Book Synopsis 

Applied theatre is a continually growing and diversifying field. This book is the first of its kind to examine the use of applied theatre with looked-after children. It interrogates the experiences of young people in care in the UK and the potential of applied theatre as a liberation tool within these settings. Informed by twelve years of practice-based research, the book examines how a central pedagogy was initially developed with young people and front-line staff within a residential children’s home. The author then critiques the ways in which this pedagogy was adapted and expanded to work with other looked-after, misrepresented and marginalised young people in re- lated settings. The research presented here describes a unique journey through care homes, children’s prisons and inner-city estates, exploring the possibility of reclaiming child- hoods through theatre practice. It asks the questions: what does it mean to be looked after and cared for by an institution? What are the challenges of developing liberatory practice within rigid and homogenising frame- works? And how can theatre forge radical creative spaces within a network of power and control?