Participation, Representation, Ethics, Aesthetics and Assessment

Afolabi, T. (2017). Theatre and participation: Towards a holistic notion of participation. Applied Theatre Research, 5(2), 67–82.

Haedicke, S. (2003). The challenge of participation: Audiences at living stage theatre company. In S. Kattwinkel (Ed.), Audience participation: Essays on inclusion in performance (pp. 71–87). Praeger. This chapter uses the work of the Living Stage Theatre company that lies more firmly in the semi-private than semi-public. However, their use of professionals as facilitators provides valuable insight into those processes.268

Paulus, D. (2006). It's all about the audience. Contemporary Theatre Review, 16(3), 334–347. Paulus describes two shows that, like the reading above, blur the line, this time between semi-public and public, but what the author has to say about how audiences can be engaged through contemporary methods is very useful information.

White, G. (2013). Audience participation in theatre: Aesthetics of the invitation. Palgrave Macmillan. This recent study theorizes audience participation in both immersive theatre and applied theatre contexts.

Hall, S. (2021). Teaching race. In P. Gilroy & R. W. Gilmore (Eds.). Selected Writings on Race & Difference (pp. 123–135). Duke University Press. Seminal text on issues surrounding representation.

Hall, S., Evans, J., & Nixon, S. (2013). Representation {2nd ed.]. SAGE.

Núñez M., Robinson, J. & Schweitzer, M. (Eds.). (2023). Casting and race [Special issue]. Canadian Theatre Review, 193, 1-100. This themed issue has articles of interest on the topics of casting, race and representation.

Kandil, Y. & Prentki, T. (Eds.). (2023). The interesections of representation and empathy in applied theatre: What have we lost? What can we gain? [Special themed issue]. RIDE: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 28(3). This themed issue contains the most recent discussions as it pertains to the field of applied theatre by leading scholars and practitioners from their experiences in classrooms, rehearsal spaces and community-based settings.

Boal, A. (2006). The aesthetics of the oppressed (A. Jackson, Trans.). Routledge.

This text is a whirlwind ride in Boal's inimitable style, through his years of practice. Many useful examples of his practice and the philosophy that underlies it.

Samson, F. (2005). Drama in aesthetic education: An invitation to imagine the world as if it could be otherwise. Journal of Aesthetic Education, 39(4), 70–81. A thorough description of the use of Ping Chong's documentary theatre to develop an understanding of aesthetic education in pre-service teachers and teachers in the field attending a Lincoln Centre Institute course.

White, G. (2015). Applied theatre: Aesthetics. Bloomsbury. Offers a very effective overview of how aesthetics work in applied theatre.

Winston, J., & Haseman, B. (2010). The aesthetics of applied theatre and drama education [Special issue]. RIDE: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 15(4), 430–441. A themed edition featuring articles by many leading theorists and practitioners, including one by Nic Fryer that examines the related issue of assessing devised performance (pp. 547–62).269

Bishop, K. (2014). Six perspectives in search of an ethical solution: Utilizing a moral imperative with a multiple ethics paradigm to guide research-based theatre/applied theatre. RIDE: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 19(1), 64–75. Based on conversations with six leading theorists and practitioners, Bishop identifies key ethical areas for facilitators to consider: justice, critique, care and professionalism.

Maiter, S., Simich, L., Jacobson, N., & Wise, J. (2008). Reciprocity: An ethic for community-based research. Action Research, 6(3), 305–325. For practitioners and researchers, this is a rich discussion of procedures for setting up and maintaining a communicative network with a focus on power-sharing.

Sadeghi-Yekta, K., & Prendergast, M. (Eds.). (2022). Applied theatre: Ethics. Bloomsbury. A global collection of essays on ethics in our field, rooted in the notions of service, presence and care.

Shaunessy, N. (2005). Truth and lies: Exploring the ethics of performance applications. RIDE: Research in Drama Education, 10(2), 201–212. Apart from the interesting issues raised by the basics of theatre performance (it is all a ‘big lie’), there are two useful case studies that examine the ‘lies'in practice and the ethical questions that derive from them.

Eisner, E. (2007). Assessment and evaluation in education and the arts. In L. Bresler (Ed.) International Handbook of Research in Arts Education (pp. 423–426), Springer. This synthesis of the problems of assessment/evaluation should be required reading for anyone involved in measuring outcomes in applied theatre.

O'Connor, P., & Anderson, M. (2015). Applied theatre: Research: Radical departures. Bloomsbury. The first section of this book addresses evaluation and impact assessment in applied theatre, focusing on the value of reciprocity in and with communities.

Robinson, K. (1993). Evaluating TIE. In A. Jackson (Ed.). Learning through theatre (2nd ed., pp. 251–266). Routledge. Although the date is early, this discussion and examination of the ‘areas of evaluative action’ is really indispensable, particularly as it uses a theatre in education programme as its model and is therefore rooted in the realities of the practice.

