Applied Drama offers an insight into theatre-making that takes place in communities across the world. It celebrates the gift of practice which takes place in different, and sometimes unglamorous settings: prisons, schools, hostels for the homeless, care homes for the elderly, and on the street.


Applied Drama:
- raises questions such as what is 'applied drama' or 'applied theatre'? What is it for? What might its value be?
- maps the theoretical terrain alongside examples of practice of applied drama and theatre
- explores how interventionist theatre might maintain and redefine its radicalism, its commitment to human rights, and its creativity in an increasingly globalized world
- suggests that theatre-making offers an opportunity to explore and enact what it means to be ethical, participant citizens today.

Ideal for students and practitioners, Helen Nicholson's lively study poses critical questions about the efficacy of applied drama, prompting debate about the significance of theatre in society as a whole.

Acknowledgements
An Introduction to Applied Drama
PART ONE: PARTICIPATION AND PRAXIS
The Practice of Citizenship
Pedagogies, Praxis and Performance
PART TWO: NARRATIVES AND NARRATIVITY
Narrative and the Gift of Storytelling
Community Narratives: Space, Place and Time
PART THREE: CREATIVITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
Creativity and Social Intervention
Human Rights in Performance
EPILOGUE
The Gift of Theatre
Bibliography
Illustration
Index

HELEN NICHOLSON lectures in Drama and Theatre at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK, where she specialises in applied drama. A former teacher of drama in secondary schools, she continues to work as a practitioner in many different community contexts, and is editor of the journal Research in Drama Education.