Applied theatre training: theatre for Democracy and knowledge exchange

This article draws from a research project that sought to map knowledge exchange movements in student led projects delivered as part of a final year module of the Applied Theatre and Community Drama BA Hons course, Theatre for Democracy and Advocacy, at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA). As a practice, Theatre for Democracy attempts to create cultural spaces and activities that engender and promote dialogue between decision makers and the people they represent, with a view to influencing change, and since 2011 over 50 of these student led projects have been delivered at LIPA. This research sought to understand the ways in which knowledge is produced and shared through this process of practitioner training. The research mobilised a facet methodology, a mixed methods approach that allows different lenses or frames to speak to a central question, specifically engaging with the projects through observation, conversation, and documentation. This article narrates a unique model of applied theatre training that creatively brings together students, communities, and the decision makers in the public sector that act on behalf of those communities, naming some of the ways in which knowledge(s) can be created and shared through such student led projects.