1 
 

 

Asset Enhanced Forum Theatre for Liberation: Combining Appreciative Inquiry and 

Forum Theatre in Addressing Xenophobia on Zimbabwean women living in 

Johannesburg, South Africa. 

                                              By Sibongile Bhebhe 

     

 

                                     

 

 

 

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of the 

requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy (Applied Drama and Theatre Studies) degree, 

Johannesburg, 2022.  

 

Prepared under the supervision of:         

Dr. Petro Janse Van Vuuren           

 

 

 

 

 



2 
 

 

 

PLAGIARISM DECLARATION 

 

1. I know that plagiarism is wrong. Plagiarism is to use another’s work and to pretend that it one’s own. 

2. I have used the author date convention for citation and referencing. Each significant contribution to 

and quotation in this essay from the work or works of other people has been acknowledged through 

citation and reference. 

3. This essay is my own work. 

4. I have not allowed and will not allow anyone to copy my work with the intention of passing it off as his 

or her own work. 

5. I have done the word processing and formatting of this assignment myself. I understand that the 

correct formatting is part of the mark for this assignment and that it is therefore wrong for another 

person to do it for me. 

6. Ethics Clearance number: H17/07/01 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



3 
 

 

Dedication 
This thesis is dedicated to the late Prof. Kennedy Chinyowa who took me through part of the journey of this thesis. 

Professor Chinyowa, you taught me what research in the arts entails and you opened my eyes to the academic world of 

the Theatre of the Oppressed. I stood on the shoulders of a giant and maybe with my short legs I am also growing into 

the giant legacy that you left for me.  

Warren Nebe, words come short of your praise: My mentor, my brother and the author of my hero’s journey. Your 

Gandalf role sharpened within me the study of my own existence; it brought meaning to my migrant story. You gave 

me life skills to survive in a cruel world of binaries and you fought for my cause. 

To the migrant women of the world who have suffered forms of oppression in foreign lands, this too is dedicated to 

you. 

 

Acknowledgements 
I am mostly grateful to my supervisor for the guidance, authentic support, and motivation to complete my thesis. Her 

unwavering support, in dire times of the writing and fieldwork processes, cannot go un-appreciated.  I am grateful for 

the financial support I got from my funders: Margaret McNamara Bursary, Oppenheimer Memorial Trust, Ampersand 

Foundation Trust, the Wits University Merit Award, and the Wits University Teaching Assistant Grant. I extend 

gratitude to Hillbrow Theatre/Hillbrow Outreach Foundation for providing the space for the participants to explore 

their stories of oppression and share what it means to be an immigrant in Johannesburg.  

I acknowledge my son (Methembe Ncube), my mother (Laiza Khumalo), Chelsea Dube, Bridget Bhebhe and my 

family for the moral support they gave me on this journey. The phenomenal actors in the 0027 play are greatly 

appreciated.  I am also grateful to these friends for their support: Susanna Stahlman, Cindy, Quynn Johnson, Mcedisi 

Mabhena, Primus Tazanu and Pinky Ndlovu.  

 

 

 

 

 

 



4 
 

 

Table of Contents 

 

Contents 
Dedication ........................................................................................................................................................................ 3 

Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................................................... 3 

Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................................................ 4 

List Of Acronyms and Abbreviations ........................................................................................................................... 6 

Abstract ............................................................................................................................................................................ 7 

Chapter 1 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 8 

General Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................... 8 

1.1 Background and Significance ............................................................................................................................. 8 

1.2 Aims of the research .......................................................................................................................................... 14 

1.3 Research questions ............................................................................................................................................. 16 

1.4 Rationale ............................................................................................................................................................. 16 

1.5 Literature Review .............................................................................................................................................. 18 

1.6 Theoretical Framework ..................................................................................................................................... 29 

1.7 Research methodology ....................................................................................................................................... 35 

1.9 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................................... 46 

Chapter 2 ....................................................................................................................................................................... 47 

“Raising Bodies to Levels of Consciousness” - Looking through the Lens of Critical Awareness in Forum 

Theatre and Appreciative Inquiry (A conceptual framework) ................................................................................. 47 

2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 47 

2.2 The Concept of Consciousness .......................................................................................................................... 50 

2.3 Levels of Consciousness in Theatre of the Oppressed .................................................................................... 54 

2.4 Enhancing Consciousness Raising through Appreciative Inquiry ................................................................ 63 

2.5 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................................... 67 

Chapter 3 ....................................................................................................................................................................... 69 

Research Methodology ................................................................................................................................................. 69 

      3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 69 

3.2 Choices in the Field work .................................................................................................................................. 70 

     3.2.1 Outlining the Methods .................................................................................................................................... 75 

3.3 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................................... 89 

Chapter 4 ....................................................................................................................................................................... 90 

Rehearsal Rooms as the Symbolic Conceptions for a Rehearsal for Life ................................................................ 90 

4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 90 

4.2 The Aesthetics and Politics of Xenophobia in the Rehearsal Rooms ............................................................ 93 

4.3 Reformation of Theatrical Conventions in the rehearsal Rooms ................................................................ 100 

      4.4 Rehearsal Rooms and rehearsals as spaces for cultural metamorphosis ................................................... 104 

4.5 Playing out the Thin Line Between Fiction and Reality in the Rehearsal Rooms ..................................... 106 

     4.6 Lessons Learnt about Xenophobia from the Rehearsal Room Perspective ................................................ 109 



5 
 

4.7 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................................ 110 

Chapter 5 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 112 

Participation while Living on the Margins: A Crucial Accompaniment to the Socio-political and Economic 

Struggle ........................................................................................................................................................................ 112 

5.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................... 112 

      5.1 What Transpired in the Rehearsal Rooms .................................................................................................... 115 

5.2 Living on the Margins, amid Xenophobia, as an aesthetic perspective ...................................................... 120 

     5.2.1 It’s Cold at the Margins ................................................................................................................................ 128 

5.3 Participating to Liberate Themselves from the Socio-economic Struggles ................................................ 136 

      5.4 Lessons Learnt about Xenophobia ................................................................................................................ 140 

5.5 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................................ 140 

Chapter 6 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 142 

The Joker’s Traits: A Play Between Freedom and Dilemma .................................................................................. 142 

     6.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................... 142 

     6.1.2 Who and what is the Joker? ......................................................................................................................... 144 

     6.2 How the Joker technique was employed in the generation of data ............................................................. 148 

6.3 The Function of the Joker ............................................................................................................................... 150 

     6.3.1 The Joker as a Research Instrument ........................................................................................................... 150 

     6.3.2 The Joker’s Investigative Traits on the Merging of Forum Theatre and Appreciative Inquiry ........... 153 

6.4 The Joker’s Role in Facilitating Transformation ......................................................................................... 157 

      6.4.1 The Joker in Facilitating Dialogue as a Transformational Tool ............................................................... 159 

6.5 The Joys and Pain of Jokering Workshops as an Interested Party on the Topic of Xenophobia ............ 164 

6.6 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................................ 166 

Chapter 7 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 167 

General Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 167 

7.1 Summary of Study ........................................................................................................................................... 167 

      7.2 Conclusive Remarks ........................................................................................................................................ 178 

7.3 Further Research and Recommendation ....................................................................................................... 180 

Bibliography .................................................................................................................................................... 182 

Appendix 1 ...................................................................................................................................................... 196 

 

 

 

 

 

 



6 
 

 

 

List of Tables and Appendix 

Table 1 - Asset-based vs Deficit-based approaches, p23  

Table 2a - Forum Theatre and Appreciative Inquiry as Data Collection Methods, p27 

