In addition to my professional performing and directing career, I have been fortunate to discover and explore ways to feed the part of my soul that is dedicated to service. Applied theatre practices incorporate theatre ideas in a non-stage environment. Theatre games and exercises can be applied to non-theatrical situations to encourage self discovery, start hard conversations, and identify areas for improvement in human interaction.
In the early part of my adult life, I found extra work with local theatre companies, working on outreach projects. During this time, I was developing my skills as an educator and learning new ways to use the individual lessons of theatre I had previously only thought applied to acting. A solid theatre training program is intrinsically based in ensemble and teamwork. We learn from the start to work as a unit, to listen to each other, to study human behavior. These same skills are universally beneficial to life learning and a more peaceful and fluid human existence.
From corporate training to the juvenile justice department, I have consistently found that introducing theatre into the dialogue can help any group better communicate. In Playback Theatre, we say "It's therapeutic, but not therapy". My work doesn't fix all the problems. It can, however, help an organization or group to change the conversation in a way that they may be better equipped to find the solutions.
Organizations I worked with include: homeless shelters, the juvenile justice department, a school for the deaf, an addiction recovery program, literacy programs, large corporations, leadership programs, schools, parks and recreation, arts councils, libraries, centers for emotionally challenged and/or developmentally delayed adults and children and government organizations.