Drama Research
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Storytelling through theatre is a powerful way to reach others.
Led by Dr. Kathleen Gallagher, we are an ensemble of University of Toronto post-doctoral and graduate students, local and international artists, drama teachers, youth social service workers and young people who collaborate to explore the role and uses of drama in the lives of urban youth around the world.
Research and Team
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Our Research
We found that hope can be be a political alternative, that activating hope may be a form of audacious citizenship.
We are a research ensemble of diverse collaborators committed to exploring the power of drama to create social change.
Latest News
Our research team in Toronto is looking forward to the year ahead as “The Drama Workshop” moves into its second year. On October 20th, the team had their first fall meeting of our global research network for our SSRHC-funded project, The Drama Workshop: Collective discernment and artistic practice as relational pedagogies for an epoch of intersecting ecological, social, and economic crises (2025-2030) Exciting updates were shared from all sites–Ireland, India, Greece, Nigeria, and Toronto. Supporting each other through our Global Community of Practice model, it was inspiring to gather together and hear details about the drama pedagogies and practices unfolding in fieldwork in this second year of the project. We would also like to warmly welcome our most recent doctoral student research assistant addition to the team: Welcome Ming-Wei Chen! The Toronto team is looking forward to continuing to work with artist-collaborators Andrew Kushnir and Zorana Sadiq early in the winter term with Professor Banuta Rubess in her DRM 200 course. But before that, the team is getting ready for the first research site visit to Kolkata, India. Kathleen and team members are gearing up for an intensive 10 day visit to work with our collaborator Dr. Munia Tripathi, a recent CDTPS graduate who is newly working at Presidency University. Congratulations Munia!
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Dr. Gallagher’s SSHRC-funded Drama Workshop research team has had an active year of fieldwork across university and school settings in Toronto—partnering with embedded artists, students, and educators in creative workshops and interviews—while ongoing analysis and a growing international community of practice continue to shape the project across five global sites.
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In this recently published article, we (Gallagher, Kirsh, and Cardwell) argue that attunement to sensory and more-than-human dimensions of climate research fosters alternative ways of knowing and engaging with the environmental crisis. Use the link above to access a copy today.
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In Conversation With
Andrew Kushnir's new article is an invitation to consider the near-absence of Ukrainian stories on Canadian stages in the year since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began.
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Moving the Centre explores the work of two theatre-makers who simultaneously dare, fumble, and persist in bringing audiences into a space where complicity, authority, and authentic listening are met anew.
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What does it mean to be democratic? What’s the difference between being a citizen in a democracy and a subject in an empire? Dr. Urvashi Sahni answered these pressing questions and more in her inspiring and truly engaging TEDtalk.
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See here the launch of CODE Conversations with Matthew Sheahan, secondary teacher from Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board and President of the Council of Ontario Dance and Drama Educators interviewing Andrew Kushnir and Zorana Sadiq on their experiences with the Radical Hope research, the Towards Youth production, and their poignant thoughts on why Verbatim theatre is an especially important aesthetic with young people in these times.
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Artists for Real Climate Action is a non-partisan, ever-growing collection of actors, filmmakers, writers, musicians, playwrights, graphic designers, directors, and digital marketing folks all sounding the alarm over our climate crisis.
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