Dissertation Title
Participant-Driven Devised Community Theatre as Expression for Teenagers
Chair: Markus Wessendorf
(Proposal Defended: February 2020)
Dissertation Abstract: Theatre is a unique arena to explore the role of ethics. From ancient Greece, to the hana keaka of pre-colonial Hawaiʻi, to the contemporary stages of Kumu Kahua, Diamond Head and Kennedy Theatre; theatre allows us to explore the most pressing issues of our time as a community; together, in the same room, breathing the same air. Working with a local Oʻahu high school to create digital theatre during the COVID-19 pandemic, my dissertation research examines the role of agency in community devised theatre, and how the participant-driven dramaturgical methodology I have developed, aimed at giving participants as much creativity as possible, can promote lifelong learning among young people while providing them useful tools for contemplating ethics in the twenty-first century.