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RBC has a long-standing relationship to this area of practice, culminating in the establishing of its Theatre for Young Audiences Centre, April 2011. The research outlined has had an impact on professional practice, international co-operation, training and critical approaches in this under-investigated area of practice. The Lead Researcher/Head of Centre, Jeremy Harrison (JH), built on the work of Julian Bryant, Director of Community Outreach, whose activities in this area began in the 1990s. It is augmented and strengthened by contributions from a range of Associate Researchers all of whom are leading practitioners within the TYA sectors of UK and Europe. TYA Centre website: bit.ly/IgVmcw
Research undertaken at the University of East London has confronted the historical lack of documentation, representation and participation in the British theatre by ethnic minority communities, with particular reference to the British Asian community. This work has been used to create and shape the production of important new theatre pieces, as well as to engage and develop new young and diverse audiences for them. Workshops, post-show discussions and symposia relating to the production of these pieces have increased the engagement of these new audiences both with theatre generally, and with the often sensitive, contested, and politically-charged subject-matter of the specific pieces under review. The research has also been used as the basis for the development and delivery of professional development training for emerging theatre artists from minority community backgrounds.
Exeter Drama's research in Applied Theatre has had impact in the improvement of community understandings of mental health, providing professional development for medics and teachers, and providing and informing training in applied and community theatre. This case study outlines the impact of last twenty years of research and performance practice in applied theatre, developed by Honorary Research Fellow (2005-) and former senior lecturer (1990-2005) John Somers, and continued in the work of Fiona MacBeth, Kerrie Schaefer, Sarah Goldingay, Anna Harpin, and Jane Milling. Somers developed new approaches to community theatre and has given presentations on this work internationally. Impact has also been achieved through Somers' founding of the applied theatre company Exstream (Exeter, 2001) and under his direction Exstream achieved a reputation for excellence through the development of interactive theatre, raising awareness of issues related to wellbeing, mental health, and creativity within the community.
Allan Owens has worked worldwide to bring drama into the professions. He has developed an artistic form that has impacted in a wide range of contexts including the social sector, in education, health, and public service, and also in private business. The trajectory of his research and practice has been concerned with pioneering the use of pre-text based process drama as a form of artistic initiative beyond mainstream education. The underlying research consists of authored articles and pre-texts which were part of the 2008 RAE submission classed as `internationally recognised with world leading elements'.
New techniques developed from research into verbatim theatre have (1) helped families affected by child sexual abuse by a) giving them new ways of `working through' the trauma of their experiences and b) improving communication and dialogue with the relevant agencies of care; (2) developed in social work professionals, through new training methods, a greater understanding of a) sexual abuse and its impact on families and b) how to train social workers in this field; (3) been extended and adapted for student nurses, to facilitate new approaches to training, empathic engagement and reflective approaches to practice.
The impacts of the research include: a) promotion of self-esteem in transgendered youth; b) changing attitudes among school and college students and training teachers; c) modelling best practice in support organisations; d) shaping opinion in influential forums up to Parliamentary level. These impacts are planned, centrally coordinated and delivered by an infrastructure developed out of the research for this purpose: Gendered Intelligence (GI). Co-founded by researcher Catherine McNamara, GI is the leading organisation in its field, with impacts felt nation-wide, from Plymouth to East Anglia. The value of GI's impact has been recognised at governmental level by the Minister for Schools.
Laura Bradley's research on GDR theatre censorship (2006-) enabled the University of Edinburgh to stage The Stasi are Among Us at the Glasgow Film Festival (2011). This two-day event increased public understanding of East German culture, showing how artists participated in censorship and how it affected their working lives: 95% of the audience agreed that they had learned more about GDR culture and/or censorship. The event's success led the Glasgow Film Festival's Artistic Director to choose Germany as the country focus for the 2012 Festival. Bradley has collaborated with Theatre Found on events campaigning against present-day censorship in Belarus and Iran, using the recent East German experience to explore control mechanisms and show how they were abolished.
This case study describes the impact of making academic knowledge of Spanish-language theatre widely available so that it creates opportunities for translation, performance and learning. Since 2008, the AHRC-funded project `Out of the Wings' has provided the English-language theatre professional with access to thoroughly researched and contextualized information about Spanish-language theatre that is fit for professional purpose through a database that provides comprehensive information for and about translators, writers, key practitioners and scholars. The work has created the environment for engagement with previously unknown theatre, resulting in new translations, the development of methodologies for the rehearsal of the translated text and the creation of new audiences.
The research and the practice methodology that underpin the emergence of the responsive play scripts, alongside the performances of the plays, have had the following impacts:
b) Communities, the General Public, Audiences — restoring, and increasing opportunities for audiences disenfranchised from access to locally generated performance by Chester's Gateway Theatre's closure (2007), to see and/or participate in performance events of high professional standard and thereby engage with local narratives and histories
c) Local theatre professionals — restoring and increasing employment opportunities, and broadening skill sets appropriate to non-traditional performance contexts
Reach: theatre audiences: 7,480; audiences at outdoor events: 27,000.
Significance: evidenced by repeat commissions for playscripts and touring productions.
The British Asian Theatre Project (2004-2009), involved researchers from the Centre for Performance Histories and Cultures. The project charted and disseminated the cultural history and heritage of British Asian theatrical practitioners, enriching appreciation and preserving the heritage of British Asian theatre, partly by enabling theatre professionals to possess their own history more securely. Research findings were presented as part of industry debates, informing theatrical development. This led to a further research project, `The Southall Story' (2011-2013), which is documenting the cultural history of the art forms and political movements among the British Asian communities in Southall. There is further funding via the AHRC Follow On grant scheme for a touring exhibition and performances, emerging from `The Southall Story,' in the source culture of India, and on to Thailand. These projects are preserving and disseminating this public history through a public digital archive, and series of community and arts events in the UK and internationally. All the research is supported by AHRC funding, awarded after a rigorous peer-review process.