Identity, Performance and Social Action: Community Theatre Among Refugees

Yuval-Davis, Nira (2016). Identity, Performance and Social Action: Community Theatre Among Refugees. [Data Collection]. Colchester, Essex: Economic and Social Research Council. 10.5255/UKDA-SN-850036

Data description (abstract)

This research project is part of the ESRC research programme on Identities and Social Action. It aims to explore how the use of specific experimental community theatre techniques (Playback and Forum Theatre) can deepen our understanding of the ways refugees settle in London and integrate in British social, economic and political life. Such information is important as an intervention in current British debates on immigration legislation, social cohesion, cultural identity, integration and social exclusion. In addition, the research will also add to our theoretical understanding of how identities are formed and communicated to others, the inter-relationships between individual and collective identities and the extent to which identities are linked to particular forms of social action. In order to do this, the researchers are going to use their contacts with various refugee community organizations in London and organize, in co-operation with them, a series of theatrical events. These will focus on the refugees lives since coming to London and their encounters with local voluntary, statutory and governmental agencies. In Playback Theatre, members of the audience tell stories based on their own experiences and reflections that are then 'reflected back' ('played back') to them by actors on stage. Forum Theatre allows both actors and audience members to change the course of the dramatic action, to 'step in' and to suggest and explore alternative behaviour. The theatrical events will be followed by evaluative sessions and semi-structured interviews with a sample of the audience. These sessions will explore further the choices taken and the suggestions made by participants during the theatre sessions, their understandings of how they have experienced them and more generally, their views on their lives in London. In addition to the informative and theoretical insights gained from the research, our work aims to develop the experiences made with our innovative technology as a new tool for social research and to disseminate them widely amongst the scholarly community. We suggest that experimental theatre techniques can be especially useful for work with disadvantaged and vulnerable groups in society for two reasons: they generate 'deep' insights into the experiences and views of members of these groups that traditional methods such as interviews tend not to achieve, and they help the participants to develop alternative strategies for social action. In this way, the methodology suggested by us is equally beneficial to the research community and the empowerment of the 'researched'.

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