APPLIED THEATER ARTS

Applied Theatre Arts (ATA) describes the theory and practice of a
variety of applications of theatre in non-traditional settings. The field of
ATA is expansive but may be generally thought to include basic emphases in
Education, Therapy and Social Change.

The generally accepted justification for distinguishing between
training in the application of theatre and the art of theatre is mostly to do with
location and function. Classic models of theatre art have positioned
it locationally in a variety of more familiar settings such as traditional
theatre buildings to which the general public are invited to witness a
story being told. The function of classic theatre art within these
locations is often as diverse as the intent of the playwright, the
interpretation of the actors and director and the vision of the
designers; however, it is generally agreed that the overriding function of classic
theatre art has been the creation, interpretion and performance of
text-based material that invites a cathartic experience and, frequently
but not necessarily, some personal and/or social change.

Applied Theatre Art in its various permutations puts community and
change as the centers from which the work of the applied theatre artist grows
and emerges. Theatre in Education may take a specific educational dilemma
and apply theatre to this event with the purpose of facilitating the
education of the students and teachers involved. Theatre and Therapy applies
theatre skills to the therapeutic environment, facilitating the process of
better mental and emotional health by employing the skills of story telling,
theatre games and character development in the service of the clients'
needs. Theatre in the Community expands these notions to respond to
social dilemmas confronting particular communities and applies theatre to
these communities in the service of liberation or social change of some sort
forthe betterment of the community involved.

In a nutshell, Applied Theatre Arts is in the service of the issue at
hand from which a text may be eventually generated or revised if a text is
used at all. Theatre Arts generally begins with the text as a response to
events in the community, but the artists' service to the text has
primacy over the issue. There is, obviously, a good deal of overlap between
these perspectives, though eventually it must be acknowledged that the
training involved is unique to each.