The Role of Applied Theatre in Social Work: Creative Interventions with Homeless Individuals

Abstract

This article explores how creative theatre is used in the area of social work with homeless individuals in Seville (Spain). We look at how applied theatre can be used as a tool for encouraging the development of capacities amongst this group, which is largely excluded from mainstream society. To do this, we focus on our experiences in this area, with the aim of showing how social work and theatre can combine to form a powerful tool for fostering the development of agency and empowerment at an individual and group level. We also explain how theatrical performances are able to create spaces where homeless individuals and mainstream society are able to interact with one another beyond strictly institutional settings.

Citizen Art and Human Rights: Collective Theatre Creation as a Way of Combatting Exclusion

“…For Gramsci, cultural action is the "coming to terms with one's own personality; it is the attainment of a higher awareness with the aid of which one succeeds in understanding one's own historical value, one's own function in life, one's own rights and obligations" (as cited in Crehan, 2002, p. 74). Theatre is a meaningful cultural practice within processes of resistance, as it brings out the capacities and potential of each individual (Muñoz-Bellerín & Cordero-Ramos, 2020). The concept of the imaginary, as put forth by authors such as Castoriadis (1987), serves to demonstrate the potential of the theatre as a tool through which to give oppressed individuals a chance to express their worlds and assert their rights.…”