Theatre for Development, or TfD, means live performance, or theater used as a development tool -- as in international development. TfD encompasses the following in-person activities, with people or "puppets", before an audience: For other usages see Theatre (disambiguation) Theater (American English) or Theatre (British English and widespread usage among theatre professionals in the US) is that branch of the performing arts concerned with acting out stories in front of an audience using combinations of speech, gesture, music, dance, sound and spectacle — indeed... The goal of international development is to alleviate poverty among citizens of developing countries. ... A puppet is any controlled character, whether formed by a shadow, strings, by the use of a glove, by direct mechanical contrivance (for example a cable-controlled figure for film or TV) or electronic guidance (such as a radio or infrared remote controller). ...

• a spoken-word drama or comedy
• a music, singing and/or dance production
• a production with movement but no sound (mime)
• participatory or improvisational techniques using any or all of these

Theatre for Development can be a kind of participatory theatre, that encourages improvisation and audience members to take roles in the performance, or can be fully scripted and staged, with the audience observing. Many TfD productions are a mix of the two. "Theatre of the Oppressed," a technique created by Augusto Boal is a form of participatory theatre for development. There are many articles named Drama: Drama, the art form. ... Comedy is the use of humor in the form of theater, where it simply referred to a play with a happy ending, in contrast to a tragedy. ... Mime Artist Dressed as a Hobo A mime artist is someone who uses mime as a theatrical medium or as a performance art. ... Improvisational Theatre (also known as improv or impro) is a form of theatre in which the actors perform spontaneously, without a script. ... Augusto Boal (born 1931 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) is an innovative and influential theatrical director, writer and politician. ...

Hundreds, if not thousands, of organizations and initiatives have used theatre as a development tool: for education or propaganda, as therapy, as a participatory tool, or as an exploratory tool in development. An account of an early use of TfD is the thesis Theater as a Means of Moral Education and Socialization in the Development of Nauvoo, Illinois, 1839-1845, which recounts how theater was used to promote ideological and civil development in a religious community in the US (Hurd 2004). Nauvoo (נאוו to be beautiful, Sephardi Hebrew Nåvu, Tiberian Hebrew Nâwû) is a city located in Hancock County, Illinois. ...

References

• "Theatre & Development", a list of various TfD initiatives, compiled by KIT (Royal Tropical Institute), Amsterdam

• Enacting Participatory Development: Theatre-based Techniques, by McCarthy, J., Cambridge University Press. 2004. The bibliography cites 22 books devoted specifically to art and theater as tools for development, and an additional 16 books on specific techniques.

• Theatre and Empowerment: Community Drama on the World Stage, by Boon, R. and Plastow, J. University of Leeds. 2004. Case studies from around the world of TfD.

• Theater as a Means of Moral Education and Socialization in the Development of Nauvoo, Illinois, 1839-1845, thesis by Hurd, L., California State University, Dominguez Hills. 2004

• Online Discussion Group - Art4Development