While Ackroyd suggests that, ‘Perhaps there is an assumed status distinction between drama in education and applied theatre’ (Ackroyd 2007, 3), Taylor asserts ‘the term ‘drama’ did promote a division from theatre practice which we are still trying to unravel today’ (Taylor 2000, 5). In understanding these different types of educational theatre, we can further understand the school production. Theatre in Education broadly refers to theatre made for young people, by adults and performed in schools. TiE allows for ‘techniques of participation’ (O'Toole 2009b).
Harris positions Theatre in Education under the umbrella of Applied Theatre (Harris 2012), however theatre in education can also be understood as a series of progressions and developments. More to the point the ‘rhizomatic’ (Harris 2012, 179) notion that resiles from Deleuze and Guattari’s, A Thousand Plateaus (Deleuze and Guattari 1987) fundamentally understands the interconnectedness and
networks that create and develop an intricate system of layers or ‘strata’ and while ‘content and expression intermingle’ (Deleuze and Guattari 1987) it does not mean that all performative education terms such as: Drama in Education (DiE), Theatre in Education (TiE), Theatre for Development (TfD), Playback Theatre necessarily fall under the umbrella of Applied Theatre. Schonman questions, ‘are we being stifled by applied theatre and drama?’ (Schonman 2005, 31) There are cohesive
articulations that inform us of the development of drama and theatre in education. Theatre in Education may have originated from TfD, focused in Africa by Kidd back in the late 70’s and early 80’s (Byam 1999), where his research looked at theatre as a way of developing students in Africa.
This work was inspired by the theatre practitioners, Augusto Boal and Bertholt Brecht (Epskamp 2006). Brecht wrote about the alienation effects in writing, directing and acting which have informed TiE (Brecht and Willett 1964). Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed deals with the notion of theatre for development, a theatre that gives the oppressed a voice (Boal 1979). In understanding these articulations it is also important to understand the degree that each articulation represents in the moments of individual performance. As stated previously, Theatre of the Oppressed has been used as TfD in Africa as a means for development.
However, one example of this, The Eritrea Community-Based Theatre project (Salhi 1998) is fraught with a supposed marginalised voice that is in fact the government’s voice. The idea that the
government funded project was specifically one ethnic group’s voice, Tigrinya – the ethnic group in power in Ethiopia raises alarm bells. If this was a theatre that gave voice to the people then wouldn’t it be named the Ethiopian Community-Based Theatre project? The very notion that all theatre operating under the umbrellas of ‘Theatre for Development’ or ‘Theatre in Education’ are in some way good is something that we should be cautious of.
Ackroyd (2007) makes a link to Africa when considering the origins of Applied Theatre suggesting, that Applied Theatre forms might be as ancient as theatre itself. The idea that all of African theatre can be generalised and reduced to form our understanding of what we have developed to be Applied Theatre is thought-provoking. I spoke with an African artist from Ethiopia to gain his understanding of theatre and drama in his country, his response was:
“Drama is life, it is the blood in your veins and the heart that pumps every breath you breathe, it is the man and the woman and love and birth, it is a renewal of the rains, a building of the home, it is understanding the world where we live. If you ask me what is theatre? It is not in a building, with curtains that could feed a hundred children; it is on the dirt where you born, with the fire that drives you. We don't know
this idea Drama or Theatre like that - in our villages it is life. And even for the white woman like you too it is life - when I saw your performing, it is life. This idea for the theatre and drama in our schools comes with the Western influences. But we still have what is really Drama in our heart and we know everything else is some other thing that is not exactly life. Our ceremony, our cultural moments like yours, wedding, healing, birthing and passing – this is not theatre- even we not have word for this just we have the same English like you, theatre is clean and it is too
organised. When we celebrate life our rituals they are not theatre, they are every breath of our community” (Hussen 2013).
This idea of looking to what happened in Africa to make links to the development of drama, theatre and performance by Schechner in the 70’s brought the discourse about these performative states away from the hegemony of the Western product driven genres (Okagbue 2013). This notion that ‘drama is life’ resounds with Schechner’s work. Whereas the idea that Applied Theatre can be directly linked to the same is problematic. Applied Theatre uses theatrical concepts and techniques that are planned and clean and product driven. It is used in education to develop something; an understanding or healing, dealing with an issue and it has a product driven aim (Prentki and Preston 2013). It may involve students or it may have students question the content and respond.
Like Applied Theatre it is understood that TiE encourages performance that allows students to become involved (Lazarus 2012). Wooster outlines the development of Theatre in Education from the 1970’s to today and notes authentic teaching is central to TiE. He points out that a universal definition of TiE is difficult to identify, stating that ‘there are those who will insist upon the active participation of children whilst others will be satisfied if the theatrical event has an educational goal’ (Wooster 2007, 25).
Applied Theatre on the other hand refers to theatre that is applied to education as a means of understanding and growing (Conrad 2004). O’Connor’s Teaspoon of Light project, which involved working with the children of Christchurch, New Zealand after the 2011 earth quakes, required him to apply theatre work for children to learn and heal through. This theatre was applied to support children
who may have experienced trauma as a result of the earthquakes. He phrased questions based on professional performer’s work that was viewed by the students to engage them in a process of self- discovery, understanding and healing (Jackson and Vine 2013a). The authentic school production differs in that it requires students to perform the work, through a workshopping process and pose the questions for themselves to make meaning of their worlds through the creative process.
Contemplating the term ‘school production,’ within the mix of this body of discourse, reveals the possibility of another dimension to the literature.
The school production model involved in this thesis, deals with students making theatre in education to express their social and cultural experiences, through engaging in writing and performing their work. Likewise, Drama in education which is a subject within the Australian Curriculum Document, deals with the students’ learning of Drama as a subject in the classroom, development of their performance skills and learning to make meaning of the theatre (Burton 2004; Hornbrook 1991; Fleming 2003; Warren 2002; Lewis and Rainer 2005, 2012).
The school production does not fit neatly within any of these discourses, yet could be understood to borrow from each. Like Drama, the school production involves student performers, who develop their skills in the theatre (Hornbrook 2002; Baldwin 2009; Cross and Reynolds 2002; Kempe and Ashwell 2000; Warren 2002). Similar to TiE, the school production can have adults performing and is usually shown to students and their communities. Applied Theatre is something of an enigma when
comparing the traditional format of school production, i.e.: choose script, cast performers, rehearse and perform (Grote 1997). Applied Theatre does however give an understanding of the more inclusive (Prendergast and Saxton 2009) model of authentic learning used in the project involved in this study, where students write their own production based on their lived experiences. This example of
educational theatre is very similar to the subject area of Drama, without the framework in place that guides the teacher and the learner. The subject, drama, is a place where ‘the predictable occurs within a probable outcome’ (Taylor 1996, 2).