Challenges and opportunities of using applied theatre in environmental decision-making: the views of practitioners

Applied theatre techniques are emerging in the environmental realm as promising methods for better representing local people’s values in decision-making. These are dramaturgic activities conducted outside ordinary theatre institutions to discuss conflicts based on power differences. We purposively interviewed practitioners who have been part of environmental research projects that have implemented applied theatre techniques in the Global South, including professors, research assistants, postdoctoral researchers, and postgraduate students. Their projects explored aspects such as (a) the extent to which these techniques can enable dialogues on values and power differences, (b) the practicality of implementing these techniques, and (c) open spaces for transformation. Practitioners described how local people negotiated their plural values through applied theatre, and how the techniques create opportunities for reflection on how local people experience power differences, thus fostering some agency for people to bring their own experiences and needs to the discussion. As such, we identified applied theatre as a technique for fostering social-ecological transformations, and thus encouraging small but meaningful changes. However, to be successful, it requires creating “safe-enough” spaces for discussions and implementing an ethics of care. Despite the opportunities presented by these techniques in these projects, further research is needed on the long-term impacts of applied theatre on promoting social-ecological changes.