Breaking the fourth wall in political studies: exploring politics through interactive theatre

Abstract

This article presents an interactive theatre tool that aims to facilitate a nuanced, holistic exploration of different topics in political science. Its approach builds on insights drawn from the work of four playwrights who provide fascinating, in-depth examinations of social and political topics: Henrik Ibsen, George Bernard Shaw, Bertolt Brecht, and Augusto Boal. Two features that distinguish the method I present here from other techniques are student ownership and interaction with the audience. At a time when political science is increasingly criticised for becoming overspecialised, irrelevant, and unstimulating, this paper offers a promising and flexible tool that can help synthesise ideas from thriving but often ingrown areas of political science research, contextualise them, and examine their practical relevance.

Appendix

Instructions to students

Below are some notes and suggestions to help you write and enact your play. These are to complement the information in the syllabus, the assessment files, timeline, and the suggested reading list online.

General:

• 1. As per the syllabus, the key learning objectives of this exercise are: collaborative critical analysis, contextualisation, and communication of major concepts, theories, and ideas in political economy.

• 2. Your play should focus on the theme and the particular topic you’ve chosen within that theme.

• 3. Your play does not have to necessarily involve big things (revolution) and big people (political leaders). Instead you might want to embed relatively ordinary action and people in a political–economic situation, when they are surrounded by structures, institutions, etc., and have to make choices amid them.

• 4. You should use the topics, concepts, ideas, and theories discussed in your readings and/or our classes. You are welcome to go beyond them whenever needed.

• 5. Decide on the topic(s) very clearly at the outset—what is this play about? what subject it tries to explore? You should start with a puzzle and/or research question.

• 6. Your play can comment on social issues whenever applicable.

• 7. You do not have to take an ideological line, but your play can be action-oriented and/or consciousness-raising.

• 8. Most importantly, your play should be analytical rather than merely descriptive. (Dialogues can be one way to communicate the analysis.)

• 9. Your play should be realistic, but you can use surrealist elements to make a point. Try to avoid cliched characters.

• 10. Elements of satire and comedy are very welcome. Your whole play can be a comedy.

Research:

• 1. Conduct thorough research that uses a variety of relevant empirical evidence to help develop a well-rounded play.

• 2. Key aspects that are drawn from this research exercise and subsequently incorporated in the development of your play are six elements of Aristotelian drama: plot, characters, theme, language, rhythms, and spectacle.

• 3. You are encouraged to use actual case studies and can draw on newspaper stories.

• 4. Whenever applicable and feasible, you should interview individuals whose input can be useful for developing the plot and the characters.

The structure of the play:

• 1. The fewer scenes, the better as this can help keep the audience’s attention.

• 2. When changing scenes/acts, make sure you communicate to the audience the connection between the scenes/acts (through subtitles, narrator, etc.).

• 3. You can give slogan-like titles to scenes. This can be one of the techniques (which you should use) of reminding the audience members of the artificiality of the performance so as to elicit their conscious critical observation rather than emotional entanglement.

• 4. The script should contain a prologue and/or epilogue, such as the ones found in some of Bernard Shaw’s works: the author’s outline of what the play is about. Here, you should show how you embed the play in the debates around the concepts, theories, and ideas of the topic that you are exploring through the play. We will return to this during the debriefing process after the enactment.

Involving the audience:

• 1. One of the key elements of your drama project should be the interaction with the audience.

• 2. For this purpose, you can adopt some techniques from the Theatre of the Oppressed (where “spectators” are encouraged to be “spect-actors”).

• 3. One way of involving the audience is through allowing any audience member to jump on the stage at either any or any significant moment in the play, join the cast, and attempt to change the course of the play.

  • 1. You can do it by simply allowing any audience member to join action as an extra cast OR to replace a character when they see fit, after having stopped the play at any point by clapping their hands. Once the spect-actor is on stage, you start from the nearest point (such as a previous sentence) and the spect-actor continues after having assuming the role of the replaced actor.

  • 2. You and the audience members can think of a counterfactual: what if something would (not) take place?

  • 3. A significant moment can be, e.g. when a major decision is being made by the protagonist or another character. Of course, the audience can have different views on what is “major/significant”, but you can write the play in such a way as to make it clear where those key bifurcations are (e.g. think of “to be or not to be” of the notoriously indecisive Danish royalty (Prince Hamlet) or “exit, voice, or loyalty” of Albert Hirschman).

  • 4. Limit the number of those significant moments—this can both give you a depth of analysis and limit the number of times you have to replay a specific episode.

• 4. Remember that you need to be intimately familiar with your character and the play to be able to realistically follow once the pre-written flow is interrupted in this way by a “spect-actor”.

• 5. In addition, you can involve the audience through songs and other methods (e.g. treating the whole audience as a mob or an electorate, which sometimes is the same thing).

Preparation:

• 1. Democratic authorship—every group member contributes to writing the play.

