An Education: University-based Applied Drama as citizenship

Based on action research and reflective practice, this paper explores ethics of interactive theatre work, which the artist/facilitator's activity shifts from creative to facilitative functions through sophisticated improvisatory pathways. The paper sets out to establish community-based performance as ecological in which artist and participant are both participants. It undertakes an examination of notions of risk and safety and discusses community arts practices as a location for risk taking and task-making. It develops this context through a consideration of applied arts work as ritualistic with particular attention to how the artist/facilitator occupies a position that demands a high degree of vulnerability and spontaneity. It gives consideration to the nature of the work for the artist, the degree to which they are also “participating” in the process in terms in Turner's ritual theory, and the way in which their work might be both inclusive and alienating of both themselves and others.