
Applied Theatre and the Permacrisis
Ethics, Politics, Pedagogy and Aesthetics
Routledge (Publisher)
1st Edition
Published on 20. June 2025
Book
Hardback
138 pages
978-1-032-07604-1 (ISBN)
Description
Responding to the global state of permacrisis, this book explores the relationship between applied theatre and disaster.
For millennia communities have learnt to live alongside disaster through their arts making. Building on the basis of this ancestral knowledge this book explores the current uses of applied theatre in times of constant crisis. Using a critical disaster studies lens, the authors recognise the role of governments and multinational businesses in profiteering from and manipulating for their own advantage the misery caused by disasters. Case studies of different stages of disaster, from risk reduction and disaster preparedness through to the almost inevitable resistance to failed government intervention, illustrate the possibilities and limitations of applied theatre and other art forms to navigate these times. Applied theatre is seen as a vital act of aesthetic and political hope.
At a time of never-ending, overlapping disasters, this book will be important to researchers and postgraduate students working in applied theatre and disaster research in the social sciences. It will also appeal to applied arts practitioners who work in disaster zones and with relief organisations.
For millennia communities have learnt to live alongside disaster through their arts making. Building on the basis of this ancestral knowledge this book explores the current uses of applied theatre in times of constant crisis. Using a critical disaster studies lens, the authors recognise the role of governments and multinational businesses in profiteering from and manipulating for their own advantage the misery caused by disasters. Case studies of different stages of disaster, from risk reduction and disaster preparedness through to the almost inevitable resistance to failed government intervention, illustrate the possibilities and limitations of applied theatre and other art forms to navigate these times. Applied theatre is seen as a vital act of aesthetic and political hope.
At a time of never-ending, overlapping disasters, this book will be important to researchers and postgraduate students working in applied theatre and disaster research in the social sciences. It will also appeal to applied arts practitioners who work in disaster zones and with relief organisations.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Postgraduate and Undergraduate Advanced
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight
394 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-032-07604-1 (9781032076041)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Peter O'Connor | Katy Perez
Applied Theatre and the Permacrisis
Ethics, Politics, Pedagogy and Aesthetics
E-Book
06/2025
Routledge
€55.49
Available for download

Peter O'Connor | Katy Perez
Applied Theatre and the Permacrisis
Ethics, Politics, Pedagogy and Aesthetics
Book
06/2025
1st Edition
Routledge
€62.40
Shipment within 10-20 days

Peter O'Connor | Katy Perez
Applied Theatre and the Permacrisis
Ethics, Politics, Pedagogy and Aesthetics
E-Book
06/2025
Routledge
€55.49
Available for download
Persons
Peter O'Connor FRSNZ is the Director of the Centre for Arts and Social Transformation at Waipapa Taumata Rau, the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Peter has been making and researching applied theatre for over 30 years. He has worked in multiple disaster areas including earthquakes in Mexico City and Christchurch, the fires on Maui and in Australia, and in flood areas in New Zealand.
Katy Perez works at the University of Auckland's Centre for the Arts and Social Transformation. She has worked using applied theatre in national and international disaster zones, youth justice centres, teen-pregnancy units, anger management courses, and spent eight years delivering family violence prevention workshops in schools across Aotearoa New Zealand. Katy currently specialises in both research and facilitation of arts post-disaster practice and believes the arts are a perfect way to restore hope and inspire revolution.
Katy Perez works at the University of Auckland's Centre for the Arts and Social Transformation. She has worked using applied theatre in national and international disaster zones, youth justice centres, teen-pregnancy units, anger management courses, and spent eight years delivering family violence prevention workshops in schools across Aotearoa New Zealand. Katy currently specialises in both research and facilitation of arts post-disaster practice and believes the arts are a perfect way to restore hope and inspire revolution.
Content
1. Beyond the Horizon 2. AI: Ancestral Information 3. Applied Theatre 4. The Permacrisis 5. Disaster Risk Reduction 6. Rallying and Remembering 7. Art as Oxygen 8. Resistance 9. Navigating Ethical Violence Post Disaster Moema Gregorzewski 10. The Pandemic 11. Haiti 12. Walking with the Ancestors