An Original Contribution to the Theory of Applied Theatre in Post-Conflict Nigerian Communities

Applied theatre in post-conflict contexts has been deployed internationally as a tool for community healing, truth-telling, social reconstruction, and peacebuilding, but a comprehensive theoretical framework for understanding its specific mechanisms and optimal deployment in North East and North Central Nigerian post-conflict communities requires original development. This study developed an original theoretical framework for applied theatre in post-conflict Nigerian communities, drawing on fieldwork in Borno State (North East) and Plateau State (North Central), both of which have experienced prolonged cycles of community violence. A multi-site qualitative methodology employing participatory action research was used over 20 months. At each site, the researcher collaborated with community theatre practitioners to design, implement, and critically analyse applied theatre interventions, generating both practical knowledge and theoretical insight. Collaboration with 18 theatre practitioners, 60 community participants, and 12 NGO programme staff, combined with critical analysis of 16 documented theatre sessions, provided the empirical foundation for theory construction. The original Post-Conflict Applied Theatre Framework for Nigerian Communities proposes four theoretical constructs unique to the Nigerian context: communal truth performance (the function of applied theatre in creating ritualised community witnessing of conflict experiences), ancestral mediation aesthetics (the use of traditional performance forms to invoke cultural healing resources), inter-ethnic aesthetic diplomacy (using shared performance languages to create cross-ethnic community connection), and safety performance (theatre as a protected space for narrative processing unavailable in direct community discourse). Expert review confirmed the framework's original contribution to both applied theatre theory and post-conflict arts programming.