18 Understanding and mobilizing for Communit y Health
Sociodrama
A sociodrama allows people to act out a problem and demonstrate some of
its causes and effects. An example of how sociodrama is used to talk about a
forest resource conflict is on pages 186 to 188.
Sociodramas can bring
up lots of emotions. Some
community organizers like to
end by having people sing a
song together or do some other
‘cooperation’ activity.
Interactive theater is a kind
of sociodrama in which everyone
both watches and participates.
Any person in the audience can
tell the actors to stop, and then
can take the place of an actor
and act out a different solution
to the problem. This is especially
helpful in situations where
people take turns playing the
role of the person who has little
or no power.
Any story can be turned into a sociodrama as long as
it has characters and a problem to be worked out.
Role play
A role play does not require as much preparation as a sociodrama, and
can help explain different points of view or resolve conflicts. People act out
different roles in real-life situations to show what they would do. You can
discuss and repeat a role play to understand why people behave a certain way.
Changing the way people in power act is easy on the stage, but very
difficult in real life. Using a drama to practice how we interact with people
who have power over us helps people prepare different ways to respond to
power in real life.
Puppet show
A puppet show uses puppets
instead of people to act out the
story of a community conflict.
They make people laugh, and can
help them see things in ways they
are not used to. Some people find
it easier to talk through puppets
than to act on a stage.
A Community Guide to Environmental Health 2012