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In Theatre for Living workshops, whenever David Diamond led us in an Image Theatre exploration, he would always ask us to start a line for a character with “I want…” Sometimes, he required us to be very specific. If we said “I don’t want…” or “I want him to…”, he would interrupt us and ask directly: “What do you want?” This reminds me of an observation a professor shared when I was in university. He said that when choosing a career, many young people are often very clear about what...

In his book, David Diamond invites us to think beyond the binary concept of the oppressed and the oppressor. For reasons I’m still unpacking, I kept finding myself drawn to the perspective of the oppressor whenever an opportunity arose. The exercise began with an image created by the participants. It consisted of three people: one on the left, appearing angry and looking toward the right; another on the right, who seemed helpless with her head down; and a person in the middle, acting as a mediator with his arms extended...

Recently, I led a community group in a two-month Forum Theatre workshop. Deeply inspired by my training with “Theatre for Living,” I adopted a very different approach from previous years, embarking on a creative journey with the participants. The core of the workshop involved spending a significant amount of time using Image Theatre to explore their relationship with and experiences of oppression—an oppression that was not limited to violence but also included the powerlessness of being a bystander. I adhered to the core principle from David Diamond’s work: “not naming...

The triennial grand event in the Applied Drama community, the International Drama/Theatre and Education Association World Congress (IDEA Congress), was held in Beijing in July 2024. Tied up with a performance at my university, I was unable to attend. Meanwhile, I happen to be appointed by the Hong Kong Drama/Theatre and Education Forum (TEFO) this year as the journal editor again, taking over from Dr. Pansy Tam, who has dedicated herself selflessly to the editorial work for a total of 11 years since 2013 (A special shout-out to Dr. Muriel Law for sharing the heavy workload from 2013 to 2021). Pansy suggested that the journal could seize the opportunity to publish a special feature on the IDEA Congress right after its recent closure, so I had the privilege to peek at some of the conference papers before our readers, sort of consolation to me for missing the chance to be there. As I recall, when the IDEA Congress was hosted by TEFO for the first time in Hong Kong in 2007, we, with our limited experience, managed to successfully organise the largest drama education conference in the world through cautious and humble efforts combined. The excellent essays published back then were compiled in Planting Trees of Drama with Global Vision in Local Knowledge: IDEA 2007 Dialogues (Shu & Chan, 2009). 17 years later, the IDEA Congress returned to China. Readers, either present in the capital or not last year, can revisit or catch a glimpse of the event through the texts of our selected essays.

This study explores how Forum Theatre can enhance the sense of community and personal development among community members by examining a specific Forum Theatre project in Hong Kong through pre- and post-semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis. Forum Theatre, an interactive form of theatre pioneered by Augusto Boal, is utilised to engage participants in dialogues around social issues and foster community cohesion. Key findings highlight the development of a sense of community, psychological self-awareness, social learning, and empathy-building among participants. The research underscores the importance of shared emotional connections, equality, and autonomy in enhancing better community cohesion and communication. The study reflects that Forum Theatre offers unique advantages in addressing community needs and concludes with suggestions and future research directions for the broader application of Forum Theatre in Hong Kong to support personal growth and social change.

International Drama / Theatre and Education Association (IDEA) is an international association encouraging and supporting drama/theatre and education. It was founded in Portugal in July 1992 through the initial Congress in Porto. IDEA has since held international congresses in Brisbane, Australia, 1995; Kisumu, Kenya, 1998; Bergen, Norway, 2001; Ottawa, Canada, 2004; Hong Kong, China, 2007; Belém, Brazil, 2010; Paris, France, 2013, Reykjavik, Iceland, 2022. Each Congress is hosted by an IDEA’s member working in collaboration with the IDEA Elected Officers. Each IDEA Congress has a unique identity reflecting a sense of place and culture of the host member.

The IDEA 10th Congress was organised by IDEA members from China IDEAC (International Drama/Theatre and Education Application and Cooperation Congress) in Beijing, China, from 16th to 20th July 2024.

Yi-man Au from Hong Kong and Jeffrey Tan from Singapore, two Asian educational drama practitioners who have met at several of the IDEA conferences, decided to jointly reflect on their recent experience in the IDEA 2024 Congress in Beijing and collaborate on this Conference Review.

The conference review offers a snapshot of the keynotes and programmes in the IDEA 2024 Congress Congress in Beijing. It also offers some recommendations for future IDEA Congress organisers to consider when putting together an international drama/theatre conference.