Table 2b -Where the methods intersect as data collection methods, p38 

Table 3 – Enhancement stages, p63 

Table 4 - Generic Workshop structure and progression, p82 

Table 5 – Data collection methods and what was discovered, p83 

Table 6 - Data findings, p168 

Diagram 1 - The Joker’s function, p108 

Appendix 1 - Forum Theatre Play, p196 

List Of Acronyms and Abbreviations 

Theatre of the Oppressed - TO 

Forum Theatre - FT 

Appreciative Inquiry - AI 

Practice as Research - PaR 

Applied Drama and Theatre – ADT 

Key Words: Appreciative Inquiry, Theatre of the Oppressed, Forum Theatre, Practice-

based, Practice as Research, xenophobia, conscientization, asset-based, deficit-based 

 

 

 

 



7 
 

Abstract 
This research study explored the effectiveness of using Forum Theatre together with Appreciative Inquiry, as 

participatory methods to address the effects of xenophobia amongst Zimbabwean immigrant women living in 

Johannesburg, South Africa.  The study was about merging Appreciative Inquiry and Forum Theatre to enhance 

women’s agency to transform their individual lives and the communities they come from through the use of an 

integrated methodology, Practice as Research (PaR). The research brought into focus an emergent research praxis in 

the domains of practice-oriented research and challenged the binary habits of thought/theory and practice inherent in 

traditional research. The methodology was positioned as an instrument to assess the meaningful participation of the 

women in theatre. Augusto Boal’s, David Cooperrider’s and Freire’s theoretical and conceptual frameworks guided 

and informed the study’s epistemological and philosophical vision around the issue of xenophobia. The results of this 

study were interpreted and analysed through a thematic analysis approach. It was discovered that the methodological 

design including merging of the two methods (FT and AI) facilitated and influenced perspectives around the 

transformative nature of FT and AI. The study revealed that the women’s bodies can be raised to critical levels of 

consciousness: Rehearsal rooms are symbolic conceptions for a rehearsal for a revolution: The women can move from 

margins of socio-economic rejection to recognition in the Johannesburg society amid xenophobia: The Joker’s role 

and function is critical to the interventional and transformational facets of FT and AI. The study also highlighted the 

counter arguments to merging the two methods as practicable but idealistic. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



8 
 

Chapter 1 

General Introduction 
 

1.1 Background and Significance 
Following the political tensions and economic tribulations during the 2000s, in Zimbabwe, there was a mass exodus of 

Zimbabwean citizens in what has been popularised as the ‘Zim Diaspora’.  The Zim Diaspora encompasses countries 

that, presumably, were to offer cushioning for the poverty-stricken and politically disenfranchised Zimbabweans. The 

exodus included Zimbabweans from all walks of life including women. The host countries included the first world 

countries such as the United Kingdom, United States of America and the economically thriving African country, 

South Africa. South Africa became an easy destination because of its close proximity to Zimbabwe. Many have 

(including the research participants) claimed that they chose South Africa because the living conditions are better than 

those of other African countries and their own country especially with regard to its democratic practices and economic 

standing.  

While in search of greener pastures, Zimbabweans have been faced with unexpected hostility from their South African 

counterparts in the form of ethnic prejudice and xenophobia. Landau (2013), in her article entitled, Xenophobic 

Demons Linger in South Africa notes that years after the 2008 xenophobic attacks, xenophobia is still a cause for 

concern. She attributes this to the negative discourse and practice of certain sectors of society where 

immigrants/foreigners have remained an object of criminal suspicion. Newspaper articles keep reporting on how this 

hostility continues and escalates. Khumalo (2020), a reporter from DW Newspaper, reports that this hostility has 

continued and has reached new heights. He shows how this wave, in the first and second decades of the 2020s, has 

elevated the blame on the foreigners as being responsible for the economic down-turn of South Africa. Zimbabweans 

have been pointed to as the largest cohort of foreigners who have created an unease in this socio-economic decline.  

Amid the spate of xenophobic violence and attacks, questions remained as to how women were affected by the 

violence and what role they played. Patel exposes how women were the most affected recipients: 

…the [xenophobic] violence has been shown to impose a particularly heavy burden on the women, who are often left 

alone to negotiate its wake and steer a new generation through the hurt, panic and confusion. They wage a dual battle for 

survival, first as foreigners in SA and then as women in a violent, patriarchal society (2015:01)1 

In her article, Patel desribes a woman, Fatima, from Malawi who was abandoned, together with her small child, by her 

husband who is also a foreigner during the xenophobic violence. She was left to fend for herself and her child amid 

the harsh conditions. She in turn wanted to give up her baby and leave her with camp volunteers at the displaced camp 

for foreigners. The perception here is that it would be easier for her to survive without the child since the male 

 
1 From DESTINY: Connect.com http://www.destinyconnect.com/2015/06/22/xenophobia-in-sa-women-first-

foreigners-after/ (accessed 13/06/2015) 

 

http://www.destinyconnect.com/2015/06/22/xenophobia-in-sa-women-first-foreigners-after/
http://www.destinyconnect.com/2015/06/22/xenophobia-in-sa-women-first-foreigners-after/


9 
 

breadwinner had vanished. This is one example of the many stories of how women face the gruesomeness of 

xenophobic violence.  

Smith (2015), Mail and Guardian newspaper reporter, chronicles two stories of women who experienced shame from 

the hands of violent xenophobic men. Memory, a Zimbabwean woman, suffered shame and humiliation when her 

husband was clubbed in front of her and his children by about fifteen men. The men looted everything that they had 

including her HIV medication. Joanna, also a Zimbabwean, lost her home and became destitute with her sick child. In 

retelling her story, she remarked that South Africa had become, ironically, unsafe in spite of its democracy.2 These are 

some of the stories that reveal the extent of the ethnic prejudice and xenophobia which can lead to acts of desperation, 

and the hatred among the perpetrators and the pain and panic on the affected. These stories are just the tip of the 

iceberg. There are more untold stories of women affected by xenophobia. This study seeks not only to unravel those 

stories and the effects xenophobia has had on women, it also seeks to show how the problem can be addressed and 

how their stories can be liberated from obscurity. This study focuses on the value and the ideal of their inclusion, 

equality and active citizenship in dealing with xenophobia.  

In 2017, the Deputy minister of Police Bongani Mkongi made a public declaration that was seen as toxically and 

inflammatorily xenophobic, saying that 80% of central Johannesburg (especially Hillbrow) had been infested and 

dangerously taken over by crime perpetrated by foreign nationals and this was without evidence. 3 On the 21st April 

2015 the Johannesburg Central Business District including Hillbrow witnessed a historic march against xenophobia. 

The University of the Witwatersrand was part of the march that saw students and the general populace (both locals and 

foreigners) march to denounce recurring xenophobic attacks in South Africa4. These incidents show how Hillbrow has 

been the heartbeat for concerns regarding the xenophobia discourse in South Africa. 

Tau Tawengwa (2015) reveals that the influx of foreigners into South Africa has provided aspiring and existing 

politicians with petty political populism. He warns that “the xenophobic occurrences in South Africa should serve as a 

forewarning to leaders across the continent. It is time we all roll up our sleeves and do what needs to be done to create 

jobs and to make our own economies competitive.” Although some of these politicians do this in the name of 

patriotism, their approach appears to be xenophobic because they instil rebellious attitudes on the participants that they 

select to take part in their movements. They do not approach it with a development and progressive focus. Desai 

(2008:49) also quotes Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in South Africa (2008) giving a warning about the need to 

understand how right-wing forces have used xenophobic language to advance populist movements in promoting the 

“lumpen-proletariat” against minority groups and to place them in the margins.   

