Join us online to find out more about the projects and research we are leading, the kinds of applied and socially engaged work that takes place at Warwick, and the communities we are connected to. We will explore what it means to be involved in social action through theatre and performance today, and what challenges and possibilities we are presented with.

We will begin the event by hearing from a panel of practitioners and academics at Warwick. They will share examples of their recent practice and research. We will then open up for a discussion relating to applied and socially-engaged performance.You will also be able to ask further questions you may have concerning the MA Applied Theatre: Arts, Action, Change.

The panel will include:

Max Dean, a PhD researcher at Warwick and Director at C&T, one of the Associate Companies for the MA. C&T combines applied theatre methodologies with digital technologies to explore and grow creativity with children and adults.

Saul Hewish, one of the country's leading practitioners in the use of drama and theatre with offenders. In 1999 he co-founded RideOut (Creative Arts for Rehabilitation), which develops innovative and experimental arts-based projects within the criminal justice system.

Professor Nadine Holdsworth, whose research spans questions of representation, participation, citizenship, political change and cultural value. She explores how theatre, performance and arts-based methodologies can be used to illuminate pressing social issues and marginalised groups.

Dr Yvette Hutchison, a South African academic whose work focuses on Anglophone African theatre, dance and intercultural performance. She has taught on and worked in various theatre for development and community theatre projects in Africa and the UK.

The session will be chaired by Dr Bobby Smith, a researcher and practitioner whose current work focuses on applied theatre and global development.

Confirm your attendance here https://your.warwick.ac.uk/form/spotlightontheatre

We are happy announce that Dr Pedzisai Maedza will be joining us on 1 January on a 2-year Newton International Fellowship to work on the project 'Chains of Memory in the postcolony: Performing and Remembering the Namibian Genocide'. He is currently a Senior Lecturer in Theatre and Performance at the University of Zimbabwe. He received his PhD from University of Cape-Town, SA, in 2018; with a DAAD scholarship that facilitated his research at Mainz University. Pedzisai is a writer, director, actor as well as someone who has published widely. In 2017 his monograph Performing Asylum: Theatre of Testimony in South Africa was published by the African Studies Centre at University of Leiden, Netherlands. http://www.ascleiden.nl/news/performing-asylum-theatre-testimony-south-africa. We look forward to working with Dr Maedza in the time he is with us at Warwick.

Published online on 22 Jun 2020:

Loots, L, Yvette Hutchison & Ongezwa Mbele. Voicing the Imaginative in Africa: three creatives speak. Agenda, special issue on “Cultural Dialogues for Feminist Creatives: Southern Voices”, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1080/10130950.2020.1773289

In this article, the authors interview three African women creatives - Tosin Jobi-Tume (Nigeria) about playwriting/theatre, Germaine Acogny (Senegal) about dance and choreography, and Buhlebezwe Siwani (South Africa) about fine art/performance art and photography - asking them how they engage with African feminisms as African women creatives and how this impacts their work.

Yvette Hutchison has a new chapter, 'African Indigeneity: The Southern African challenge' appearing in Key Concepts in Indigenous Studies, edited by Ganesh Devy (ed.), and published by Routledge. This series was part of Routledge Conversations, celebrating World's Indigenous Peoples' Day on 8 August 2020. A research event was also captured online, and can be viewed here. An outline of the event can be found below:

The International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples is observed on 9 August each year to raise awareness and protect the rights of the world's indigenous population. Taylor & Francis celebrates World's Indigenous Peoples Day with launch of our new series Key Concepts in Indigenous Studies. Watch the conversations & dialogues on Key Concepts in Indigenous Studies by Dr. Shashank Shekhar Sinha Publishing Director; G. N. Devy Series editor and our expert panel includes Dr. Anne Brewster - Associate Professor, School of the Arts and Media, University of New South Wales ; Dr. Brendon Nicholls - Acting Director, Centre for African Studies University of Leeds ; Dr. Ximena Cordova Oviedo - Assistant Professor, Department of Interdisciplinary Studies at Zayed University, UAE.