Interactive theatre for community conflict resolution and transformation: the Oye-Ekiti Forum Theatre Workshop in perspective

The violent conflicts between the students of Federal University Oye- Ekiti (FUOYE) and their host community, Oye-Ekiti and other neighbouring communities where students reside - Ayegbaju-Ekiti, Ilupeju-Ekiti, Itapa and Ikole-Ekiti, as witnessed in recent times have been of a great concern to all and sundry. Interestingly, the viability of drama or theatre as a conflict transformation and resolution tool has continued to gain ground since the twentieth century. It is against the backdrop of using drama for conflict resolution (DCT), therefore, that this paper argues that forum theatre (FT) is an artistic methodology for participatory citizenship that creates a process of collective reflection to produce solutions to community conflicts. The study is theoretically hinged on Mezirow’s transformative learning theory. The theory explains the change process that transforms the human frames of reference to explain Boal’s FT techniques. The techniques give the ordinary people the opportunity to be part of their problems and to find ways to resolve them by themselves. The study adopts qualitative approach, using forum theatre workshop and participant observation in its data gathering and descriptive approach in its data presentation and analysis. The findings revealed that interactive/participatory theatre which forum theatre is a component of possesses the potency for communities’ conflict transformation and resolution when properly applied. The study, therefore, recommends that theatre practitioners and scholars should leverage on interactive/participatory theatre as a tool for projecting good and exemplary governance Keywords: FT, Transformative learning theory, Community participation, FUOYE, DCT