b'Learning from Participants when Evaluating Projects inty, I attempted to create applied work that resistedcapitalist urge to place all the pressure and weight such systems. I wanted to find a way of acceptingon the final show. Focusing on the process, Applied Theatre the rewards of the system for the benefit of mak- rather than the product, meant that we were not ing more applied work, as well as avoiding thesecompletely reliant on the last session to end the Poppy Mellion notions of shallow, narrow evaluation in order toproject. In hindsight, this worked well as we had find a suitable framework for critical reflection. to cancel several sessions, including the last, due In this excerpt from a longer essay, Poppy Mellion explores how best to evaluate the support sessions she helped to facilitate for ato safeguarding against illness. We chose to adopt young person with Downs syndrome and makes the case for creating a system of evaluation that suits the needs of the individualWhen setting goals for an applied project, a capi- a new anti-capitalist form of working that would participant.talist approach to measuring success can produceappreciate slow change and a gradual evolution a fix-it mindset, one which must be interrogatedof work. It was quite an unusual way of working, As part of an Applied Drama module, I workedwhen embarking on applied work. Snyder-Youngand required a unique form of evaluation when with co-facilitator Megan to provide twice-week- It is extremely difficult to measure success in anbelieves that altruism, though coming from ameasuring the projects impact. Often the show, ly creative drama support sessions for Betty, aanti-capitalist way since the very notion of suc- place of good intentions, can reinforce existingor final product, is what marks the end to a pro-12-year-old with Downs syndrome who has beencess in the applied theatre field is intrinsicallyimbalances of power (2013: 27). I was very awareject; the main element that is watched, critiqued shielding due to Covid-19. Working with Bettylinked with funding. There is a reluctance amongof the language and process of my own researchand evaluated. Measuring the success in relation was an incredibly rich project for me as a facilita- applied theatre practitioners to develop and sys- prior to the project and chose not to read certainto a singular event runs the risk of dismissing tor because it gave me insight into working pro- tematise their own forms of evaluation (Ethertonarticles in order to avoid thinking there was athe importance of slow growth and development fessionally as an applied drama practitioner and& Prentki 2006: 144). This could be due to theproblem that I was fixing. This prompted me toover the course of a project. A final performance encouraged me to engage with challenging ethicaldependence on positive project evaluation in orderset boundaries for my role: I was there as a facil- regarded as highly successful does not necessarily issues, as well as learning to deal with the emo- to receive further employment or funding (Jen- itator of drama support, not as a diagnostician orprove the success of an applied drama project. Al-tional demands of the work. Before devising thenings & Baldwin, 2010: 73), as well as the factsupport worker. I am in agreement with Cahill etthough process and product are strongly linked, a project, we knew that Betty loved Shakespearesthat the working conditions of applied theatreal., who state: the language used to describe par- process that determines success via the final prod-The Tempest and, therefore, it became our stimulusproduction often do not allow for the luxury ofticipants is immediately indicative of the discur- uct could be ethically problematic in its dismissal for the project. We used music, puppetry, Gagatime and space required for substantial reflectionsive structures in place (2018: 9). From the outsetof the evolving needs of the participant and their dance, and improvisation to explore The Tempests(Snyder-Young, 2018: 85). When the very founda- of the project, the research I undertook withown project goals. Therefore, the model of evalu-characters and their relationships. Towards thetions and working structures of an applied dramaregard to working with children with learningation I was searching for needed to be non-linear, end of the project, when engaging in reflectiveproject are fundamentally capitalist, the ques- disabilities needed to reflect my thinking. Simi- non-product driven, one that made space for the praxis, I found questions regarding the success oftion of how one makes work using anti-capitalistlarly, the way I would measure success needed tolearning constantly unfolding in each session.the project challenging.ethics and methodologies persists. As a facilitator,mirror my intended working methodology. you are often embedded in webs of power (Sny- It is a common assumption in forms of impact I felt reluctant to reflect on the success of theder-Young, 2013: 138), reliant on institutionsinIn our first meeting with Betty and her father,evaluation of applied theatre projects that data is project within the existing frameworks of evalu- my case, the universityfor funding, access,Mark, we introduced ourselves, learnt more aboutonly valid if quantifiable, that funders are only ation I had previously come across and searchedcontacts, and therefore stuck within their agen- Bettys needs, and discussed potential intentionsinterested in measurable outcomes. Often the for a model more appropriate to suit our workingdas and systems of thinking. Although I was notand goals for the project. We asked Betty whatdata that emerges from written feedback forms methodology. Cahill argues that experiencing col- paid by the university for my work as an appliedshe wished to gain from this project, and the fouris superficial, more a performance of acquies-lective, creative, and critical engagement throughpractitioner, I was reliant on them for refundingof us came up with the intention: to have a placecence to the authority of funders than as a tool of drama allows participants to create and exploremy train tickets; most importantly, I was beingfor creative freedom and play. Mark advised us toreflective praxis (Snyder-Young, 2018: 81). Typical the imaginary within which change becomesassessed on my reflections on working with Betty.heavily structure the sessions and mentioned thatevaluation processes do not allow space to docu-permissible and possible (2018: 174). In thisIn my evaluation of the work, I wanted to avoidit was better to spring ideas on Betty to avoidment unexpected benefits or surprise evolutions, essay I will explore ways of documenting change,submitting to the pattern of tiptoeing aroundher becoming anxious with anticipation. We camenegative outcomes, or long-term impacts. Aesthet-acknowledge the limitations of current forms ofthe agendas of the institution I was dependentup with the concept of surprise club, in whichics are also often ignored in discussion of impact. evaluation in applied drama practice, and searchon. Addressing what is in it for me? cannot, asBetty was not aware of what we were doing untilGenerally, the form asks questions in which the for new models which engage in collaborative andSnyder-Young comments, redress systemic ine- we were doing it. This brought a playful, excitingfacilitator details how the project programme creative ways of measuring success and impact. Inqualities, but it can add a helpful degree of clarityspin on facilitation, and meant that if we neededfits the initial goals of the proposal. This way of our Western, capitalist society, the idea of successto relationships fraught with imbalanced powerto make changes last minute, there was no disap- evaluating impact does not leave room for unin-is innately linked to profit and growth. Inspireddynamics (Snyder-Young, 2013: 27). When em- pointment. After this initial meeting, Megan andtended changes, nor does it attempt to understand by the ethical challenges I faced when facilitat- barking on measuring the impact of my projectI decided not to include an end show in our pro- the intentions and experiences of the participant ing drama support sessions for Betty, I aim towith Betty, having a critical awareness of myselfject plan. Instead, we would create material eachin an accessible, creative way that mirrors the disrupt the current ideas of measuring successin relation to the webs of power meant that Isession that could be filmed, recorded, collected,projects intentions.while grappling with an understanding that theapproached the documentation and framing of theand archived. We felt that relying on a final per-very notion of success is born from the capitalistwork with an understanding of my positionalityformance would be in conflict with Bettys needsIn Walvoords 2010 approach to assessment of system that I am resisting through my appliedand the opposing forces at work. Despite beingand our idea of surprise club. Choosing a non- student learning, she suggests three steps of drama work. implicated within the systems of a capitalist socie- product-based method of facilitation resisted theassessmentnamely, goals, information, and 42 43'