Applied Theatre Research· 2026Q2
Unfolded stories and issues in drama processes for change: Community-based theatre and sociodrama – Two methods and two contexts
- 0citations
- Q2SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
Sociodrama (SD) and community-based theatre (C-BT) both use stories for social change, but SD focuses on stakeholder perspectives while C-BT interrogates story structures. This paper argues SD can gain from focusing on story's transformative power, and C-BT from stronger issue analysis, suggesting cross-fertilization.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Sociodrama (SD) and community-based theatre (C-BT) are drama methods aimed at social change through storytelling.
- SD focuses on stakeholder perspectives and positionalities.
- C-BT interrogates the structure and relationships within stories to find new possibilities.
- The article suggests SD could benefit from a greater focus on the transformative power of stories.
- C-BT could be enriched by a stronger emphasis on issue clarification and analysis.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Two drama-based methods operating in different cultural contexts – sociodrama (SD) and community-based theatre (C-BT) – pursue the same goal: to explore issues through stories in order to foster social change. While the two approaches share significant methodological common ground, their practices are shaped not only by the implicit structural conditions of their respective social contexts (Hungary and Canada), but also by differing assumptions about roles stories play within the locus of change. C-BT tends to interrogate the structure and relationships within stories in search of new possibilities, whereas SD directs its inquiry towards the perspectives and positionalities of stakeholders. The article argues that SD may benefit from a more explicit engagement with the transformative capacities of story, while C-BT may be enriched by a stronger emphasis on issue clarification and analysis. Together, these insights suggest productive pathways for methodological cross-fertilization between the two drama-based practices.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Applied Theatre Research, 2026 · DOI ↗
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Visual Arts and Performing ArtsArts and Humanities