Drama in Drammen: Promoting Active Citizenship through Applied Theatre

Abstract

This paper discusses how applied theatre can promote new models of active citizenship in local urban politics. Focusing on ‘drama labs’ conducted in Drammen, Norway, the paper demonstrates how applied theatre promotes active citizenship by 1) remodelling representational frames and subject positions; 2) enabling new forms of embodied knowledge and understanding; and 3) engaging playfully with difference and contradiction. The paper argues that by promoting new models of active citizenship, applied theatre might reinvigorate public participation in urban politics.