There is need for interventions that will deepen enquiry into how women can be capacitated to deal with xenophobia 

in a more positive and participatory way. The tendency with most xenophobia-based interventions has been to give 

 
Her story is found here :2http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/17/xenophobia-south-africa-brothers-

violence-foreigners her story is found here. 

 
3 17 July 2017 Times Live, You are fuelling xenophobia SAHRC warns Deputy Police Minister 
 
4 23 April 2015 BBC NEWS https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-32432205 
 

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/17/xenophobia-south-africa-brothers-violence-foreigners
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/17/xenophobia-south-africa-brothers-violence-foreigners
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-32432205


10 
 

emphasis on problem finding and exploring deficit-based solutions rather than asset-based ones. Deficit and asset 

approaches will be discussed later in this chapter. As such, this research sought to fill the gap by exploring methods 

that focus on a more positive and participatory approach to social change and the transformation of the Zimbabwean 

women affected by xenophobia. Because the term social transformation is broad and may be problematic, in the 

context of this study, it refers to individuals and groups gaining and understanding social awareness and consciousness 

to civic participation, critical thinking, and giving voice to the oppressed, to equality, and generating policies that are 

feasible and inclusive. These policies should promote social justice and the inclusion of all members of the community 

in decision making processes.  These policies may include citizenship laws, identity documentation and foreign 

policies. They all encompass migration policies. The thesis will continue to focus on these policies when mention of 

policy is noted. 

The summary stipulations of the policies: 

Citizenship laws: ‘Most significant, for our interest, was the insertion of the principle of gender equality over that of 

respect for customary law in the new constitution - a principle that enabled a substantive equal citizenship between 

men and women' (Seidman 1999: 294). Without such a clause, it is possible that the patriarchal structures of much of 

customary law would have undermined women’s citizenship rights in real terms … The generous scope of the South 

African Constitution is sharply contrasted with widespread incidents of xenophobia, in South Africa, throughout its 

independence. These incidents range from xenophobic comments from leading political figures (24), to widespread 

outbreaks of xenophobic violence, most notably in 2008 and 2015. Explanations for this xenophobia are varied: most 

commonly the poverty of South Africans is cited, with reference to foreigners usurping work opportunities; others 

point to a politics of fear cultivated by the state and media frequently pointing to mass immigration and using 

foreigners as a scapegoat for high crime and poor service delivery'. (Hobden, 2018: 8-14) 

Identity documentation policy: 'The overarching importance of identity and identity management is evident and 

clear in this mandate. As observed in the White Paper, managing identity and the status of legal persons in a society, 

particularly in a modern society, continues to be essential for societies to organise work, distribute resources and 

ensure that people’s rights and identities are protected. And where those looking for economic opportunities and those 

who claim asylum create a movement of people, managing migration means minimising risks while maximising the 

benefits of migration in terms of knowledge, productivity and trade'. (Government Gazette 2020: 24) 

Foreign Policy: 'The Department of Foreign Affairs is, by definition, responsible for maintaining regular contact 

between South African government bodies and the international community. Role players should consider the manner 

in which a particular issue presents an opportunity for South Africa to promote the interests of the SADC region or the 

African continent'. (Foreign Policy for South Africa: Discussion document) 

The combining of Appreciative Inquiry and Forum Theatre, as intervention methods, takes precedence in this study 

because the two methods are based on promoting social transformation and agency among participants at all levels. 

Cooperrider and Whitney (2005), pioneers of Appreciative Inquiry (AI), describe AI as an approach that necessitates a 

systematic discovery of what life is about from a positive perspective. The approach emphasizes change processes and 

values what is best in people, affirms their strengths, potentials and their successes. The inquiry part is about exploring 

and studying what gives life to people through “…relational ways of knowing” (Cooperrider and Whitney 2005:6). 



11 
 

The concept of relational ways of knowing is engendered in people getting to know their world through experiences 

and interactions with their reality and the world around them. Therefore, the inquiry is about people exploring their 

realities through affirmative ways of knowing that are embedded in narratives that give them life in a more positive 

way. The emphasis is on them asking questions about what gives them a kick in life and what are the human terms in 

giving them this life.  

It is worth noting that AI is a corporate method. It is an approach to leadership development amongst all members of 

an organization while also focusing on organizational transformation. Everyone is seen as a leader in that 

organization. It is mainly used by companies to help their members to apply appreciative interviews and inquiry for 

positive strategic planning, increase momentum of work strength and boost innovativeness and initiative. While it is 

noteworthy that this is an organizational method, this study seeks to find ways of using it in theatrical settings. It is be 

used against the backdrop of Forum Theatre techniques.  

The AI process follows a 4 (four) part cyclical pattern that leads participants to arrive at the desired destiny. This is 

called the 4D model. It involves for stages of development: The Discover stage, Dream stage, Design stage and 

Destiny stage. Each stage progresses to next as a way for participants to explore their stories of progress through a 

process of discovery. Lewis et al (2011) postulate that these stages are about working in the spirit of inquiry. Each 

stage is contextualized by these questions:  

Discover - What is best? 

Dream - What might be? 

Design - What should be? 

Destiny - What will be? (Lewis et al 2011) 

Forum Theatre (FT) which is under the umbrella of Theatre of the Oppressed was discovered and invented in the early 

1970s by Augusto Boal (Ganguly, 2010). Augusto Boal (2003, 2002) explains that Forum Theatre is an interactive 

theatre form with an aim to help audience members identify their oppressions in order to begin to overcome them. 

Babbage (2004) describes Forum Theatre as unconventional theatre that gets the audience members to be initiators of 

meaning in their lives and agents of change thereof. Babbage places FT as unconventional because of the breaking of 

the fourth wall in theatre to allow for the innovativeness and inventiveness of the audience taking part in the play. This 

includes the audience taking the responsibility of solving the protagonist’s problems. The protagonist is the character 

who portrays the dynamics in the suffering of oppressed people. Also unconventional in the sense that they question 

the status quo and challenge the realities of what the protagonists faces. They empathise with the protagonist character 

who epitomizes the lives of oppressed people. Babbage explains that, in practice, Forum Theatre presents the audience 

with an indecipherable problem of oppression. The problem, presented in the play, must be solved by the audience. 

The play is shown to the audience so that they may analyse it and take part in finding the solution to the problem. The 

process is facilitated by a Joker who is a master of ceremonies for the Forum Theatre event. The Joker also asks 

critical questions that get the audience to think deeply about the reality of oppression that is being presented in the 

play. The audience is invited to take part in the play, on stage, to solve the problem. Babbage explains that they go on 

stage to pit themselves against the antagonist characters to break the pattern of oppression. The inventiveness is in the 



12 
 

way they improvise the solutions and use the alternative solutions to plan for their real lives outside of the theatre 

experience. Like Appreciative Inquiry, FT is guided by critical questions, and questioning that propels the study and 

exploration of issues raised by participants. Babbage points out that the process is evaluative, hence it becomes a 

systematic exploration of people’s lives. This study did not seek to make Appreciative Inquiry (AI) superior to Forum 

Theatre, but to find out if the asset orientation of AI can enhance Forum Theatre. Sometimes FT may appear to 

instigate trauma as participants start realizing the depth of their oppression. Appreciative Inquiry, may arguably, tone 

down the trauma with its positive approach and perspective. 

