Dialogical theatre: reconsidering the role of Theatre for Development for malaria prevention in Malawi

This research snapshot examines the practice of Theatre for Development (TfD) in Malawi. It argues that, recently, Malawian TfD has been restricted to a tool for advancing the agendas and the goals of local NGOs funders rather than a real process of community transformation. It suggests that Paulo Freire’s problem-posing, or dialogical pedagogy — a method of learning where teacher and learner, as equals, engage in a collaborative process of problem exploration and solution finding — has been lost. The fact that practitioners in Malawi do not know of Freirian principles and have become so reliant on NGO communication briefs, results in work that is patronising and simplistic. I illustrate my argument with a look at one particular NGO use of message-based TfD.