You luxury loft, my daily misery! University theatre, neighbours, and schools combat gentrification through apllied theatre practices in a marginal district of Mallorca, Spain

Abstract

This article focuses on three applied theatre projects, framed within the Theatre of the Oppressed: Neighbourhood Herstories (2018), West Majorca Story (2019), and My Life in the Borough (2019). We explore how theatre students from the University of the Balearic Islands and neighbours in the marginal district of Nou Llevant, Palma, came together to combat gentrification and recover the hitherto unvoiced history of their borough through Forum Theatre practices. We argue that the collaboration between the university theatre company and Nou Llevant school and neighbours through these three applied theatre projects resulted in community self-empowerment.