A dramaturgy of uncertainty: Transdisciplinary manoeuvres across forestry and theatre

Abstract The uncertainties of climate change mean that forestry adaptation strategies are often complex and contested. Research has suggested that there is an interest in the forestry sector for facilitated dialogue about uncertainty (de Pellegrin Llorente et al., 2023). This article shares the process and findings of a verbatim theatre research project, Three Words for Forest , that drew on 30 interviews with forestry professionals from across the UK and Europe to explore how uncertainty is currently being experienced and understood across the sector. Reviewing uncertainty's place in the interdisciplinary domain, we reflect on the difficulties for non‐arts researchers of recognising, understanding and valuing the research dimensions of creative arts research, and locate the Three Words for Forest research within the broader socio‐ecological and theatre fields. Tracking the process of creating the play, we share how questions evolved and changed throughout the research process, and suggest that theatre practice research as a methodology is uniquely placed to shift research from an interdisciplinary to a transdisciplinary domain. Reflecting on this methodology and the ‘dramaturgy of uncertainty’ that emerged through it, we share three generative approaches to working with uncertainty that may have traction in other fields: resist easy solutions; work with plurality; experiment and stay open to change. Responding to Montana et al.'s suggestion that ‘improving reflexivity’ is crucial to the endeavour of ‘cultivating research that serves the diverse communities that it seeks to inform’ (Montana et al., 2020, p. 217), we discuss how audience encounters with the play have generated new insights and activities that point towards new ways of working productively with uncertainty across disciplinary and sectoral differences. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.