Since 1984 Americans have become less connected and less empathetic, with the steepest decline occurring after 2000 (Alleyne, 2010). The crisis of disconnection has had a catastrophic impact on our society and culture, especially on communities minoritised by race, gender, and sexuality.[1] It is high time to examine the multifaceted ways this disconnection manifests and research intersectional pathways to healing. This must include a reimagining of masculinity, starting with our boys. Western masculinity sees boys and men as emotionally illiterate and activity oriented (Way, 2020, 201). Acceptable expressions of masculinity are limited to physical toughness, independence, and anger (Connell and Messerschmidt, 2005). The confines of masculinity are connected to the very roots of Western Thought, including white supremacy, coloniality, and racial capitalism which has reified the role of white patriarchy for the express purpose of dehumanisation based on race and gender. Detangling ourselves from these roots is a massive undertaking which has primarily been done by very people marginalised, oppressed, and dehumanised by these systems, leaving white boyhood, manhood, and masculinity untouched in the conversation.[2]

This is an all hands on deck endeavour without a catch-all, but educational theatre with its proven track record to develop empathy and self-esteem, foster connection to self and other, and open pathways to liminal spaces, offers powerful potential. The need for extensive research and effective lobbying efforts is great. Studies to do with arts education in the United States primarily focus on the arts’ ability to increase test scores, school attendance, rates of graduation, and truancy (Catterall, Dumais, Hampden Thomas, 2012, and Brown, 2017). A recent study linked arts education to Social Emotional Competencies (Eddy et al, 2021). None of these studies are theatre specific, likely due to the lack of comprehensive educational theatre opportunities in U.S. schools (Duffy, 2016) but research conducted abroad is promising, specifically in youth drama programs that utilise devising processes. Studies from Gervais (2006), Balfour (2006), Phillips (2015), Al-Yamani, Attallah, and Alsawayfa (2016), and Jordaan and Coetzee (2017), show that young people see themselves as change-agents after participating in youth drama, although none focus on masculinity in particular.

Devised theatre offers significant promise to the issue of American boyhood.Traditionally, devising has been taught with a social justice lens, often as a tool to empower and disrupt paradigms. In an educational setting, devising teaches Social Emotional Competencies and utilises pillars of Critical Race Theory. However, at the suggestion of Dumas and Nelson (2016), who urge educators move away from envisioning Black boys in perpetual crisis, those engaged with devising should also offer participants a chance to tap into their own joy and wonder.[3]  The potential of devising as change-agent is backed up by emotion science which notes an emerging connection between creative processes and empathy development (Wondra and Ellsworth, 2015, Hanson, 2015). Likewise, research on role theory and the exploration of liminal spaces note that the embodied techniques used to create devised theatre has a long-lasting impact on brain development and explains the neuroscience of why devised theatre has the capacity to increase young people’s ability to problem-solve and see themselves as agents of change (Panagiotis, Ioannou, Zaphiris, 2019 and Gervais, 2016).

[1] Quantifying this with a citation is challenging. The effects can be found in poverty rates, rates of home ownership, hate crime statistics, high school graduation rates and more, all noting an increase in oppression and violence based on race and gender.

[2] We need only look at the proliferation of Black and Brown individuals being asked to do anti-racist work for free or advertisements teaching women how to be more effective in the board room, rather than asking those who have historically held power to examine their practices.

[3] Devising could use to expand its concept of social justice to include more celebration and joy. Many theatre artists utilising devising practices stand in opposition to traditional theatre-making processes because of their proximity to whiteness. In fact, the most widely produced plays and musicals in high schools are by white creators (Culwell-Block, 2022). The desire of devising practitioners to distance themselves from what is widely perceived as silly musical theatre in the tradition of whiteness has also pushed devising itself away from explorations of joy. However, a paradigm shift is underway. For an example of expansive devising centreing positivity see Jordaan and Coetzee, 2017.