Paper short abstract:

Participatory theatre is argued to disrupt hierarchies of knowledge and expertise associated with development. However, in Kenya decolonising knowledge production is hindered by colonial legacies which shape not only the forms of theatre used, but the relationships of those involved in such uses.

Paper long abstract:

Participatory theatre is portrayed as empowering, imbued with potential to foster more equitable relationships between those intervening and the communities with whom they work (Epskamp 2006; Cohen Cruz 2019). However, in this paper I will draw upon ongoing research in Kenya to outline two key challenges for practitioners and researchers working through theatre and development. First, colonial legacies have shaped, and continue to shape, the wider landscape of theatre and performance in Kenya. Second, this historicised understanding demonstrates how colonial power dynamics continue to shape the partnerships we participate in, and through which we produce knowledge. More specifically, colonial desires to repress indigenous theatre in Kenya (Plastow 1996) led to the foundation of school drama festivals and the National Theatre in Nairobi, which have shaped theatre in the country in Eurocentric terms. I will suggest that this legacy is continued by well-being researchers and practitioners, as they seek to use forms of participatory theatre, particularly Theatre of the Oppressed (Boal 1995), to create more 'bottom-up' projects and 'decolonise'. Such forms of performance present a new global orthodoxy of theatre practice (Sadeghi-Yekta 2015; Dwyer 2016) which, far from offering radical alternatives, potentially maintains hierarchies of knowledge and expertise in development, thus entrenching the power of Western individuals and institutions (Kothari 2005; Moldonado-Torres 2016). Therefore, while those of us involved in participatory theatre might aspire to decolonise knowledge production in development, we are caught up in - and perhaps maintain - colonial legacies which we must seek to reveal and interrogate.