Celebratory theatre: a response to neoliberalism in the arts

ABSTRACT

As neoliberalism infiltrates the foundations of education and arts-based practices, the authors of this article propose an applied theatre approach, based on the celebration of people who feel marginalised, to defy the notions of individualistic, self-centred, and out-put oriented goals that impact how students engage with and view the arts in their educational programme.

KEYWORDS:

• Celebratory theatre
• neoliberalism in education
• applied theatre

Notes on contributors

Yasmine Kandil is Assistant Professor of applied theatre at Brock University in Canada. Her research focuses on ethical practices with marginalised communities. She has worked on a number of immigrant and refugee projects, both in Victoria BC, and Saint Catharines, Ontario. Her Egypt-based research examines the applied theatre movement post-revolution.

Hannah te Bokkel, a recent graduate from Brock's Department of Dramatic Arts, is interested in Casting and Management and hopes to explore that post-graduation, along with pursuing a Master's Degree. She will be using the teaching and facilitation skills she learned as an undergraduate to teach ESL in South Korea.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Brock University's Humanities Research Institute and its Social Justice Research Institute.