The Joker is at the centre of the Theatre of the Oppressed and is an important aspect of Forum Theatre. Miramomiti 

(2017) explains that the Joker’s role is to facilitate the embodied and aesthetic conversations and dialogue between the 

audience and actors. The Joker acts as midwife who gives birth to new responses to the play that is shown. The 

midwife facilitates the difficult relationship between the oppressed character on stage and the audience who offer 

alternative solutions to the difficult problem (Boal.2002). In this case, the midwife enables the oppressed people to 

give birth to new ideas and thoughts on the conflict (Miramonti, 2017). He/she ensures that the process between actors 

and spect-actors is dialogic and not one sided as in traditional theatre set ups. He/she is in the service of the oppressed 

to protect them from those who want to dominate the weak. The powerless are given equal voices with those who 

dominate. 

 Forum Theatre (FT) and Appreciative Inquiry (AI) are both participatory methods that promote social transformation 

and solution finding. The methods of AI and FT cultivated change in the mindset of the women in them thinking that 

they are second class citizens. Women can be transformed to see themselves as equal to any of their counterparts in 

decision making. In most cases, they envision themselves as living on the margins of society, the methods can help 

them realise ways of moving from the margins. The methods can as well influence women to be active agents of their 

own change. The women may be enabled to find strategies of living as full human beings without the fear of being 

looked down upon as less human. The transformative power of the two methods is realized in the fictional context of 

the workshops. We cannot fully assume that the women were transformed to act out all these possibilities in real life. 

This would not be ascertained in real life except there be a post-workshop research. However, in the workshops, they 

went through some reflective moments where they were heard to have positively influenced by the process. 

Forum Theatre as part of Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed was used as a tool of inquiry and method of 

addressing xenophobia among Zimbabwean women. This study asserts Forum Theatre as deficit based. Argued as an 

asset-based tool, Appreciative Inquiry was selected as a method that enhanced the deficit-based approach of Forum 

Theatre. It was as inquiry into how it could enhance Forum Theatre in its deficit-based approach to effectively address 

xenophobia among Zimbabwean immigrant women. While Forum Theatre promotes social transformation and gives 

voice to the oppressed, it dominates the audience member/spectator with conflictual language and perspective. The 

Joker, who is the facilitator of Forum Theatre, always asks, as critical questions, what the audience thinks is the 

problem or conflict and who is the most affected by the conflict. Such questions presuppose that the spectators’ lives 

or realities are riddled with conflicts and that already sets a tone of conflict in the language of the forum. 

Deficit-based approaches refer to interventions that are associated with risk, problems and negative outcomes (Skodol 

2010). This means that from the beginning, the questions that are asked are problem oriented. They require the 



13 
 

participants to focus on that which is not working, fractured and needs them to be sensitive to and highly aware of the 

broken wheel. This is all propelled-on deficit thinking. “Deficit thinking is tantamount to the process of blaming the 

victim’. It is a model founded on imputation, not documentation (Valencia: x). Valencia argues that it is actually a 

way of trying to combat problems in a top-down approach that is paternalistic. In argument he posits that rather than 

eradicating the problem, we use a compensatory approach that points at blaming the victim to be inadequate of solving 

the problem. Deficit approaches are a form of oppression in themselves, “…a cruel and unjust use of power and 

authority to keep a group of people in their place” (Valencia:04)  

Asset-based approaches are about focusing on people’s strengths and potential in solving their problems. It is an 

admission that problems exist, but to do better, we do not need to keep focusing on them to solve them - Let us rather 

find ways of mitigating them in a positive way. Wasiak and Cramer (2006) explain that asset-based approaches work 

in the way participants are allowed to absorb their reality, are given the means to perceive it objectively and filter it in 

a way that is not clouded with negativism. If, as change agents and facilitators, we can do that, it changes the 

participants’ lives dramatically. They focus on that which works rather than not. It tends to favour inspiration over 

desperation (Wasiak and Cramer). 

As part of the Theatre of the Oppressed nomenclature, Forum Theatre may be found wanting and further promoting 

inherent conflict and binaries between the oppressed and the oppressors. This is in the sense that it may appear to give 

voice to the oppressed only and that may inflate the ego of the oppressed as victims in need of sympathy and attention. 

At the same time the oppressor may smart over the idea that he/she is being portrayed as a monster that is beyond 

redemption and so he/she may be adamant that this is the natural order of the world. This study sought to find out, if 

Zimbabwean women could address and deal with xenophobia without playing victim and not immersing themselves in 

conflictual language per se.  

Furthermore, the stories of oppression selected for Forum Theatre are usually not selected collectively by community 

members. Forum Theatre companies usually identify the stories and plan interventions on their own and sometimes 

with a few gatekeepers. This is problematic in that the stories may not reflect every community member’s concerns 

whereas with Appreciative Inquiry (AI) stories are collected and shared by all members concerned. Moreover, the 

stories shared in AI do not focus on problems, but what works in that community5.The structure of Forum Theatre is 

linear (This is illustrated in the table in the methodology section in this chapter). Compared to AI, which takes a 

cyclical structure, FT does not go back to the drawing board to assess the value of transformation. This means that it is 

not sustainable. It may not be enough to give women awareness and power to transform their lives, it is also necessary 

for the project to be sustained by allowing room for re-planning so as to assess the value of change and empowerment 

thereof. As people who fear discrimination and being chased away from South Africa, there is need to employ 

strategies that are sustainable for immigrant women to be able to deal with xenophobia in future. 

This study focuses on the Zimbabwean women’s oppressive reality while foregrounding the conditions of oppression. 

Historically, research on oppressed women has been about their conscientization to advocate the thwarting of passive 

 
5Community in this study refers to a group of people who share common goals and values as informed by their geographical 
surroundings. Particular to this study is the community of women at the Goshen shelter in Johannesburg who come from 
Zimbabwe 



14 
 

participation in the process of social change. This study advocates for an approach that focuses on women as subjects 

of the research and as agents of their own change and action. Women have been subjected to passive participation that 

has left a continuity of struggles as the social norm.  

The chapter begins with the background and initial research on the conceptions and stories of xenophobia which 

prompted the commencement of this study. It then explores the research perspectives that foreground and propel the 

advancement of the research process. These perspectives include the aim, research questions, theoretical and 

conceptual frameworks, rationale and methodology. The chapter brings forth and initiates the argument around the 

merging of Forum Theatre (FT) and Appreciative Inquiry (AI) as participatory tools for social and practice-oriented 

research.  

1.2 Aims of the research 
This study sought to discover the effectiveness of Appreciative Inquiry to enhance Forum Theatre in addressing and 

dealing with xenophobia among Zimbabwean immigrant women living in Johannesburg. It explored the combination 

of the two methods as participatory tools in social research engendered in practice perceptions. As such, the research 

project sought to employ Practice as Research as its methodology. Practice as Research (PaR) was selected as the 

research method because it recognizes the transformational and interventional perceptions inherent in AI and FT as 

well as their development of reflection upon action in their enquiry research processes. 

 The study also recognizes practical knowledge as essential in gathering information for the study. That is why praxis 

and critical awareness were brought as essential aspects to emphasise the participatory approach of AI and FT. Feeling 

powerless and unworthy are the most frequently recognized emotions among Zimbabwean immigrant women as 

illustrated by the story of Memory and Johanna in the Mail and Guardian (2015). Critical reflection may induce 

positive perception among immigrant women to reflect on such negative emotions in a way that they may start to 

perceive xenophobia as alterable. 

