Beyond Local Spaces: Engaging Digital Space/Media in Theatre for Development Practice

Abstract

As a practice, Theatre for Development (TFD) has been significantly 
employed at local community spaces. This is because TFD prioritizes 
the challenges affecting ordinary people who are living in marginalized 
and local community spaces. The essence is to ensure that they are 
empowered and challenged to play active roles in salvaging their 
marginalized spaces and to contribute their own quota in addressing 
development challenges. However, in the light of new realities of 
today’s digital world, there is need to broaden the space of engaging 
ordinary people, who beyond their local domains, have become part 
and parcel of an evolving digital world with a real spatial presence that 
directly affects them. The need to engage ordinary people who are not 
exempted from the impacts of digital space is quite key in pushing the 
frontiers of the TFD agenda. This paper therefore seeks to examine the 
importance of having TFD practice that can attract and engage digital 
and spatial audience in achieving developmental agenda. Although the 
paper pays attention to some of the challenges which this 
platform/approach presents, however the possibilities and prospects of 
such an engagement is the thrust of this paper.