Applied Theatre: A Pedagogy of Utopia

267 Pages·2021·13.453 MB·English

by  Selina Busby

Applied Theatre
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Applied Theatre

A Pedagogy of Utopia
Selina Busby
METHUEN DRAMA
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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First published in Great Britain 2021
Copyright © Selina Busby, 2021
Selina Busby has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act, 1988, to be identified as the Author of this work.
For legal purposes the Permissions on p. xvii constitute an extension
of this copyright page.
Cover design by Louise Dugdale
Cover photograph © Rajshekhar Kundu
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For Graeme, who travelled every step of this journey with me, in every
possible sense.
vi
Contents

Foreword Helen Nicholson x
Acknowledgements xiv
Permissions xvii
Introduction 1
A pedagogy of utopia 1
Defining social justice 2
The politics of dignity 9
Axiology of practice 16
What comes next? 18
1 Costa Rica: Utilizing a global vision to safeguard the
local village 23
The context: The community at Yorkín 25
Axiological impasses 29
The globalization of a village 35
2 Partnerships, integrated community investment and
nebulous utopia 45
Dharavi: A ‘sub-city’ 54
Pluralism or neo-colonialism? 59
Can the subaltern make theatre? 61
Embedded integrated investment 64
Cultural invasion or concrete utopianism? 68
Finding a nebulous utopia 70
3 Aspirational thinking: Social justice and critical pedagogy 73
Neoliberalism and social exclusion 75
The bridge to cultural capital 80
Cruel optimism and aspirational thinking 83
viii Contents
Bridges crossed with critical pedagogy 92
Resistance or compliance in prison theatre? 93
The (broken) criminal justice system 96
The Children’s Theatre Project 99
Radical containment – or just plain violence? 102
Is making children’s theatre in prisons a pedagogy of utopia? 106
An ‘unfinished’ work in progress 109
Resistance or compliance? 114
4 Articulation and amplification 116
The politics of articulation 117
Walk a mile in my shoes: Irondale Theater 123
Becoming fully human and Edward Bond 129
An accordion shop, a riot and change 135
5 Finding a thirdspace 141
The spatial turn and safety 142
Heterotopia and the Halfway House Project 149
Not safe space or brave space, but a thirdspace 152
Thirdspace as intercultural meeting point 155
Youth theatre as thirdspace: Company Three 158
Brainstorm 161
The Company Three methodology 165
6 Geographies of resistance 173
The disruption of presence: NT’s Connections 174
Disrupting cultural spaces 178
Seeking spatial justice and jumping scale 184
Privatopia: The neoliberal dream? 188
Resisting spatial injustice in an urban village 190
Contents ix
Conclusion 199
Concluding – but not final thoughts: The voices of Dharavi 199
Breaking barriers, breaking bread 201
A word, or several, from Dharavi 204
Notes 217
References 221
Index 239