Theatre of the Lost and Found

Based on a longitudinal study with disadvantaged youth, this book provides an auto-ethnographic perspective on the complexities of working as a practitioner within marginalised communities. The author tells the story of the Penwithen Boys project, highlighting the power of drama intervention at a critical time in the participants’ adolescence. It explores the impact of excluding young people from mainstream education and how young people can respond differently in a drama environment, compared to other formal educational or institutional settings. It also comments on the decline of drama education and raises questions about who has access to applied drama projects. Coyne also shares her 17-year quest to track down the boys and understand what, if any, effect the drama project had on their lives. Through the authentic voices of the boys, now men, the book shows that applied drama can have life-changing effects. Providing authentic insights, this important text offers invaluable guidelines for drama educators for working safely and sustainably with deeply challenged, marginalised and resistant participants and provides a look into the challenges for applied drama practitioners touching on some of the author's work with other groups including refugees and Travellers.