This is a book review of a collection of case studies, interviews, descriptions of exercises and philosophical writing about Phakama, a collaborative, participant-centered and intercultural theatre project for young people. The project originated in Johannesburg, South Africa, and spread across the country and the world to impact young people, their facilitators and their communities from 1996 to 2016. The review discusses the concept of democracy, as represented in the book, and its effect on the practices revealed in its pages. These practices are characterized by two principles that are discussed, with examples, in the review: the principles of mutual dependence and of boundary crossing. Without glossing over the difficulties that may come with such work, freely discussing and acknowledging difficult moments of intercultural interaction, Phakama, the book and the movement, is a testament to 20 years of ground-breaking theatre work that forges a way of working that exemplifies a democratic orientation, giving voice to a kaleidoscope of perspectives.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.