• 2. “Table work” (read-through) is the first thing after you’ve written the play. Discuss and analyse the text so as to nail things down: meanings, emotions, structures, motivation. Help each other to understand your characters, their situations, other characters. Help each other polish your performance. Table work builds the ensemble.

• 3. One student can play multiple characters as in Monty Python films. (You might use this technique intentionally to underline the artificiality of what’s going on the stage.)

Logistics:

• 1. The stage and its management should be economical (bear in mind the limitations of the auditorium where the enactment will take place).

• 2. This is also important because you’ll be having more than one play, each potentially involving a different set.

• 3. You should aim at the allotted time, particularly given the interaction with the audience.

• 4. You perform the play once uninterrupted, and the second time you allow audience members to join. You can allow multiple join-in moments.

Assessment form

Script (65% of the group grade)

Characteristic: Criteria	Weight (%)	Grade*
Content knowledge Mastery of the material on major concepts, theories, and ideas on the chosen topic	15
Originality Originality/imaginativeness in creating new insights related to the chosen topic or in relating major concepts, theories, and ideas on this topic in new ways	15
Depth of research and evidence Detail and comprehensiveness of relevant evidence	15
Contextualisation The level of embeddedness of the analysed concepts, theories, and ideas in a naturalistic setting, plot, and characters that are appropriate, plausible, and non-idealised	20
Dialogue Consistency and authenticity of the dialogue in revealing the characters’ values, ideas, interests, and conflict in the political–economic topic raised	10
Analysis of alternatives The level of depth, clarity, and immediacy in presenting multiple perspectives on the problem raised and its solutions	10
Structure Logical, fluid development of the play, with clear beginning, transitions, middle, and end	10
Grammar/syntax/punctuation The level of avoidance of errors in spelling, grammar, syntax, and punctuation	5

Enactment (35% of the group grade)

Characteristic: Criteria	Weight (%)	Grade*
Understanding The level of understanding of their political–economic setting, plot, and characters demonstrated by the cast’s performance throughout the play’s enactment	20
Reaction How realistically the cast handled the improvisation/critical juncture challenges raised by audience interaction through retaining the play’s specific context	20
Improvisation How inventively the cast handled the improvisation challenges raised by audience interaction	15
Audience How well the cast captured and maintained the audience and communicated ideas to them	15
Concentration How well the cast-maintained characters throughout the enactment	10
Cooperation How well the cast cooperated throughout the play’s enactment	15
Design How appropriate and convincing were the scenery, costumes, and props	5

1. *The grading is done on a 4.0 scale where 0 = fail and 4 = excellent

Peer assessment instructions

The peer assessment form allows each group member to rate the contribution of each of her/his peers in the same group. Please download, fill out, and return the peer assessment form to the instructor by e-mail after you submit the group paper. The deadline for submitting peer assessment forms is XX/XX on XX/XX/XX. If you submit your peer assessment form later, your voice won’t be heard in calculating individual grades (see below).

The excel file with the peer assessment form consists of several sheets—one for each group member except yourself. Fill out your name (peer making the assessment) and names for each of your group members (student being assessed), look at the rating scale (0–4), and then input numbers from 0 to 4 for each of the statements below. Excel will automatically calculate the average in the bottom cell—please don’t touch it.

To get your individual grade on the paper, the group’s overall grade will be weighted by the average “grade” you get from your peers. For example, if the grade given by me to the group is 3 (B), and your average peer assessment grade is 3 (which is 75% of the maximum grade of 4), then 3 × 0.75 = 2.25 (C +)—this is your individual grade for the group project. Essentially, you get the full group grade if you have been an excellent team player. You have two incentives: to maximise your group’s grade and to contribute well to the group effort. Imagine, your group grade is 4 (A), and your peer assessment grade is 4; then you individually get 4 (A). I reserve a right to invalidate any peer assessment form that displays a significant discrepancy in assessing one or more members of the group very differently from others’ assessment of the same member(s). In other words, this is not a chance to start a feud. Just be objective.

Peer Assessment Form*
Student being assessed:
Peer making the assessment:
For each aspect, rate your group member’s performance on the group project on a scale from 0 to 4 using the following guide:	4 = did this very well; 3 = did this well;
	2 = did this adequately; 1 = did this poorly
	0 = did not do this at all

Aspect	Rating
Participated in most of the group meetings
Kept in contact with group members
Constructively contributed to group discussions
Was cooperative in group activities
Asked useful questions
Helped other group members when needed
Completed all tasks set by the group
Contributed intellectually to the completion of the task
Commented in a timely manner on the draft paper
Contributed significantly with ideas and words to the paper
Contributed significantly with ideas and actions to rehearsals
Based on your ratings, this student’s contribution overall on this group task is:

1. *Adapted from Isaacs (2002)

Timeline

Week 1	Groups decide on their topic; start researching for their play
Week 2	Research for the plays
Week 3	Finalising research and start writing the script
Week 4	Writing the script
Week 5	Read-throughs; first rehearsal; polishing the script
Week 6	Finalising the script; technical rehearsal; advertisement
Week 7	Dress rehearsal; enactment!