Unfolded stories and issues in drama processes for change: Community-based theatre and sociodrama – Two methods and two contexts

Two drama-based methods operating in different cultural contexts – sociodrama (SD) and community-based theatre (C-BT) – pursue the same goal: to explore issues through stories in order to foster social change. While the two approaches share significant methodological common ground, their practices are shaped not only by the implicit structural conditions of their respective social contexts (Hungary and Canada), but also by differing assumptions about roles stories play within the locus of change. C-BT tends to interrogate the structure and relationships within stories in search of new possibilities, whereas SD directs its inquiry towards the perspectives and positionalities of stakeholders. The article argues that SD may benefit from a more explicit engagement with the transformative capacities of story, while C-BT may be enriched by a stronger emphasis on issue clarification and analysis. Together, these insights suggest productive pathways for methodological cross-fertilization between the two drama-based practices.