Browsing by Subject "theatre"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
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    Power Plays: The Use of Forum Theatre in Senegal and Kenya to Perform Participation and Rehearse Change
    (2013-06-07) Sorrenson, Claire Allegra
    This thesis examines the possibilities and limitations of theatre as a development intervention by exploring its contested execution on the ground. Ethnographic investigations compare NGO-directed “Theatre for Development” initiatives in Senegal to community-directed theatre projects in Kenya. In Senegal, a theatre troupe’s implementation of top-down theatre fails to align with the ideals of the participatory “forum theatre” approach on which the troupe models itself. In Kenya, the process of creating forum theatre uncovers problematic moral attitudes and replicates pre-existing power dynamics. Ultimately, the thesis finds that successful theatre work is premised on strong relationships between facilitators and participants and the ability to facilitate stories that contest and challenge hegemonic versions of reality. Theory and practice align in the final chapter, which provides actionable insights for hopeful and questioning practitioners and practitioners-to-be.
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    THEATRE OF HEALTH: An Ethnographic Exploration of Female Physician Well-being and Applied Theatre in Accra, Ghana
    (2019-05-30) Darko, Margaret
    This thesis brings together ethnographic research and theatre techniques to understand and confront the challenges - from gender barriers to professional burnout – faced by female physicians in Accra, Ghana. For three months, I shadowed three female doctors, conducted participant observation, interviews and focus groups and administered surveys in order to investigate local understands of well-being and its threats. I also worked with a local theatre group to design and implement workshops that allowed participants from the medical field to experiment with social theatre and embodied practices geared towards exposing and alleviating stress factors. Along with offering critical insights about gender politics and labor within the Ghanaian health workforce, my thesis offers a new global health theatre model , which is collaborative and interventional. Situated within the burgeoning health humanities field, this model as elaborated during my thesis project could serve as a well-being toolkit – not just for female physicians, but for members of different professional groups and social classes throughout Ghana and beyond.