Ethnotheatre: Research from Page to Stage (Qualitative Inquiry and Social Justice)

by Johnny Saldaña

Ethnotheatre transforms research about human experiences into a dramatic presentation for an audience. Johnny Saldaña, one of the best-known practitioners of this research tradition, outlines the key principles and practices of ethnotheatre in this clear, concise volume. He covers the preparation of a dramatic presentation from the research and writing stages to the elements of stage production. Saldaña nurtures playwrights through adaptation and stage exercises, and delves into the complex ethical questions of turning the personal into theatre. Throughout, he emphasizes the vital importance of creating good theatre as well as good research for impact on an audience and performers. The volume includes multiple scenes from contemporary ethnodramas plus two complete play scripts as exemplars of the genre.

Genres: Theatre

245 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exhilarating account of how qualitative research can jump off the page, so to speak, by including an arts-based reporting method called ethnotheatre. Saldaña is very enthusiastic in sharing details, plus he has done his homework on other researchers with similar processes. Much of it can be summed up in one sentence: think more like an artist, less like a researcher. The rest of the textbook supports his timely advice with examples of social justice issue tackled by artist-researchers: many of whom have similar background or interests as Johnny (so unless you have got a problem with marginalized people sharing stories of abuse, illnesses, alternative lifestyles and surviving disasters, you will enjoy the numerous excerpts from published plays). The instruction side of this textbook makes it seem like anyone who can hold a pen to paper, or at least can type a few dozen words a minute, is an ethnographer in the making, but there is a serious amount of work to pull off a coup de thêatre, one that has to be performed live, rather than being one of the billion webisodes on related topics. For keeping the audience on the edge of their seats throughout this textbook, when most research manuals will have people checking out by the fourth chapter, Saldaña gets a four-star review - he misses out on that extra star would have shared more international examples than the East Coast/Southwest dichotomy that makes everything artistic in the United States.

[Mills College Library]

792 S162 2011