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Poking the WASP Nest
Young People, Applied Theatre, and Education about Race
Series:
This innovative project wrapped research around a youth theatre project. Young people of colour and from refugee backgrounds developed a sustained provocation for the people of Geelong, a large regional centre in Australia. The packed public performanceâat the biggest venue in townâchallenged locals to rethink assumptions. The audience response was insightful and momentous. The companion workshops for schools had profound impact with adolescent audiences. Internationally, this book connects with artistic, educational, and research communities, offering a substantial contribution to understandings of racism. This book is a provocative, transdisciplinary meditation on race, culture, the arts and change.
André de Quadros, Ed.D., is an ethnomusicologist, music educator, and human rights activist, with professional work in the most diverse settings in more than 40 countries. He is a professor at Boston University and visiting professor at Victoria University.
Dave Kelman, Ph.D. (2009), University of Melbourne, is an independent theatre practitioner and researcher. He has published widely on applied theatre and drama education, including: 'Am I not beautiful?â Cultural identity and the process of co-authorship. Research in Drama Education, (2018).
Julie White, Ph.D. (2004), University of Melbourne, is Associate Professor of Education at Victoria University. She has published more than 70 articles and books about education, equity and exclusion. Her current work focuses on the education of young people in youth justice.
Christopher Sonn, Ph.D. (1996), Victoria University, is Professor of Community Psychology at Victoria University, Australia. His publications include the co-authored book Social Psychology and Everyday Life (Red Globe Press, 2020) and co-edited book Decoloniality and Epistemic Justice in Contemporary Community Psychology (Springer, 2021).
Alison Baker, Ph.D. (2011), North Carolina State University, is Associate Professor of Social Psychology at Victoria University. Her focus is on the use of community-based arts as a catalyst for community and civic engagement among young people from underrepresented groups.
Dave Kelman, Ph.D. (2009), University of Melbourne, is an independent theatre practitioner and researcher. He has published widely on applied theatre and drama education, including: 'Am I not beautiful?â Cultural identity and the process of co-authorship. Research in Drama Education, (2018).
Julie White, Ph.D. (2004), University of Melbourne, is Associate Professor of Education at Victoria University. She has published more than 70 articles and books about education, equity and exclusion. Her current work focuses on the education of young people in youth justice.
Christopher Sonn, Ph.D. (1996), Victoria University, is Professor of Community Psychology at Victoria University, Australia. His publications include the co-authored book Social Psychology and Everyday Life (Red Globe Press, 2020) and co-edited book Decoloniality and Epistemic Justice in Contemporary Community Psychology (Springer, 2021).
Alison Baker, Ph.D. (2011), North Carolina State University, is Associate Professor of Social Psychology at Victoria University. Her focus is on the use of community-based arts as a catalyst for community and civic engagement among young people from underrepresented groups.
"This manuscript contributes more than just a unique case study from the Australian context, it offers ways to think through the role of applied theatre and other creative approaches to anti-racist praxis. It also offers some insights into the realities of young people facing structural violence and racism and the ways creative approaches can be spaces which are both healing and empowering. [I]t is an informative, provocative and instructional work. It manages to weave together an array of theorising, case studies, positionalities, practical applications, and reflections in a deeply contextualised manner. The writing is accessible, and it would offer researchers, practitioners and educators some very useful ways to think through and develop anti-racist praxis via creative modalities" â Sam Keast, Victoria University
"The 6 Hours in Geelong project nudges us, ever so gently, to think, wonder, and move with critical praxis through a process grounded in decolonial theory, transformative education, public pedagogy to a performance which acknowledges, exposes, and challenges us to think differently about who we are in relation to race. âThe arts,â Maxine Greene suggests, âcannot change the world, but they may change human beings who might change the world." â Elizabeth (Liz) Mackinlay, The University of Queensland
"I find this book to be extremely timely and of the utmost importance, especially to readers from the United States given the attacks that are currently being made on the teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in public schools in the US. [...] Overall, I believe this book will be a significant contribution to anti-racism literature providing practical information and powerful messages to teachers, community arts leaders, and others who are concerned about issues of racism in society." â William G. McManus, Boston University
"The 6 Hours in Geelong project nudges us, ever so gently, to think, wonder, and move with critical praxis through a process grounded in decolonial theory, transformative education, public pedagogy to a performance which acknowledges, exposes, and challenges us to think differently about who we are in relation to race. âThe arts,â Maxine Greene suggests, âcannot change the world, but they may change human beings who might change the world." â Elizabeth (Liz) Mackinlay, The University of Queensland
"I find this book to be extremely timely and of the utmost importance, especially to readers from the United States given the attacks that are currently being made on the teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in public schools in the US. [...] Overall, I believe this book will be a significant contribution to anti-racism literature providing practical information and powerful messages to teachers, community arts leaders, and others who are concerned about issues of racism in society." â William G. McManus, Boston University
Acknowledgements
List of Illustrations
Notes on Authors
1 Tackling Racism: Community Theatre, Critical Inquiry, and Epistemic Disobedience
â1 Laying the Conceptual Foundations
â2 Placing This Study
â3 The Structure of This Book
2 Researching from Somewhere: Our Personal and Collective Positioning
â1 Alison Baker
â2 André de Quadros
â3 Dave Kelman
â4 Christopher Sonn
â5 Julie White
3 Crafting an Approach across and through Difference
â1 Bringing Applied Theatre and Research Together
â2 Working across, with, and through Diffference as Intra-Action
â3 Methodological Approach
â4 Conclusion
4 Looking Inward: 6 Hours in Geelong as Process
â1 Who Were the Actors?
