Name Jennifer Hartley | Role Writer | |
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Books Applied Theatre in Action: A Journey, A puppet without strings, The Sin Eater, The Collection | ||
Jennifer S Hartley is a Scottish applied theatre practitioner, director and writer. She is the author of Applied Theatre in Action: a Journey, as well as various plays, poetry and other writings.
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Early life and education
Hartley was born in Glasgow, Scotland to Scottish parents who were both teachers. After completing a degree in English Literature and Linguistics at Strathclyde University in Glasgow, she went on to study direction and acting, where she specialised in applied theatre practices. Hartley received a doctorate from Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh where she addressed the effects of oppression on creativity.
Career
After a number of directing theatre ventures in the UK and abroad, Hartley’s work focused on South America, where she produced and directed theatre in both Spanish and English. At this time, Hartley was also teaching and lecturing on both drama theory and practice. Her work focused on therapy through theatre, working with theories and methodology related to Augusto Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed. Through their study and application, Hartley developed her own working practice, one that she now uses to work with minority and oppressed groups (in addition to their respective oppressors) internationally.
This, in turn, has led to a number of studies, publications and works by Hartley including plays, academic articles, and poetry. Hartley's plays include The Art of Silence (2005), The Sin Eater (2006), and 'Til Death do us Part (2010). The Art of Silence was performed in over eight countries and in three different languages, including performances at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2006. Hartley regularly works on various theatre projects, both community and therapy-based, from which new writing is also being developed.
In 2010, Hartley gave a talk at the TEDx conference in Bangkok entitled The Truth in the Lie. This talk addressed the idea of personal truths as perceived by individuals, and hence the ultimately subjective nature of truth itself.
Other activities
Hartley is the founder and director of the UK registered charity Theatre Versus Oppression (TVO). She has run projects around the world with TVO including work in Uganda, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Thailand, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, the USA and the UK. Hartley is regularly developing new projects in the UK and abroad, working in conjunction with various other non-profit organisations and educational establishments. She is also the co-director and co-founder of the media company Multi Story Media.