Theatre for development
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2008-02-04T21:57:45Z
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added link to Participatory theatre
'''Theatre for Development''', or TfD, means live performance, or [[theater]] used as a development tool -- as in [[international development]]. TfD encompasses the following in-person activities, with people or "[[Puppet theater|puppets]]", before an audience:
* a spoken-word [[drama]] or [[comedy]]
* a music, singing and/or dance production
* a production with movement but no sound ([[Mime artist|mime]])
* participatory or [[Improvisational theater|improvisational techniques]] using any or all of these
Theatre for Development can be a kind of [[participatory theatre]], that encourages improvisation and audience members to take roles in the performance, or can be fully scripted and staged, with the audience observing. Many TfD productions are a mix of the two. "Theatre of the Oppressed," a technique created by [[Augusto Boal]] is a form of participatory theatre for development.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of organizations and initiatives have used theatre as a development tool: for education or propaganda, as therapy, as a participatory tool, or as an exploratory tool in development. An account of an early use of TfD is the thesis ''Theater as a Means of Moral Education and Socialization in the Development of [[Nauvoo]], Illinois, 1839-1845'', which recounts how theater was used to promote ideological and civil development in a religious community in the US (Hurd 2004).
== References ==
* [http://www.kit.nl/specials/html/td_theatre_and_development.asp "Theatre & Development"], a list of various TfD initiatives, compiled by KIT (Royal Tropical Institute), Amsterdam
* ''Enacting Participatory Development: Theatre-based Techniques'', by McCarthy, J., [[Cambridge University Press]]. 2004. The bibliography cites 22 books devoted specifically to art and theater as tools for development, and an additional 16 books on specific techniques.
* ''Theatre and Empowerment: Community Drama on the World Stage'', by Boon, R. and Plastow, J. [[University of Leeds]]. 2004. Case studies from around the world of TfD.
* ''Theater as a Means of Moral Education and Socialization in the Development of [[Nauvoo]], Illinois, 1839-1845'', thesis by Hurd, L., [[California State University]], Dominguez Hills. 2004
* Online Discussion Group - [http://www.yahoogroups.com/Art4Development Art4Development]
* ActNow Theatre for Social Change - [http://www.actnowtheatre.org.au]
[[Category:Theatre]]