Theatre of the Oppressed: Reflections and Provocations from an Artist/Researcher

In this session Olivia Maurer presents her experience using practice as research working with participatory theatre in a traditional policy and social science context.Drawing on her ongoing doctoral research, Olivia shares insights on conducting practice as research and how the duality of the artist/researcher identity has impacted her positionality, duty of care, and outcomes of the project. The challenges and potentialities of engaging in PAR within a PhD process are also evaluated.  This session also discusses how practice as research is not just a “nice to have” in an urban studies and cultural geography research landscape, but a needed contribution to the field. We consider how the body is a vital source of knowledge of place and a crucial lens through which we can gain a better understanding of place-based experiences. We also examine how creative practice facilitates a space where this embodied knowledge is able to be teased out and reflected upon.Olivia Maurer is a postgraduate researcher in Urban Studies and Social Policy at the University of Glasgow, with a background in public policy and arts-based community engagement. Her PhD works in partnership with the AHRC Place-Based Research Programme to build an evidence base of methodologies that are able to surface the “felt experience of place,” specifically focused on using Theatre of the Oppressed as both a research method and a policy engagement tool. Olivia is also a community theatre practitioner, with her work recently being showcased at the UK Parliament as one of 100 Creative Agents of Climate Change.