10:31, MCR: a practice-as-research project that investigates ethical dramaturgical approaches to politically sensitive theatre-making with and for young people.

What are the dramaturgical approaches for a practitioner-researcher making theatre with and for young people, retaining ethical care, when handling politically sensitive topics? Through the study of three practices chosen to advance the research (theatre and education approaches, dramaturgical processes and rehearsal praxis), the thesis will investigate the main research question by posing the argument that the dialogic, symbolic and ‘liquid’ nature of theatre can (and must) provide a space where controversial discussions can be facilitated. The methodology of this project is practice-as-research, and this thesis goes to the writings of Robin Nelson, using his theories to expand on the released synergies in my practice, and how research informs my practice, and my practice prompts and shapes my research investigation. The first practice will encompass Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed, Brian Way’s theories surrounding social drama, and Cecily O’Neill’s Process Drama, cross- referenced to the initial practical workshop using a curated selection of these methods to work with young in their response to politically and socially troubling topics. The second practice, dramaturgy, looks at the influence of Postdramatic and Post- Holocaust theatre theories (implemented by Hans-Thies Lehmann and Heiner Müller’s writings) which found their place in the scripting workshop with the young people. The third practice is the rehearsal process leading up to the production of 10:31, MCR, where different techniques of making, taking somatic approaches to shape stage action from the ‘voices of others’. The study of the three practices is encompassed within a conceptual framework utilising the writing of Amanda Stuart-Fisher around the ethicality of verbatim theatre, Dori Laub and Shoshana Felman’s studies on witnessing and testimony, and Jenny Hughes’ discussion on the relationship between terror and trauma. The results of the project, where elements of Grounded Theory are used to arrive at evidence-based conclusions, triangulate three sets of data collected throughout to arrive at a conclusion for the questions posed by this thesis.