Theatre for a Change in Malawi: Participatory approaches to Development

Theatre for a Change (TfaC) uses innovative strategies to empower vulnerable and marginalized groups through positive behaviour change and advocacy of gender and sexual equality. Adapting their practice from Augusto Boal's Forum Theatre, TfaC's aims to change attitudes towards gender and sexuality in specific communities within Malawi. When TfaC recognized that the Protagonist in their Forum Plays was predominantly female, re-enforcing the stereotype of women within these communities, they adapted Forum Theatre's concept of 'win/loss' to explore the issues of 'equality' where any character can be replaced in order to achieve an equality in the relationship represented on stage. They call this adaptation, Touch Tag Theatre. Touch Tag Theatre is currently used to positively change the behaviour of vulnerable and marginalized groups as well as to advocate for changes in educational and legislative policy decisions to those who hold power and influence in society on a wider level.