Citizen art and human rights: Collective theatre creation as a way of combatting exclusion

Abstract

In this article, through the lens of critical theory and collective theatre creation, we will look at how a group of homeless individuals in the city of Seville (Spain) has been able to assert their human rights using art. Through the words of the actors themselves, we will reveal the obstacles they face in accessing the city’s public sphere, and their deconstruction. By creating and producing plays, as well as interacting with the audience, the participants became not just actors, but citizens with rights. Collective theatre creation, as adapted by the authors within the context of their research in the field of social work, provides insights into how art has the power to become a strategy for helping those living on the fringes of mainstream society reclaim their place in it politically and culturally. This research has been made possible thanks to the commitment of the members of Teatro de la Inclusión, a theatre group and socio‐artistic project that ran for twelve years and allowed homeless individuals, tired of being passive subjects, dependent on external assistance and subject to endless bureaucracy, to become amateur actors. In doing so, they created for themselves dignified forums in which to express themselves within their city and put their communicative and artistic skills into practice.