The study aimed to explore how the sharing of both negative and positive stories would help to effectively address 

lingering effects of xenophobia. Whitney and Trosten-Bloom (2010), in Appreciative Inquiry, assert that people value 

stories when their lives are at their best and they become inspired to share and use the stories to build a better future. 

From the stories told, Zimbabwean women were aware of their problems. The aim of this study was to help them 

refocus on the stories that also work for them in Johannesburg. This refocusing enabled them to fix the problems they 

have. In light of this, the study also aimed to find out if the combining of the two methods could give voice to the 

women and help them realize that they are not victims incapable of speaking out for themselves. This is the beauty of 

Practice as Research - That not only is data and information gathered, but the process also becomes an intervention 

strategy.  

The aim was also to carry out this research with both men and women living in the Johannesburg Central Business 

District (CBD). The women were the main subjects under study while the men gave compatriot support. Their views 

were valued as distinctively supplementary to the data collected from the women. The participants live in areas such 

as Hillbrow, Berea and Yeoville, these are areas mostly populated by Zimbabweans. Only one participant lived in 

Braamfontein with close proximity to Hillbrow. The aim was also to select participants who were drama ready and 

understood the principles and practice of drama workshops. It would have been too ambitious to expect people 



15 
 

without such a background to go through about 15 drama workshops if they did not understand this. However, a 

choice was made to present the Forum Theatre event to people without any specific knowledge of drama, but who 

lived in the Johannesburg CBD. 

Taking into account the participatory nature of the two methods, this study was based on a Practice as Research (PaR) 

methodology to explore the merging of the asset-based and problem-based approaches of AI and FT, respectively. 

This was to ascertain if they could contribute to social transformation and justice among the socially disenfranchised 

Zimbabwean immigrant women in Johannesburg. The PaR model is articulated in the methodology section, but it 

essentially focuses on process more than product of the enquiry as it concentrates on experiential learning and 

participation of both the researcher and participants towards production of knowledge (Barrett and Bolt 2007). 

In the context of PaR, practice informs the study. This means that the combining of Forum Theatre and Appreciative 

Inquiry made contribution to the advancement of knowledge and understanding on the experiences of xenophobia 

among the women. The issue of xenophobia among Zimbabwean women is an illustrative paradigm that demonstrated 

the effectiveness of combining the two methods.  This study was not an end to itself, it allowed participants to gain 

knowledge and skill on how they could best help themselves and their communities deal with xenophobia. 

The reason for selecting Forum Theatre and Appreciative Inquiry as frames of reference was that the two are 

symbiotic. Forum Theatre has participatory and conscientising merits. However, falls short of bringing about positive 

perspective to change that is intrinsic in Appreciative Inquiry. Appreciative Inquiry moves beyond conscientising 

people to giving them a whole positive and empowering outlook on life. The two methods both offer an experiential 

approach to solving problems. As such, by combining the two methods, it was hoped that the negative effects of 

xenophobia on the women will be challenged and diminished. The development of the research methodology was 

informed by the practice that was propelled by the workshop sessions. 

As much as Forum Theatre has the power to transform participants’ lives, it has been realised that there are limitations 

in how the oppressor and oppressed relationship binaries can be totally thwarted. This research does not only seek to 

combine the symbiotic methods, but also to show how AI can enhance the relationships between the oppressed and the 

oppressors. A stalemate between the two groups was noted in the workshops, particularly when and where audience 

members were involved - This is where there were both locals and the participants. In the “constraints in Boal’s 

Poetics of the oppressed”, Chinyowa (2014) argues that 

However, Freire and Boal sought to transform unequal relations of power in favour of the oppressed and TO tends to 

ignore the contradiction between the oppressor and the oppressed…As Bruce Burton points out with reference to 

enhanced Forum Theatre, the limitations of FT lie in the over-riding imperative to solve the oppression rather than 

exploring it in depth. This structural shortcoming means that even the most complex forms of oppression are treated 

rather superficially without an exploration of the historical context of the at hand… It appears to construct the world as 

divided between black and white…self and other. The result is to gloss over more complex relations of power in which 

these categories are fluid rather than fixed. (Chinyowa, 2014:3). 

While Chinyowa highlights these binaries, I argue that, holistically, when binaries are exacerbated in a Forum Theatre 

workshop, there is need to strategise towards cooling the conflict. Appreciative Inquiry brings forth the tactic. AI taps 

into historical contexts of oppression through its storytelling approach. The participants are asked to tell their past 



16 
 

stories of success so as to inform their present and work towards changing their future. In the initial workshops, the 

participants were asked to share both their stories of oppression and stories of strengths and successes. This is among 

some of the asset oriented techniques of AI that were tapped into to enhance Forum Theatre. 

1.3 Research questions 
1. How can the combination of Appreciative Inquiry with Forum Theatre effectively address xenophobia on and 

among Zimbabwean Women living in Johannesburg? 

2. How can an integrated Practice as Research approach to Forum Theatre and Appreciative Inquiry give voice 

to Zimbabwean women affected by xenophobia? 

3. To what extent does the asset-based orientation of Appreciative Inquiry enhance the deficit-based approach of 

Forum Theatre for the raising of consciousness of the women. 

1.4 Rationale 
Xenophobia has become a topical issue in South Africa and has received a lot of attention in the recent years. People 

have written articles, books and various forms of literature speculating, documenting and reporting possible solutions 

to the problem. This literature gave me the hunch to pursue this research. Amongst the leading authors are Neocosmos 

(2010); Landau (2012); Harris (2002); Hassim et al (2008); Kihato (2013), Nyamnjoh (2006); Crush et al (2017) and 

Mbiyozo (2019). However, some of the literature narrowly explores the experiences of immigrant women. In most 

cases the literature employs a certain patriarchal tone that perceives immigrant women as second-class citizens. It is 

understandable that men are exposed to xenophobic violence as shown in the newspapers, however it is limited to 

narrowly perceive women as an afterthought when real issues of xenophobia are dealt with.  Furthermore, what is 

usually exposed in these writings is the plight of women as victims in need of salvation. Kihato (2013) underscores the 

need to validate the experience of women in the complex issue of xenophobia and migration as follows: 

…breaking the silence on women’s migration, the focus of literature has been disappointingly narrow, typically 

highlighting women’s vulnerability to [only] trafficking, prostitution and coerced exploitative labour…While these 

observations are real, what they are silent on is how women negotiate these otherwise violent spaces. ..By looking closely 

at women’s everyday lives, it is clear that these categories are disconnected from their experiences, and unhelpful in 

explaining lived experiences…They [too] have agency in the migration process. (2013:120) 

This study advocates for what Kihato (2013) sees as a humanitarian and experiential discourse on women’s agency in 

dealing with xenophobia and their lived experiences. It is not enough to just deal with women’s victimization and 

victimhood, but overlook the extent to which they can be agents of changing the xenophobic status quo. An 

experiential discourse is that which values practice as inherent in dealing with topical issues that affect participants’ 

way of life, in research patterns. 

The above assertion proposes an argument that the experiential discourse is necessary for women’s agency. It is 

without doubt that most of the literature has expounded on social change for women. Notwithstanding, there has been 

less focus on interactive, active and participatory social change. As argued earlier, the movement has seen women as 

passive agents of change. This research moved in the direction of active participation among the women to articulate 

the experiential discourse. Active and interactive participation, in this regard, involves the direct involvement of 

women in the process of change. Hence, the desire to explore the blending of participatory methods of Forum Theatre 

and Appreciative Inquiry through a practice-oriented approach. 



