The Empire Strikes Back: the relevance of Theatre for Development in Africa and South‐east Asia to community drama in the UK

Abstract Theatre for Development is now widely practised in many parts of the world even though its practitioners may not always agree about what constitutes theatre or development. Much of the work is conducted on a project‐by‐project basis due to the lack of agreed theoretical bases or to the absence of effective networking. Furthermore the community drama movement in the UK, increasingly perceived as being under threat from the decline in resources. has generally not taken any account of Theatre for Development in its evolution. This paper investigates the possible gains, in terms of contemporary social relevance, for community theatre and drama from exposing itself to the foreign influence of Theatre for Development. One possible means of engendering a cross‐fertilisation is offered in the form of a Masters course in Community Drama for Development which has recently been launched as a joint venture between King Alfred's College, Winchester and the Arts Faculty of the University of Southampton. The wa...