Emergent Strategy in Applied Theatre with Youth: Traversing Fear and Creating Justice
Engaging in performance-based work focused on gender and racial justice presents complex and often challenging terrain. As a facilitator, I am committed to ongoing reflection on my own intricate relationships with race, gender, and systemic injustice. Working alongside young people in their journeys of discovery and exploration further deepens this process, often evoking fear, uncertainty, and profound questioning.
In my MFA thesis, I examine how theories of sustainable activism and social justice practices can guide us through moments of fear and uncertainty in applied theatre. Inspired by adrienne maree brown’s Emergent Strategy, I explore three core principles:
Valuing small-scale growth and change
Honoring nonlinear growth and transformation
Viewing conflict as a generative force
Through reflective practitioner research, I analyze how these principles shape my work with young people in the Performing Justice Project. This study investigates how performance-based practices can help artist-facilitators confront fear, engage the body in transformative action, and collaboratively envision pathways to justice.
