Searching for New Paths in Times of Pandemic: An Overview of Applied Theatre Practices

In 2019 and 2020, the social movement and the pandemic had a fundamental impact on theatre practices that focused on participation, experience, and art as a method/tool. Meanwhile, many theatre practitioners who had specific objectives for their work, such as education, issue advocacy, community connectivity, and empowerment, adopted more diverse and proactive approaches in their practices as compared to conventional theatre making. For this article, I interviewed three freelance practitioners, Kenny Poon, Sit Hoi-fai, and Franky Yau Ka-hei, and two organisations, Theatre in the Dark and the Oxfam Interactive Education Centre, both of which use applied theatre as a means to promote different visions. This article attempts to shed light on the state of applied theatre in Hong Kong in 2020—how practitioners and organisations responded to their respective situations, the choices and discoveries that they made, and their reflections on their own professionalism and ideals during a challenging year.