What is Participatory Theatre?
Participatory theatre is a method that invites audiences to join, interact with, and shape the performance of a play using techniques such as role play, storytelling, and improvisation. It enables participants to explore the emotional, ethical, political, and practical dimensions of challenging situations. Engaging in participatory theatre can prompt critical questioning of dominant assumptions, support reflection on personal and collective values, and foster the imagination of alternative futures. The method has the potential to cultivate empathy, strengthen relationships, and deepen understanding of complex systems, including the interconnections between economics, biodiversity, and social justice.
In the PLANET4B project, participatory theatre was used with secondary school students in Hungary. The method was used to help them reflect on the relationships between economic systems, individual choices, and biodiversity. During this case study, a play, Blindspot, was developed with the Káva Theatre Group and WWF Hungary. The play centred on the story of a healing plant that became commodified and overexploited. Students were invited to step into the roles of employees at a company that brought economic prosperity to a village while simultaneously degrading the natural environment and harming local health. As the narrative unfolded and tensions between conflicting standpoints were presented, participants were encouraged to grapple with the complexity of biodiversity-related decision-making and to consider the trade-offs it entails.
In this module Eszter Kelemen explains how Participatory Theatre was used within PLANET4B, in this video she introduces the PLANET4B Learning Community:
In this video Eszter Kelemen introduces Participatory Theatre:
Key Features
Participants:
- A group size of 20–35 participants is recommended; this allows meaningful participation and different viewpoints to emerge, but is not unmanageable, however the method could be adapted to support fewer or more participants.
- In PLANET4B, the method was used with secondary school students, but it can be adapted for a wide range of groups. It is helpful if participants share some familiarity with one another, as the process often involves emotional expression and interpersonal vulnerability. If working with a Learning Community, participatory theatre can be a valuable method to introduce after a few initial sessions, once trust and connection have been established through the other spotlight methods.
- The level of participant engagement can vary, in some cases, participants lead the entire process, from conceptualisation to final performance. In others, professional theatre groups or civil society organisations initiate the work, guided by a particular societal mission, and involve participants at key stages.
- Prior experience with theatre is not necessary.
Timeframe:
- In the PLANET4B Project, the session lasted 3 hours including welcome, warm-up, performance and breaks.
- The session time could be extended into multi-session formats for a co-creative process of designing the plot, or shortened into vignette plays with more guided audience input.
- Designing the play has a large time requirement, this can take a few weeks or months, depending on how experienced you are, the length of the play etc.
Budget and Materials:
Participatory theatre is not a low-cost method, especially if a professional theatre company, actors or facilitators are involved. The following will need to be budgeted for:
- Facilitator or theatre group fees (if using)
- Room hire (a large room is required, with enough space for a cool down)
- Basic scenery, props and costumes
- Refreshments and lunch
- Transport costs, transporting actors, and materials to the venue, and potentially re-imbursing participants’ travel costs
Skills Required:
To help the method run smoothly, ensure the following skills are covered by the team:
- Facilitation skills – Creating inclusive and responsive group environments where all feel able to participate safely and meaningfully
- Emotional sensitivity – Recognising emotional responses, especially around difficult topics such as environmental loss
- Drama-based methods – Knowledge of improvisation, character development, and role-playing techniques to guide participants through a structured experience
- Adaptability – Responding to group dynamics and emerging content in real time without imposing rigid outcomes
- Project management – Overseeing logistics from initial planning and participant recruitment to ensure all aspects run smoothly on the day of the performance
Why Use Participatory Theatre
Participatory theatre can foster critical thinking, emotional literacy, and moral reasoning within a playful, fictional environment, enabling conversations that might be more difficult in real-world contexts. In the PLANET4B project, the method was used to connect the social, practical, and ecological dimensions of biodiversity loss. Through their participation students:
- Confronted intergenerational tensions, unpacked the trade-offs, tensions, and ethical dilemmas embedded in biodiversity decision-making
- Connected personal behaviours and systemic structures through imaginative scenarios
- Expressed difficult emotions such as anxiety, grief, or frustration in a safe and supportive space
- Explored the relationship between individual agency and collective action
- Imagined alternative futures rooted in care and collaboration.
In this video Eszter Kelemen explains the purpose of using Participatory Theatre within PLANET4B:
In research contexts, Participatory Theatre, has often been adapted to explore complex social questions and generate data that is both analytical and experiential. A research project in the Western Indian Ocean engaged coastal communities and environmental practitioners in Mauritius and Tanzania using a layered approach that combined theatrical elements and performative mapping to facilitate shared understanding of social–ecological resilience. This multi-sensory, playful "concertina" method enabled researchers and local stakeholders to co-produce insights about environmental change, challenge conventional scientific perspectives, and build trust and empathy through collaborative storytelling and reflection. Beyond such applications, Participatory Theatre has also been used in diverse research fields, including:
Theatre of the Oppressed, developed by Brazilian director Augusto Boal, now has branches across the world. It is a participatory theatrical form that empowers marginalised communities and supports social and political change through interactive performance. Spectators become 'spect-actors,' actively intervening in and rehearsing alternative outcomes to situations of oppression.
2. Theatre for a Change – Malawi and Ghana
Theatre for a Change trains educators and young people to use participatory theatre to challenge gender-based violence and promote sexual and reproductive rights. Performances include active audience participation and intervention.
Jana Sanskriti is India’s leading Theatre of the Oppressed organisation, using participatory theatre in collaboration with NGOs to address caste discrimination, gender inequality, and rural poverty. Their model invites community members to step into scenes to change oppressive situations.
Phosphoros Theatre has used participatory theatre with refugee youth to support wellbeing, cultural identity, and inclusion. Performances often address themes of displacement, belonging, and resilience.
Ergon Theatre, based in Manchester, UK, creates performance work in response to the climate and ecological crisis. Alongside their productions, they run participatory workshops that engage communities in exploring environmental issues, co-creating stories, and imagining collective responses to climate change.
In this video Eszter Kelemen describes the benefits and possibilities of using Participatory Theatre:
