Negotiating Applied Theatre and Community Memory: A Methodological Framework from Itchi–Agu, Enugu State Experience

Abstract This article proposes a methodological framework for community-based memory work through applied theatre, grounded in the Itchi–Agu experience in Enugu State, Nigeria. Rather than offering a generalizable model, the framework emerges from reflective engagement with a situated, practice-led intervention. The study examines how theatrical processes, particularly storytelling, improvisation, and site-specific performance, supported community members in engaging with shared histories in a rural context shaped by cultural disruption. Drawing on Cultural Memory Theory, Applied Theatre and Participatory Pedagogy, Performance Ethnography, and Indigenous Knowledge Systems, the article adopts a retrospective and interpretive methodological approach. Analysis of documented workshop processes and performances reveals how embodied action, symbolic gesture, and collaborative narration supported intergenerational dialogue. These practices brought marginalised memories of lineage, land, identity, and communal obligation into collective reflection. The findings suggest that applied theatre functions not only as a creative practice but also as a critical methodological tool for examining how memory is negotiated, reconfigured, and transmitted within specific cultural settings. The article further suggests the cautious application of this context-sensitive framework in communities where memory is closely tied to performance, ritual, and collective life.