"Nothing About Us, Without us" Devising Strategies for Sensitive Practise.

Theatre has historically been recognised as a vehicle for raising awareness and promoting change.
However, socially engaged theatre with marginalised groups raises highly contested issues regarding
representation and voice. This thesis addresses these issues through a qualitative, practice based
enquiry that integrates ethnographic and creative research methods, and theatrical devising techniques.
The research will enrich the canon of work at the intersection between theatre and ethnography by
investigating a repositioning of the theatre maker from 'director'/'facilitator' towards a more impartial,
dramaturgical role. To promote this, the research will aim to develop a practical 'toolkit' of strategies for
sensitive practice to be used by theatre makers looking to create work that represents those with whom
they do not share lived experience. It is hoped that this will be generalisable to other disciplines looking
to use artistic methods to achieve representation and social impact.