Afolabi, T. (2017). Theatre and participation: Towards a holistic notion of participation. Applied Theatre Research, 5(2), 67–82.

Haedicke, S. (2003). The challenge of participation: Audiences at living stage theatre company. In S. Kattwinkel (Ed.), Audience participation: Essays on inclusion in performance (pp. 71–87). Praeger. This chapter uses the work of the Living Stage Theatre company that lies more firmly in the semi-private than semi-public. However, their use of professionals as facilitators provides valuable insight into those processes.268

Paulus, D. (2006). It's all about the audience. Contemporary Theatre Review, 16(3), 334–347. Paulus describes two shows that, like the reading above, blur the line, this time between semi-public and public, but what the author has to say about how audiences can be engaged through contemporary methods is very useful information.

White, G. (2013). Audience participation in theatre: Aesthetics of the invitation. Palgrave Macmillan. This recent study theorizes audience participation in both immersive theatre and applied theatre contexts.

Hall, S. (2021). Teaching race. In P. Gilroy & R. W. Gilmore (Eds.). Selected Writings on Race & Difference (pp. 123–135). Duke University Press. Seminal text on issues surrounding representation.

Hall, S., Evans, J., & Nixon, S. (2013). Representation {2nd ed.]. SAGE.

Núñez M., Robinson, J. & Schweitzer, M. (Eds.). (2023). Casting and race [Special issue]. Canadian Theatre Review, 193, 1-100. This themed issue has articles of interest on the topics of casting, race and representation.

Kandil, Y. & Prentki, T. (Eds.). (2023). The interesections of representation and empathy in applied theatre: What have we lost? What can we gain? [Special themed issue]. RIDE: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 28(3). This themed issue contains the most recent discussions as it pertains to the field of applied theatre by leading scholars and practitioners from their experiences in classrooms, rehearsal spaces and community-based settings.

Boal, A. (2006). The aesthetics of the oppressed (A. Jackson, Trans.). Routledge.

This text is a whirlwind ride in Boal's inimitable style, through his years of practice. Many useful examples of his practice and the philosophy that underlies it.

Samson, F. (2005). Drama in aesthetic education: An invitation to imagine the world as if it could be otherwise. Journal of Aesthetic Education, 39(4), 70–81. A thorough description of the use of Ping Chong's documentary theatre to develop an understanding of aesthetic education in pre-service teachers and teachers in the field attending a Lincoln Centre Institute course.

White, G. (2015). Applied theatre: Aesthetics. Bloomsbury. Offers a very effective overview of how aesthetics work in applied theatre.

Winston, J., & Haseman, B. (2010). The aesthetics of applied theatre and drama education [Special issue]. RIDE: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 15(4), 430–441. A themed edition featuring articles by many leading theorists and practitioners, including one by Nic Fryer that examines the related issue of assessing devised performance (pp. 547–62).269

Bishop, K. (2014). Six perspectives in search of an ethical solution: Utilizing a moral imperative with a multiple ethics paradigm to guide research-based theatre/applied theatre. RIDE: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 19(1), 64–75. Based on conversations with six leading theorists and practitioners, Bishop identifies key ethical areas for facilitators to consider: justice, critique, care and professionalism.

Maiter, S., Simich, L., Jacobson, N., & Wise, J. (2008). Reciprocity: An ethic for community-based research. Action Research, 6(3), 305–325. For practitioners and researchers, this is a rich discussion of procedures for setting up and maintaining a communicative network with a focus on power-sharing.

Sadeghi-Yekta, K., & Prendergast, M. (Eds.). (2022). Applied theatre: Ethics. Bloomsbury. A global collection of essays on ethics in our field, rooted in the notions of service, presence and care.

Shaunessy, N. (2005). Truth and lies: Exploring the ethics of performance applications. RIDE: Research in Drama Education, 10(2), 201–212. Apart from the interesting issues raised by the basics of theatre performance (it is all a ‘big lie’), there are two useful case studies that examine the ‘lies'in practice and the ethical questions that derive from them.

Eisner, E. (2007). Assessment and evaluation in education and the arts. In L. Bresler (Ed.) International Handbook of Research in Arts Education (pp. 423–426), Springer. This synthesis of the problems of assessment/evaluation should be required reading for anyone involved in measuring outcomes in applied theatre.

O'Connor, P., & Anderson, M. (2015). Applied theatre: Research: Radical departures. Bloomsbury. The first section of this book addresses evaluation and impact assessment in applied theatre, focusing on the value of reciprocity in and with communities.

Robinson, K. (1993). Evaluating TIE. In A. Jackson (Ed.). Learning through theatre (2nd ed., pp. 251–266). Routledge. Although the date is early, this discussion and examination of the ‘areas of evaluative action’ is really indispensable, particularly as it uses a theatre in education programme as its model and is therefore rooted in the realities of the practice.