17 
 

Not much has been written on merging Forum Theatre and Appreciative Inquiry and still less has been articulated in 

dealing with the question of xenophobia among immigrant women. I have written (Bhebhe 2013) about the merging of 

AI and FT for social change among the youth in an unpublished Master thesis. Maritz (2010) also wrote about this.  

The two authors celebrate both Forum Theatre and Appreciative Inquiry as methods that can provide meaningful 

experiential approaches for socially excluded young people. They argue that the two methods constitute dialogue, 

action and reflection which are imperative to social change. Augusto Boal (the inventor and founder of the Theatre of 

the Oppressed) (2002) points out that dialogue, action and reflection posit a critical enquiring of the burdens of 

oppression and questioning of the direction of change. In the same view, Cooperrider (The founder of Appreciative 

Inquiry) et al (2008) assert that dialogue, action and reflection engender new avenues of dialogic inquiry to foster 

social change affirmation and assurance. Hence, combining the two methods is the focus of this study. Not only did I 

want to see the merging of the methods as social transformation intervention strategies, but as methods that affirm arts 

intervention as a more experiential and sustainable approach. 

The eagerness to carry out this study also stemmed from a personal persuasion. As a foreigner who has been living in 

South Africa, I have had encounters that have left me smarting over the claim of democracy and celebration of 

diversity in this country. First, I have received lewd comments about how I don’t exhibit the same feminine 

demeanour that my foreign counterparts possess because of some vague reason or I have typical makwerekwere6 

tendencies. I find the former comment as not a compliment because it scorns the celebration of diversity in its implicit 

vulgarity while the latter is harrowing in its unambiguous obscenity. Second, I have also been faced with the implied 

lack of safety as a woman in the Johannesburg vicinity. With this persuasion I sought to explore the reasons behind the 

hatred and prejudice through the sharing of experiences with fellow women in a space that engenders experiential 

participation in order to address these challenges. 

The hope was that this study could contribute to emergent discourse in the field of migration studies as the broadening 

application of the methods developed here. Scholars in migration studies may find it interesting to find out how the 

stories shared in the workshops of combining FT and AI processes can contribute to the understanding that migrants 

can be capacitated to liberate themselves through participatory means. They could use this method to expand on 

capacity building projects for migrants in South Africa. This study also may contribute to the expanding and emergent 

approaches in Applied Drama and Theatre. The 21st contemporary Applied Drama facilitator, practitioner and scholar 

can be endowed with new concepts, theories and practice that drive the ADT pedagogy. In this instance, the 

combining of a corporate method (which is AI) with an arts method (which in FT) is progress in the direction of 

expanding the role arts in an interdisciplinary way. The arts can be a means to an end. 

Lastly, I wish to acknowledge that there has been scholarly knowledge and research pertaining to migration and 

xenophobia in South Africa. Xenophobia has also been explored as a topical issue. However, this issue has not been 

addressed in a more experiential and efficacious way. Most scholars have explored xenophobia in terms of its causes 

and effects on both men and women, I intended to narrow it down to the participation of migrant women who I felt 

have been left behind in terms of citizen participation and excluded in decision making processes.  

 
6A derogatory term for foreigners in South Africa. 



18 
 

1.5 Literature Review 
 

a) Perceptions of xenophobia 

As a term that has received much attention in the 21st century, xenophobia has been described by various scholars 

from its etymological meaning to its conceptual significance. In this study xenophobia will be discussed in a broader 

sense to include attitudes, contextual and conceptual signification. Caliendo and Mcllwain (2010) describe xenophobia 

by starting with its etymological definition to the contemporary understanding of the term. They explain that 

xenophobia comes from the Greek compound word xeno and phobos: xeno means stranger and phobos means fear. If 

combined, the word literally suggests the fear of strangers. They further explain that the stranger, in the xenophobic 

discourse, has come to be associated and equated with the derogatory perception of foreigners. Intrinsic to 

xenophobia, fear is purported to be an attitude, which is closely linked to oppression, exploitation and discrimination.  

Bordeau (2010) concurs with Caliendo and McIlwain and adds that “the fear or distrust of foreigners is irrational as it 

is based on assumptions, stereotypes and prejudice” (2010:5).  

Mashau (2019) alludes to the term (xenophobia) as causing a migration crisis in South Africa because it has been 

loosely used to perpetuate fear and serious hatred against foreigners. He argues that this kind of fear and hatred results 

in violence, loss of belonging and life. The definition attached to the word and linked with the description of 

foreigners, in South Africa, reverberates with intransigent prejudice in the ears and minds of locals. Mashau’s 

illustration points out how definitions of some words end up dangerous because of the connotations attached to them 

as derived from narrative lingo of certain locations. 

When people fear other people, the tendency is to socially exclude them. This creates suspicion and lack of trust 

among people. Primarily, xenophobia becomes a social predicament and complication that brings a discordant order to 

being and belonging in the global village. When people are fearful and suspicious of each other they do not feel that 

they belong. This study argues that social exclusion is at the core of xenophobia and there should be ways that can be 

employed to deal with this problem in a manner that will enable immigrant women to analyse ways that they can be 

included as humans not strangers in Johannesburg. 

Olowu (2008) and Clissold et al (2020) mention that xenophobic attitudes also incorporate prejudices that somehow 

promote the rejection and exclusion of members of a minority group and vilification by those of a dominant group. 

Clissold et al point out that these attitudes become worse in cases of pandemics as that of the Covid 19. When people 

display negative attitudes towards those that they deem to be foreigners/strangers they prevent or jeopardize social 

development and create antagonism. In the case of South Africa, such attitudes have even endangered economic 

stability. Capacitating Zimbabwean immigrant women to address these negative attitudes and antagonism may give 

them the rigour to take part in economic discussions that may contribute to the economic stability of the country. 

Warner and Finchilescu (2003:36) suggest that “xenophobia as a term must be reframed to incorporate practice.” They 

argue that xenophobia is not just an attitude, it has become an activity where people have displayed violent tendencies 

to foreigners or the deemed strangers. They claim that it has resulted in bodily harm and damage. To a greater extent, I 

concur with Warner and Finchilescu’s suggestion because in 2008 and 2015 and the resultant years, xenophobic 

attacks escalated to murder and torture. The literature surrounding the description of xenophobia has been 



19 
 

shortcoming in that regard, hence the need to reframe it. Neocosmos (2010) states that there has been an increased 

hostility towards foreigners over the years and they have been denied some rights and entitlements in South Africa. 

Such hostility can be described not as an attitude, but as an activity. Employing the participatory methods of FT and 

AI blends in well here, because the women had to deal with the activity in a participative manner. FT and AI enabled 

the participants to take active participation in dealing with such hostility. 

The concept of Makwerekwere receives attention in the xenophobic discourse. Nyamnjoh (2006) contends that the 

term is used derogatorily to the extent of seeing foreigners as less than human. Arguably, makwerekweres would 

qualify as savages and uncivilized barbarians who need to rise to South African standards of civilization. There is a 

claim in the streets from amongst people that I have conversed with that the term originated from the vocal 

distinctions of foreigners in their languages. Because the vocalization is distinct, they received scorn and denigration 

as people who are loud, queer and uncivilized. This is even made worse because most of the makwerekweres are from 

countries that are presumed to be culturally and economically retrogressive (Nyamnjoh, 2006 and Ibrahim et al 2020). 

If capacitated to deal with such vulgarity, Zimbabwean immigrant women can challenge this negative notion that 

coming from economically retrogressive countries does not mean they are savages or incomplete human beings. 

