Theatre as pedagogy and practice: Insights from the Garden City Theatre Festival

This qualitative study examines the pedagogical, cultural, and professional significance of the 2023 Garden City Theatre Festival held at Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, Nigeria, from 4–5 May 2023. Bringing together students, lecturers, and theatre practitioners from Rivers State University, the University of Port Harcourt, and the Federal College of Education (Technical), Omoku, the festival functioned as a dynamic site of performance, dialogue, mentorship, and inter-institutional collaboration. Drawing on performance analysis, festival documentation, and participant reflections, the study examines how youth-led theatre festivals function as “living classrooms” where artistic practice intersects with experiential learning, cultural affirmation, and professional development. Through choral performances, dance dramas, devised theatre, panel discussions, and community-oriented performances, the festival demonstrated theatre’s capacity to foster critical reflection, social engagement, identity formation, and creative entrepreneurship among young people. Situating the festival within broader discourses on Youth Theatre, Theatre-in-Education, and applied performance, the paper argues that university-based theatre festivals function as pedagogical ecosystems that bridge academic training and industry practice while nurturing civic consciousness, collaborative learning, and cultural continuity. The study positions such festivals as important spaces for rethinking theatre education and youth empowerment within Nigeria’s evolving creative and cultural industries.