Theatre as liberation, collaboration and relationship for asylum seekers

This article focuses on theatre as an occupation for asylum seekers living in immigration centres. The aim is to describe the engagement of asylum seekers in a theatre production that presented their experiences. The participants (n = 11, M = 7, F = 4) came from a Norwegian reception centre for people seeking asylum and originated from Asia and Africa. The study had an ethnographic design and used participatory observations. Data was analysed using an interpretative method. The findings identified themes of waiting for a future, making narrative turning points, becoming visible through participation and creating meeting places with possibilities through theatre. The discussion addresses how engagement in theatre might serve to liberate people in locked situations, how participation in such occupations creates relational aesthetics that can construct collaboration and social relations, and how the stories of life experts can create art expressions in the context of applied theatre without being a professional artist.