Revisiting monitoring and evaluation strategies for applied drama and theatre practice in African contexts

Most of the applied drama and theatre projects being carried out in African contexts tend to be one-off events with limited follow-up in terms of building the capacity of target communities and organising them for action. Besides bringing people together for workshops, performances and post-performance discussions, such projects simply pass by with little or no impact. The few that have been given attention remain trapped within a modernising paradigm that seeks to create external blueprints for monitoring and evaluation (M & E). This article focuses on the current drive among international donor agencies, non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders in adopting more participatory strategies in M & E practice. The article argues for the adoption of a Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation (PM&E) framework where stakeholders at different levels share control over the form and content of the monitoring and evaluation process. While conventional M & E strategies mainly involve outside experts coming in to measure the impact of projects against prescribed social science-based indicators, PM&E seeks to engage all the stakeholders in planning, designing, implementing and assessing the outcome of projects.