Theatre of Good Intentions - Challenges and Hopes for Theatre and Social Change

"Much has been written about theatre's capacity to create social change. Theatre of Good Intentions: Challenges and Hopes for Theatre and Social Change, however, looks at some of the reasons why achieving such goals is hard; examining what theatre can and can't do. It critiques the limitations of theatre in the creation of social change, in order to engage in a productive discussion of theatre's strengths - and weaknesses - and theatre artists' opportunities to make change in an unjust world. This book focuses on theatre's impact on both participants and spectators, examining a wide range of contemporary applied and political theatre case studies, engaging with some of the most common forms of theatre used towards the goals of social change, including Theatre of the Oppressed, professional political theatre in performance, community-based theatre, prison theatre, and classroom drama. Theatre of Good Intentions constructs an argument advocating for artists and students to think strategically about the limitations and opportunities of theatre as a medium of social change"--

List of contents

List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction: Why Do We Want to Use Theatre to Make Social Change? PART I: IMPACTING PARTICIPANTS 1. Theatre of Good Intentions 2. Participatory Theatre and the Problem of Dominant Discourse 3. Embedded in Institutions, Beholden to Institutional Forces 4. Publishing under Apartheid: OUP in South Africa PART II: IMPACTING AUDIENCES 4. Catharsis, Critical Distance, and Change 5. Spectatorship, community, and 'otherness' 6. Responding to Contemporary Events in an Era of Instant Gratification CONCLUSION: Real Change in the Real World Bibliography Index

Product details

• Authors: D Snyder-Young, D. Snyder-Young, Dani Snyder-Young
• Publisher: Palgrave UK
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 02.08.2013
• EAN: 9781137293022
• ISBN: 978-1-137-29302-2
• No. of pages: 169
• Subjects: Fiction > Poetry, drama; Humanities, art, music > Art > Theatre, ballet; Social sciences, law, business > Social sciences (general); Theater, B, Cultural Studies, Performing Arts, popular science, The arts: general issues, Life Sciences, Arts, Theatre Studies, Humanities and Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary studies, Life sciences: general issues, Engineering: general, Technology and Engineering, Popular works, Popular Science, general, Theatre and Performance Arts, Theater—History, Theatre History, Palgrave Theatre & Performance Collection, Theatre and Performance Studies, History of Performing Arts