Theatre, Education and the Making of Meanings: Art or Instrument?

This title provides an unique examination of how far theatre and ‘performance’ fulfil a vital educational role in contemporary society, and how that role changed through the 20th Century. It is the first book to set the field of ‘applied theatre’ in an historical context. It examines the tensions between theatre as art form and theatre as an instrument of social or educational change. It looks at how applied theatre can be judged as either ‘art’ (aesthetic, pleasurable for its own sake) or instrument (something designed to illustrate or bring about change).