This article examines the complexity of embedding the element of sustainability to foster successful TfD practice. I recount my own experience as a TfD practitioner in western Uganda, where, in spite of my effort to execute a sustainable TfD project, I was let down by insufficiency of funds resulting from the high handedness of the funders of my…

The Laedza Batanani Project has been regarded as the pioneering experiment that paved the way for other prominent African Theatre for Development (TFD) projects such as Kamiriithu in Kenya, Murewa in Zimbabwe, Kumba in Cameroon and Marotholi Travelling Theatre in Lesotho. Laedza Batanani (1974-6) aimed at awakening the creative potential of…

In recent years, museums have recognized the urgent need to address several challenging issues. These topics include gender equality, racism, and environmental issues, just to name a few. As museums embrace the role of community-building change-makers, how can we include our audiences in the mission of making positive change? How can our…

Asset-based community development (ABCD) is a promising practice for communities to engage in self-determination through the efforts residents invest in identifying community assets, framing and documenting the issues communities face, and taking action to advance quality of life. The ABCD literature does not report on the application of ABCD…

Located two miles from Dublin Airport, Ballymun was built (1966-9) to accommodate people displaced from the inner-city slums dramatised in Sean O'Casey's Dublin Trilogy. "The Stage and the City" draws on the author's research project at Trinity College Dublin, on Theatre and Urban Regeneration. Specifically, it situates Dermot Bolger's…

About 60% of Nigerians live in rural areas with poor access roads and health facilities, near-absent communication media, unemployment, alienation and disempowerment by the political leadership. This scenario has excluded the rural Nigerian from meaningful participation in development action. A bottom-up participatory approach to…

This paper analyses a community theatre project initiated in 1991 in Ratones, a community in Southern Brazil. It began as an extension project of the State University of Santa Catarina and became an independent project coordinated by former participants, still in collaboration with the university. Aiming to evaluate the benefits of this theatre…

Describes the challenges involved in taking distance out of the context of institutions and applying it to community development in Canada and Southeast Asia. Discusses resources facilitators used: technologies, theater and communication techniques, and the Canadian, Thai, and Filipino participants themselves. (SK)

This paper is based on research that sought to investigate the procedures of theatre for community development in Kenya. This article was stimulated by this larger research and is particularly an interrogation of the ethics of practice in the enterprise of theatre for community development. It critically interrogates the roles of the different…

Explains the Higher Education Academic link, which promotes Theatre for Development in both the university and non-governmental organization sectors in Bangladesh. Highlights some of the most important and innovative issues which emerged from the link. Describes activities in the university sector which engaged students in practical workshops…

The nature of villagers' involvement during community theater programs initiated and implemented by some Malawi nongovernmental organizations was analyzed. Findings indicate that, contrary to the purposes of community theater, the productions were planned and remotely controlled from outside the community. (Contains 22 references.) (JOW)

Describes development of a new youth theater in an academic setting meeting the needs of urban youth, while satisfying the very different academic demands of an innovative educational theater teaching program. Describes genesis and development; pedagogical principles underpinning both programs; how this model fosters the growth of a community of…

Communication activities in participatory development programs include (1) theater for development in Africa; (2) workshops on cultural identity and politics in Colombia; and (3) Project DELSILIFE, improving the quality of life in Manila. (SK)

This article examines the "My True Voice Project," a mentorship-based program that uses principles of theater education to teach students effective oral communication skills. This project offers a unique model for how arts education can teach children vital thinking skills, strengthen traditional skills, and build community. As such, the…

Describes community development efforts of the Educacion Communitaria Radial (Community Education through Radio) in Bolivia during 1979-80 that encouraged cooperation within and between communities through coproduction of learning activities. The use of theater that evolved into a day-long educational fair is described, and school involvement is…