Prison theatre: Letting the light in to disciplinary relationships

Abstract

Using a case study of recent applied theatre work within a secure setting in Auckland, New Zealand, we will consider the ways in which applied theatre can function as a multi-, inter- and trans-disciplinary form - multidisciplinary in that it embraces the various arts disciplines in its makings; inter-disciplinary in that it works with and within other disciplinary sites and, in doing so, is informed by and adapts to those site's discourses and practices; trans-disciplinary in the ways applied theatre practice and research blur traditional disciplinary boundaries to create new approaches and outcomes. Trans-disciplinary work 'leads to the evolution of disciplines, hybridisation and outcomes that are greater than the sum of the parts' (Petts et al., 2008:597). The intention of this paper, therefore, is to present and to untangle some of the tensions and possibilities that reside within prison theatre's complex and many-layered disciplinary relationships.