All the World’s a Stage: The Use of Participatory Social Justice Theater in Communication Research

Through the presentation of two case studies, this article demonstrates the significant role that partnering communication theory and participatory arts-based research can play in advancing social justice goals. This article discusses the nature of arts-based research, provides a theoretical framework within communication to guide arts-based research efforts, compares two theatrical approaches to participatory arts-based research in the field of communication, provides recommendations for creating and evaluating this work, and discusses how using arts-based research may be useful for bridging the art-science divide.