â2 Applied Theatre
â3 6 Hours in Geelong
â4 Devising Process
â5 Characters
â6 Authoring Process
â7 Play Excerpts
â8 Conclusion
5 Looking Outward: How Community Audiences Viewed 6 Hours in Geelong
â1 Geelong after Dark
â2 School Interactive Performances
â3 The Community Performance Events
â4 Conclusion
6 Applied Theatre: The Practitionerâs Dilemma
â1 White Privilege, Race, Power Relations, and Positionalities
â2 The Slippery Nature of Artistic Meaning in Context
â3 Individual and Group Identity
â4 The Nature of the Challenge
â5 Processes and Practices for Negotiating Intersections in Making 6 Hours in Geelong
â6 Group Authorship
â7 A Provisional Offfering
7 âPeople Donât Know Our Storyâ: Exposing Coloniality through Counter-Storytelling
â1 Critical Studies of Race, Decoloniality, and Stories
â2 Unpacking Stories through the Lens of Coloniality
â3 Young People Negotiating Coloniality in Everyday Lives
â4 Conclusion
8 Essentialism and Cosmopolitan WEIRDness
â1 WEIRDness, Essentialism, and Coloniality
â2 Entanglements of Racism, Theatre, and Theory
â3 Analysis of Racism and Identity in 6 Hours in Geelong
â4 Embracing Complexity
9 Schooling, Racism, and Powerful Conversations
â1 Context for Conceptualisation
â2 Schools as the Site for Discussions about Race
â3 Conceptual Framework for Powerful Conversations
â4 How Teachers Can Overcome Obstacles
â5 Conclusion
10 Community Arts: Politics and Privilege
â1 Community Arts in Context
â2 Politics and Privilege in Community Arts Practice
â3 Race as Context for Practice
â4 Implications
11 Aftermath and Afterwards
Appendix: 6 Hours in Geelong Script
References
Index
List of Illustrations
Notes on Authors
PART 1: Setting the Scene
1 Tackling Racism: Community Theatre, Critical Inquiry, and Epistemic Disobedience
â1 Laying the Conceptual Foundations
â2 Placing This Study
â3 The Structure of This Book
2 Researching from Somewhere: Our Personal and Collective Positioning
â1 Alison Baker
â2 André de Quadros
â3 Dave Kelman
â4 Christopher Sonn
â5 Julie White
3 Crafting an Approach across and through Difference
â1 Bringing Applied Theatre and Research Together
â2 Working across, with, and through Diffference as Intra-Action
â3 Methodological Approach
â4 Conclusion
PART 2: Applied Theatre: The Arts Education Project
4 Looking Inward: 6 Hours in Geelong as Process
â1 Who Were the Actors?
â2 Applied Theatre
â3 6 Hours in Geelong
â4 Devising Process
â5 Characters
â6 Authoring Process
â7 Play Excerpts
â8 Conclusion
5 Looking Outward: How Community Audiences Viewed 6 Hours in Geelong
â1 Geelong after Dark
â2 School Interactive Performances
â3 The Community Performance Events
â4 Conclusion
PART 3: Theorisation and Perspectives: Interdisciplinary Discussion
6 Applied Theatre: The Practitionerâs Dilemma
â1 White Privilege, Race, Power Relations, and Positionalities
â2 The Slippery Nature of Artistic Meaning in Context
â3 Individual and Group Identity
â4 The Nature of the Challenge
â5 Processes and Practices for Negotiating Intersections in Making 6 Hours in Geelong
â6 Group Authorship
â7 A Provisional Offfering
7 âPeople Donât Know Our Storyâ: Exposing Coloniality through Counter-Storytelling
â1 Critical Studies of Race, Decoloniality, and Stories
â2 Unpacking Stories through the Lens of Coloniality
â3 Young People Negotiating Coloniality in Everyday Lives
â4 Conclusion
8 Essentialism and Cosmopolitan WEIRDness
â1 WEIRDness, Essentialism, and Coloniality
â2 Entanglements of Racism, Theatre, and Theory
â3 Analysis of Racism and Identity in 6 Hours in Geelong
â4 Embracing Complexity
PART 4: So What? Implications for Practice
9 Schooling, Racism, and Powerful Conversations
â1 Context for Conceptualisation
â2 Schools as the Site for Discussions about Race
â3 Conceptual Framework for Powerful Conversations
â4 How Teachers Can Overcome Obstacles
â5 Conclusion
10 Community Arts: Politics and Privilege
â1 Community Arts in Context
â2 Politics and Privilege in Community Arts Practice
â3 Race as Context for Practice
â4 Implications
11 Aftermath and Afterwards
Appendix: 6 Hours in Geelong Script
References
Index
This book is of interest for arts educators, theatre directors, community artists, lecturers/professors at universities, post-graduate/graduate students, and theatre researchers.