The bitterness against the Makwerekweres is exacerbated by economic disparities where they are accused of stealing 

jobs from South Africans, accepting low wages and destroying the economy (Sichone in Nyamnjoh, 2006).  For South 

Africans, this is against their struggle for liberation. Hence, COSATU7 advocated for stringent measures against 

foreigners entering the country and encouraged the Minister of Home Affairs to repatriate all foreigners (Nyamnjoh 

2006). This scramble for economic resources is amongst the highest contributing factors of the xenophobic attitudes 

among the locals. Klotz (2013) states that these attitudes were encouraged by the former Minister of Home Affairs 

Mangosuthu Buthelezi as early as 1994 when he advocated that it will not be right for South Africans to compete with 

foreigners for scarce resources. When leaders of influence such as Buthelezi utter such sentiments, the populace 

indiscriminately complies and follows. It was worsened when history repeated itself; when, the Zulu King, Goodwill 

Zwelithini, uttered similar sentiments in 2015. Former Mayor of Johannesburg Herman Mashaba also uttered the same 

sentiments and displayed his bigotry and lack of understanding in migration crime and policing (Mail and Guardian 

2019). The situation has worsened with the populist approaches of the Dudula 8movement leader, Nhlanhla Lux 

Dlamini (2020-22) and Minister of Home, Aaron Motsoaledi (2020 -). The two leaders have, arguably, led a more 

powerful force in the removal of foreigners in South Africa. Peter Bruce (2022 Sunday Times Newspaper) writes 

about how Motsoaledi has turned the South African Home Affairs into a populist pulpit. He claims that what the 

minister has done is to please the masses for his political traction and forgets the connection among Africa member 

states. Some of Motsoaledi’s sentiments have provoked a protracted hatred of foreigners by some local followers. This 

study sought to advance knowledge on how, under such circumstances, Zimbabwean immigrant women can be 

capacitated to deal with such forms of human rights abuse and discrimination in a more critical way. 

In the discourse of the oppressed, human rights constitute humanness and minus them the system is perceived as an 

oppressive one. Neocosmos (2010) also argues that xenophobia emanates from the hegemony perpetrated by a state in 

 
7COSATU is an abbreviation for Congress of South African Trade Unions. The organization aims to improve the material and work 
conditions for workers in South Africa. 
8 The Dudula movement is an operation to remove illegal and undocumented foreigners from jobs and from South Africa. 



20 
 

its failure to articulate the right discourse of nation building, human rights and citizenship. His argument is that post-

apartheid, South Africa has failed to move beyond the politics of indignity to a more democratic political discourse. 

He contends that South Africa has failed to sustain its ‘rainbow’ vision in that regard. This criminalization of 

foreigners has led to their dehumanisation. The Human Rights Watch9, in the Times Live newspaper, (2020) reports 

that South Africa has failed foreigners in addressing this problem in its five-year national action plan. This failure 

includes lack of accountability of the crimes perpetrated by locals and the impunity thereof. Arguably, women have 

been dehumanized in the ladder of humanity; it is interesting to find out the extent to which they feel dehumanized 

when they find themselves as discriminated foreigners. In the discourse of Forum Theatre and Appreciative Inquiry, 

dehumanization is a process that should be thwarted and humanness promoted. 

b) Zimbabwean Immigrant women in South Africa 

It is important to provide a framework for the experiences of Zimbabwean immigrant women in Johannesburg. I will 

start by outlining literature that gives a general perspective on immigrant women then narrow it down to Zimbabwean 

women. This is because there is not much written about the women in particular. Kihato (in Gasa, 2007) explicates 

that the literature on women migrants has been found wanting in that it presents them as passive participants and 

victims. Arguably, not all immigrant women are victims. There are some women who have championed rights for 

their fellow immigrants and have even owned businesses that may have been otherwise owned by locals. 

Notwithstanding, the notion of victimhood has been exacerbated by the large throngs of desperate and undocumented 

women who have found refuge at the Methodist Church Centre in Johannesburg. Writers have used that scenario as a 

yardstick to measure victimhood and passivity among the women. Kihato goes on to aver that even the literature that 

seeks to move beyond this stereotypical assertion, still falls into the trap of categorizing the women as desperate, 

prostitutes, hustlers and victims of patriarchal oppression. Combining FT and AI enabled the women to challenge the 

stereotypical notion of victimhood in this case. 

 The justification in the literature is that within societal norms, women cannot cross borders and neglect marital and 

maternal obligations unless there is something wrong with them. These arguments, again, are founded on societal 

expectations and judgements that have promoted the oppression and exploitation of immigrant women in South 

Africa. Kihato argues that this illustration also endorses the continuity of women living under oppressive patriarchal 

and political conditions. This engenders their exclusion from participating in activities that seek to promote their cause 

as foreign women. Kihato and Dodson (2008) illustrate that the women’s stories have a motif of fear, physical and 

emotional harassment, struggle for survival and loneliness. In this study, while I also sought to find out the effects of 

xenophobia on the women, I also attempted to find out where the prejudice stems from. The participants explored 

ways that can be used to address this issue. Kihato (2007) is quick to point out that new literature tries to move beyond 

these perceptions by introducing the notion that not all migrant women play victim or are victims. She reveals that 

women have agency in the migration process. It is this agency that this study sought to articulate through using an 

integrated approach to FT and AI. She articulates that there are immigrant women who have actively participated in 

decision making that has provoked change for the treatment of foreign women. These are the women who understand 

 
9 The Human Rights Watch is an independent organisation that defends people’s rights in the whole world. 
http://www.hrw.org/about/about 



21 
 

that they are not in South Africa for pleasure, but out of necessity and the idea of remittances back home and poverty 

alleviation. 

Crush and Tevera (2010), highlight that the number of female Zimbabwean immigrants is as high as that of men. Such 

statistics prove that life has changed for Zimbabwean women. Historically and traditionally women were perceived as 

home wardens who were restricted to the confines of their homes and migration was left for the men. Before the 

1990s, the social and physical mobility of women was restricted especially in terms of crossing over to South Africa 

(Barnes, 1992). It was mostly men who ventured into crossing the Limpopo River10. There were fears that women 

would not be able to work in the hazardous mine jobs that were male oriented. At that time, most Zimbabwean women 

just practiced cross-border trade. The increase in women migrants has been necessitated by the economic and political 

instability in Zimbabwe.  

 “South Africa has a discourse of entitlement of rights and services…” (Kihato, 2013:89). However, foreigners are not 

entitled to everything even with the ‘right papers.11’ Kihato points out, that migrant women have found it difficult to 

negotiate their lives in Johannesburg because they are basically not entitled to a lot of rights. She gives an example of 

foreign women’s experiences of xenophobic violence and attitudes from local police as challenging because they 

cannot hold them to account. If they dare, they risk deportation. These examples demonstrate the stifling of the 

women’s rights.  

