Bobby Smith

I am a practitioner and researcher interested in exploring social action and change with community groups through arts and performance. Before working in universities, I was a freelance community artist, workshop leader and consultant involved in a range of art-based projects including: violence prevention; work with young people in criminal justice settings; exploring peace and conflict; drugs and sex and relationships education; projects with refugees and migrants. I also devised theatre for and with different groups, including forum theatre about HIV/AIDS and gender-equality, performances for young audiences and work with young people experiencing homelessness. Alongside facilitating and creating projects, I also coordinated and managed several initiatives, trained people in the use of art-based approaches and developed handbooks and resources for several charities. I have been part of projects in the UK, Kenya, Hong Kong, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and Malawi.

Through both my teaching and research I hope to examine the claims made for applied and socially engaged performance and support artistic and creative approaches to activism, education, and social action. I enjoy working in collaboration with artists and communities - most recently I have been part of projects that have supported artists to create work about the climate crisis in Coventry and about legacies of violence in Northern Ireland and Rwanda. I have also collaborated with artists and cultural organisations in my teaching, particularly for the MA Applied Theatre: Arts, Action, Change, which I coordinate, and through the undergraduate module 'On it's Feet' which invites external artists to co-devise work with students. In 2023/24, students on this module worked with Stan's Cafe to adapt one of their pieces to explore how budgets and financing operates in universities.

I have published mostly in the area of applied and socially engaged performance, particularly on themes such as uses of theatre in global development contexts, theatre, performance and violence, and applied theatre and climate crisis. I am a co-editor of the journal ATR: Socially Engaged Performance

My research and practice explores the possibilities of applied and socially engaged performance. I am particularly interested in how we might foster global networks of solidarity and collaboration through the arts.

Previous and ongoing research projects have investigated theatre and development initiatives. More recently, I have led projects investigating arts, theatre and peacebuilding. This work included an AHRC-funded research network with collaborators in Northern Ireland, Rwanda, Kenya, and France. Future artistic and research collaborations are emerging from this work. Since 2020, I have worked with colleagues including Dr Rachel Turner-King (Education Studies) and a range of external artists to establish an education research collective: 'Acting on Climate'. Our focus is to support teachers, artists and young people to co-explore the climate crisis. You can find out more and access artworks and resources by visiting the project website.

I currently supervise PhD students working on topics related to my research, and welcome proposals exploring aspects of applied theatre, performance and the climate crisis, and arts and global development.