Witnessing change: understanding change in participatory theatre practice with vulnerable youth in a Kids Company-supported primary school

ABSTRACT

This article details key findings from a longitudinal study conducted in collaboration with Kids Company, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). The focus of this article is the role of the ‘teacher as witness’ to the impact of a participatory theatre project with vulnerable young people. This research argues that the opportunities afforded by challenging pre-emptive constructs of vulnerable youth held by a teacher, can enable changes that take place within a workshop, which can often remain temporary and confined to the space and time of a project, to transition back into the wider school environment. Drawing upon the concept of witnessing discussed by Felman, and Laub [1992. Testimony: Crisis of Witnessing in Literature, Psychoanalysis, and History. Abingdon: Routledge], Rymaszewska [2006. Reaching the Vulnerable Child: Therapy with Traumatized Children. London: Jessica Kingsley], Gerhardt [2004. Why Love Matters: How Affection Shapes a Baby's Brain. East Sussex: Routledge] and Coady [2002. Testimony: A Philosophical Study. Oxford: Oxford University Press], this article proposes that witnessing change can offer a means of sustaining impact. Insights into this proposition are offered in an example case-study analysis of a project I conducted within a Kids Company-supported primary school setting in Lambeth, south-east London.

KEYWORDS:

• Kids Company
• participatory theatre
• vulnerable youth
• witnessing
• change

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Nicola Abraham is a Lecturer in Applied Theatre Practices at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. She has conducted participatory theatre projects with vulnerable youth in both UK and international contexts.

Notes

1. ‘Do you get me?’ and ‘You got me wrong’ were phrases often used by participants. They are the colloquial equivalent of ‘do you understand me’ and ‘you have misunderstood me’.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) [grant number AH/I504982/1].