Theatre and Human Rights: The Politics of Dramatic Form

Abstract

This project develops theoretical intersections between theatre and human rights and provides methodologies to investigate human rights questions from within the perspective of theatre as a complex set of disciplines. While human rights research and programming often employ the arts as representations of political, social, and economic abuses, this study focuses on the intricacies of dramatic form and structure as uniquely positioned to interrogate important questions in human rights theory and practice. This project positions theatre as a method of examination, or as Alexander Baumgarten discussed, art as a way of knowing, rather than emphasizing more limited however important purposes the arts serve to raise conscious-ness that accompany other, often considered more primary modes of analysis. A main feature of this approach includes emphasis on dialectical structures in drama and human rights, and integration of applied theatre and critical ethnography with more traditional theatre research. This integration will demonstrate how theatre and human rights operates beyond the arts as representation model, offering a primary means of analysis, activism, and political discourse.