized community issues, as well as chapters theorizing how broader strategies could be employed in a variety of contexts, the handbook shows how performance and social action is both a philosophy and a call to action. Together these perspectives demonstrate how through work in theatres, communities, and classrooms we may continue what Augusto Boal advised us to do—to rehearse for the futures we would like to inhabit.