The role of theatre in education : a study on how theatre is used as a means of education within the Salesian educational pedagogy

Abstract

The need for deepening our understanding and knowledge of the Salesian Theatre has been an issue for years. Even back in 1968, the lack of research on Salesian Theatre was already being noted. Saverio Stagnoli, who is one of the main researchers in Salesian Theatre, states that one of the main factors which pushed him to perform research on the theatre, was the very absence of Salesian Theatre research within the Salesian congregation. Despite the importance given to having theatrical performances within the Salesian congregation, despite the congregation has more than 15,952 religious members spread all over 130 countries, and despite the fact that one of the major theatres in Malta is run by the Salesians of Giovanni Bosco, very little information is known about the Salesian Theatre within the field of Theatre Studies. There are in fact hardly any references to Salesian Theatre in academic literature on theatre. There might be three reasons for this absence, which I will try to explain below. One of the reasons behind this could be the fact that, theatre is one of the various means used within the Salesian Congregation to educate the young, thus making it difficult, at first glimpse, to connect the Salesian Educational System with Theatre. As O’Malley states, Giovanni Bosco ‘wanted his youth work to involve a school, a church, a playground and a home, all focussed on young people’. The ‘playground’ environment is one of the four main environments found within the Salesian Educational system. This is in turn divided into other sub-environments, one of which is Theatre. Other ‘playground’ environments are music, singing, feasts, outings and sports. Another reason for the lack of reference towards the Salesian Theatre by Theatre Studies scholars might be the fact that the Salesian congregation is relatively young when compared to other religious congregations and orders, therefore making it less known with scholars. This can be observed when one compares the Salesian congregation with other orders or congregations which also have an interest in theatre such as the Franciscan order and the Jesuit congregation. ‘The existence of the Friars Minor or first order properly dates from 1209, in which year St. Francis obtained from Pope Innocent III an unwritten approbation of the simple rule he had composed for the guidance of his first companions’. ‘In September 1540, Pope Paul III approved Ignatius' outline of the Society of Jesus, and the Jesuit order was born’. When compared with these two, the Salesian congregation is much younger. It was founded as recently as 1859. For this reason, the Salesian congregation could be less-known in the theatrical academic field.