‘Theatre has made me look people in the eye’: achievements and challenges of applied theatre in social work

ABSTRACT

Applied Theatre is an emerging field of knowledge concerned with the social, political, and educational uses of theatre and drama that is attracting increasing interest in social work research as it encourages creative practices committed to the participation of marginalised groups and the fight against injustice. This article presents the main results of a case study carried out over two years in the theatre group ‘Fuera de la Campana,' created in the context of an association of social intervention with homeless people. The achievements, challenges, and logics of this experience are analysed through a qualitative ethnographic methodology that includes participant observation and in-depth interviews. Through the participants' voices, the findings unfold the benefits of the experience of artistic participation, revealing that theatre provided them with a ‘refuge' from the hostile circumstances of their lives and a place of recognition to unleash their abilities. Dilemmas of inclusive artistic action embodied in this experience are also addressed, exploring how some applied theatrical practices can result in the re-victimisation of certain disadvantaged communities. Finally, it is concluded that theatre’s relevance in social work practice should be reinforced as it potentially provides powerful strategies to combat stigmatisation of marginalised groups.

RESUMEN

El teatro aplicado es un campo de conocimiento emergente centrado en los usos sociales, políticos y educativos del teatro que despertando un creciente interés en la investigación del trabajo social, pues permite fomentar prácticas creativas comprometidas con la participación de los grupos marginados y la lucha contra la injusticia. Este artículo presenta los principales resultados de un estudio de caso realizado durante dos años en el grupo de teatro ‘Fuera de la Campana', creado en el contexto de una asociación de intervención social con personas sin hogar. Los logros, retos y lógicas de esta experiencia se analizan a través de una metodología etnográfica cualitativa que incluye la observación participante y las entrevistas en profundidad. A través de las voces de los participantes, los hallazgos muestran los beneficios de la experiencia de participación artística, revelando cómo el teatro les proporcionó un ‘refugio’ frente a las circunstancias hostiles de sus vidas y un lugar de reconocimiento y despliegue de capacidades. También se abordan los dilemas que encarna esta experiencia, explorando cómo ciertas prácticas teatrales aplicadas pueden acabar por re-victimizar a ciertas comunidades desfavorecidas. Finalmente, se concluye que la relevancia del teatro en la práctica del trabajo social debería reforzarse pues proporciona estrategias potencialmente poderosas para combatir la estigmatización de los grupos marginados.

KEYWORDS:

• Applied theatre
• homeless people
• social theatre
• social work

PALABRAS CLAVE:

• Teatro aplicado
• personas sin hogar
• teatro social
• trabajo social

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport of Spanish Government under Grant FPU16/05706 and Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities under Grant RTI2018-097144-B-I00.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work has been supported through the predoctoral contract FPU16/ 05706 and the R&D project RTI2018-097144-B-I00, both financed by the ‘Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte’ of Spain.

Notes on contributors

Belén Massó-Guijarro

Belén Massó Guijarro is a PhD student and a Teacher Assistant at the Department of Didactics and School Organisation of the University of Granada (Spain). Graduate in Social Education and Dramatic Arts, with a master's degree in peace research. Her main research interests are applied theatre for the social inclusion of vulnerable groups. Since 2018 she coordinates the contemporary theatre group ‘Fuera de la Campana’ composed of housed and homeless people, where she focuses her doctoral thesis. She is also the main researcher of the project ‘ART-TRANSFORMA: Arts, research and social transformation’ funded by the grant programme for the promotion of research on inclusion of the University of Granada.

Purificación Pérez-García

Purificación Pérez-García is an Associate Professor at the Department of Didactics and School Organization of the Faculty of Educational Sciences (UGR). Her research interests are related to teacher education, initial training period, university teaching and professional ethics. She has participated in more than twenty competitive projects at the national and European level, currently coordinating the WP ‘Methodology Design, Materials and Resources’ belonging to a European project that is funded by Erasmus+: Higher Education-International Capacity Building.