Theatre as method: Performance creation through action research

Abstract

In order to truly examine critical cultural and social issues pertaining to young people, researchers must find ways to overcome the ways in which young people naturally filter their responses when speaking with adults, as these filters may limit what researchers are able to discover through interviews and focus groups. Working through theatre offers the opportunity for researcher and participant to co-construct knowledge. Drama workshops and the creation of a theatrical performance creates a community in which ideas and questions can be deeply examined and self-filtering and censorship mitigated; participant voice is centered and privileged. For seven weeks, I worked with thirteen high school girls to explore issues of identity through a devised theatre performance. My intent was to examine the ways arts-based research might provide more insight than traditional qualitative methods. This article discusses how working through theatre provided a space in which the girls I worked with felt more comfortable expressing their uncensored thoughts and opinions and offers a deeper insight into the ways working through the arts provides a model for participatory research that yields deep and nuanced understandings.