The Interaction between Theatre and Modern Power with an Examination of Sexuality Study in Schooling

Abstract

The application of theatre is usually considered as powerful and special. It makes people move, embody, and reflect. But what indeed makes theatre a different tool to liberate oppression and change reality? Why does it have to be theatre? As an alternative to the studies that try to seek for the answers from theatre itself, Michel Foucault’s modern power theory sheds light on a new possibility to disclose the essence and function of theatre when it is applied to solving real human issues. Qualitative research by a contemporary sociologist C. J. Pascoe about students’ sexuality in a high school bridges Foucault’s modern power and theatre as she defined school performances an exception in the hyper-masculine environment, which exemplified both Foucault’s power theory and theatre’s particularity. Hence, grounded on Pascoe’s research, this article attempts to describe theatre’s specialty in dismantling the ubiquitous modern power that operates in the masculine culture of a high school, with a hope that more practitioners in education and theatre will develop awareness for bigger changes.