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Comments from Craig Owen (PhD Student @ University of Bath):

Editing video clips – a time intensive process with invaluable rewards
The editing and production of the video clips required a considerable investment of my time. This lengthy process forced me to thoroughly immerse myself in the video data and provided an invaluable experience exploring the diverse interactions and ideas captured on tape. Through repeatedly reviewing the videos I’ve been able to take myself back into the theatre workshop and re-experience and re-interpret these events. This has allowed me to realise new things that I didn’t see, hear or take in during my original fleeting in-situ experience.

By sharing the edited video clips, I now want invite the workshop participants to join me in the process of re-experiencing and re-interpreting the workshop (or at least the edited parts I have chosen to share). I also want to encourage new viewers who did not attend the workshop to try to empathise with the embodied experiences and performances of the workshop participants. And I ask you all to share your thoughts and feelings about the workshop so that we can continue to learn from one another. Thank you :0)

Putting your self on the line
One of the first things that surprised me during the course of the workshop was that most of the participants initially seemed unwilling to actively engage with the activities. I think this is captured quite clearly in the first Improv exercise. In the clip, after Arabella beautifully enacted throwing-up into a hat, Shaun asked the group “next volunteer….. next volunteer……anyone?” There was then a silence. Whilst the silence lasted for no more than 10 seconds, at the time, I felt it linger for an age. During this silence I remember thinking to myself,

‘Shall I get up? No. I’ll offer the space to the other participants first, I don’t want look like I’m hogging the space …..ok, is anyone going to get up?...…. No?.....dam this is uncomfortable …...ok I better get up and do this….

This was just one of a number of instances during the first day where I felt that some of the participants were vulnerable, shy or scared about getting involved in the theatre activities. In response to the groups’ hesitant engagement in the improv exercise Shaun provided what I thought was a provocative and insightful challenge: he asked us to think about how we as researchers ask our research participants to tell us their stories and to disclose their selves. And yet here we were in a similar situation refusing to do the same. So what did that say about us as researchers?

Whilst I thought this was an interesting conundrum, I also felt a little disheartened and worried by the group reaction. I’d organised the workshop with the intention of trying to make theatre safe and accessible for those new to it. I wanted the participants to get a taste of the diverse creative potential of theatre whilst at the same time avoiding the feelings of vulnerability and fear that I myself experienced when I first engaged with theatre. With time to reflect on this issue, I’ve started to think that maybe I was a bit naïve or idealistic. Maybe the feelings of vulnerability and apprehension are a common, unavoidable and productive experience for qualitative researchers engaging with theatre activities for the first time.

Reflective Practice and Dynamic Group Activities
In the Reflective Practice video clip recorded at the end of day one, Shaun and Marion commented that they thought some participants were still not fully engaging in the theatre activities and that this might in part be their fault. In response they suggested that a group activity might have been a better way to initiate the workshop. Personally, I thought this was an admirable example of reflective practice, an example of how practitioners can publically reflect upon, critique, learn from and improve their own practice. In response, Shaun and Marion started day two by introducing the vibrant and exciting Coin Game. I thought this was a wonderful activity that physically excited the whole group and promoted a fascinating movement dynamic. Intellectually the game required us to critically reflect on our own competitive and cooperative interactions and link this to our wider practice as researchers. I will definitely consider incorporating this game into my teaching toolbox in the future.

The Benefits of Diverse Participant Engagement
I think the workshop benefited from having participants with diverse backgrounds and varying levels of experience of using theatre in qualitative research. This diversity enabled participants to bring forth a variety of probing questions, challenges and debates. In reflection, I think that the participants who came to the workshop with little or no theatre experience mostly started from positions of doubt, uncertainty and scepticism. In contrast, I think the participants who had more extensive theatre experience demonstrated an obvious passion, love and enthusiasm for harnessing and promoting theatre’s creative potential. I also identified some participants, like myself, who seemed to sit somewhere in the middle. These different starting points provided a fascinating dynamic and this is beautifully illustrated in the Group 1 devising video. This video provides a great example of how researchers with little experience working with theatre were able to ask important, critical and challenging questions about the process and purpose of using theatre in research. In turn, the participants with more theatre experience were willing to share their perspectives and interpretations in a supportive and collaborative manner whilst also passing on useful ideas that had been shared with them earlier in the workshop.

Final Thoughts
Undertaking this workshop has broadened my awareness of the diverse roles theatre and drama activities can play in fostering collaboration, participation, creativity and experimentation in qualitative research and teaching. However, organising this workshop has also shown me that promoting the use of theatre in qualitative research is a struggle. Perhaps the biggest challenge is encouraging researchers to step outside their comfort zone and publicly put their selves, their bodies and their emotions on the line. This is a particularly acute and vitally important challenge because researchers’ selves, bodies and emotions are so often hidden away from public scrutiny in academic presentations and publications. To bridge this gap I think the key is to provide supportive and collaborative creative spaces where researchers feel safe to share not only their strengths and successes but also their anxieties, fears and failures. Theatre can be one of those spaces.