Another example is the exploitation of the women in the workplace. Nyamnjoh (2006) illustrates that domestic 

workers who are also known as maids in South Africa, in general, are subject to this challenge as they are in the 

margins of society and civil rights. Their local employers find it easy to exploit them because they know they do not 

have rights and protection from the state as compared to their South African counterparts. If and when they try to 

report this to the police, fear gets the better of them. Nyamnjoh (2006:21) says, “While [other maids] are most likely 

to be running to the police and related institutions to highlight their plight, Zimbabwean women are most likely to be 

running away from them.” This gives the local employers the authority to exploit them. This challenge even goes 

further to serious issues such as fearing to report rape and/or abuse. Even if they are abused by their own foreign 

husbands or partners, they dare not report because “they know that they are not a political constituency with influence 

in South Africa.” (Kihato 2013: 89). FT and AI propose empowering mechanisms that will help participants to 

rehearse actions and ways that they can use to fight against oppressive authoritative structures such as the police in 

this case. Without the empowering weaponry given in FT and AI women may remain subdued. 

c) Combining Forum Theatre and Appreciative Inquiry 

I include here a review of literature on combining FT and AI. As mentioned earlier, few scholars have written on the 

merging of the two methods.  Apart from myself, Maritz (2010) also argues that Appreciative Inquiry can enhance the 

experience of community theatre 12through its asset-based approach. Both articles focus on studies on community 

theatre groups that were drama ready and the study used Theatre of the Oppressed (TO) as the frame of reference. This 

 
10The Limpopo is a boarder river that separates Zimbabwe and South Africa. Zimbabweans cross over it to illegally enter into 
South Africa. 
11 ‘Right papers’ is used as street language to refer to legal foreign documentation in South Africa. 
12Community theatre in this instance refers to theatre that is practiced in community settings by a group that is concerned with 
using theatre to address issues in their communities. 



22 
 

study also looks at how AI can enhance community theatre, but focuses on participants who are not entirely drama 

ready and who may not understand how theatre can be a tool for addressing their problems. Another point of departure 

is that the Maritz’s and my Masters thesis deal with AI as an approach to Theatre of the Oppressed. This study sought 

to explore what it entailed to combine the two methods (FT and AI) on an equal scale not the other just being an 

approach to the other.  

The argument is that both methods are capable of capacitating participants to be active agents of their change, but 

Forum Theatre appears to be deficit-based as compared to the asset-based approach of AI.  In the context of this study, 

a deficit-based approach mostly identifies community problems. For example, the first thing that a Forum Theatre 

intervention seeks to solve is the problem of oppression that the community is facing. The approach treats participants 

as people that already are riddled with problems. They become reactionary to problems. A deficit-based approach 

focuses on the perceived weaknesses of individuals or communities such that the individuals become viewed as the 

problem (Skodol 2010). An asset-based approach begins with identifying strengths and opportunities in the 

community. It appreciates that there are problems, but uses the community members’ assets as the starting point in 

solving the problems. These assets are their talents, strengths, skills and stories of success that can be used to improve 

their present and future lives.  The idea is to invest in the members’ capacity to solve their problems. Russell (2022) 

asserts that the asset-based approach offers powerful and authentic and autonomous response to individuals’ lives as 

starting point for a sustainable life and future. He argues that people cannot know that they need before they know first 

what they have. His argument is that needs point out what is wrong, but assets point to what is strong. AI, therefore, 

supports individuals to develop their own potential. This is where change can only be realised by pointing out 

problems and not pointing to and at them. Table 1 shows a summary of the differences between asset and deficit 

based. Some of the information is taken from Moore’s (2019) ‘What is Appreciative Inquiry? A Brief History and 

Real-Life Examples’. I have also added some explanations as support to the illustrations. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



23 
 

Table 1: Asset-based vs Problem-based approaches 

Problem solving Approach/Deficit in Forum Theatre Appreciative Inquiry Asset Approaches 

Felt Need (Identification of a problem) 

Problems are identified as the cause of misfortune in the 

community members’ lives 

Appreciating (Valuing the best of what is) 

The community values its skills, knowledge, positive 

relationships, capacity building and potential 

Analysis of causes 

An investigation into problems. Individuals/communities 

already disempowered by the heaviness of problems. Serious 

scrutiny into the concept of problems. Problematisation at the 

core of analysis. Passive recipients.  

Envisioning what might be 

The community is inspired to be resourceful and analysis of 

problems is positive and aspirational. They dream, with hope, 

that their knowledge and potential will help them cultivate 

growth and progress in solving and challenging situations. 

Analysis of possible solutions 

Focus limited to analysing the problem. The idea is to fill gaps 

and fix problems 

Dialoguing what should be 

Individuals continue progressively to identify, dialogue and 

build on the positive capacity. 

Action Planning/Treatment 

The idea of treatment is a problem because the individuals are 

set on believing that life is a problem to be fixed. Although 

there is a degree of active participation, the community 

believes in being led by some people to fix their problems. This 

promotes dependency 

Innovating what will be 

Individuals take on active participation in finding solutions. 

This involves the infinite capacity to co-construct a better 

world through innovating possible solutions. This promotes 

health and well-being. 

 

The idea was to establish, after the investigation, if combining the deficit-based and asset-based approaches could 

work better in addressing xenophobia in a more effective way and how the asset orientation of AI could be used as an 

approach to Forum Theatre. This included finding out the effectiveness of the combination. In the context of 

xenophobia, I have explained (Bhebhe 2013) that the merging of FT and AI can influence tolerance building and 

challenge ultimate beliefs of a seemingly unchangeable world of xenophobia in Johannesburg. This suggests that 

Zimbabwean women can become constructors of a better future by virtue of acknowledging a positive outlook to life. 

They can change the negative story of xenophobia to a more acceptance and move beyond mere tolerance.  

d) Practice as Research design 

As the overarching research method, it is important to review studies that have developed PaR. Nelson (2013) also 

refers to PaR as practice-based research. Intriguingly, for some reasons, the academic institution has struggled to 

accept PaR as a respectable research method. It is mostly in the Arts that it has received its credibility. Robin Nelson, 

one of the distinguished authors who has written extensively about practice-based research methods, points out that 

there has been limited attention that has been paid to by institutions. These limitations: 

…range from strong academic traditions which privilege theory, to divisions between theory and practice in the very 

structures of education (university vs. art school/conservatoire), and regulatory frameworks which in some instances 

effectively exclude PaR by inscribing ‘the scientific method’ into research regulations … this resonates with much of 

what has been written, in particular the common aim to challenge the schism in the Western intellectual tradition between 



24 
 

theory and practice and to valorize what I shall call ‘praxis’ … or what some call intelligent practice or material thinking. 

(Nelson, 2013:3) 

Baxter (a theatre practitioner in South Africa) in Nelson (2013) also states the same, but brings the assertion closer to 

home. She asserts that the methodology is new in South Africa and mostly not  yet officially recognized by the 

academy. As a society in transition, she argues that new methods of research need to emerge that encompass the work 

that focuses reclamation of cultural knowledge systems and would fill the gap that excluded the humanity of the 

people where research quantified human experience and not explored it. It would close the knowledge gap that 

resulted from colonisation and support the reclamation of cultural and identity diversity and heritage. She also 

contends that since South Africa is also coming to terms with issues of identity and cultural diversity, PaR, through 

performance, would suffice. Intrinsically, PaR would serve the, “… South African theatre- making fraternity better 

than other methodologies, because the society is geared towards lived and often communal experience as a way of 

knowing.” (Baxter 2013:164). 

Janse van Vuuren, a South African Applied Theatre practitioner and researcher, and Rasmussen, a Norwegian 

researcher, expand on the uniqueness of PaR in the southern hemisphere and in particular South Africa. They argue 

that Applied theatre researchers actually support professionalism in South African academic institutions. In a society 

that is in transition, PaR and Applied Theatre researchers have challenged the cartesian dualism thinking of the 

dichotomy between mind and body and exalting the mind/theory concept as the superior quality of knowledge. They 

bring to light the pertinent connections between aesthetic and academic potential of aesthetics in research. In South 

Africa, PaR has a tendency to involve cultural magnets that aim to produce indigenous knowledge inside and beyond 

the tenets of academia. This has been developed by the decolonial thinking culture that urges for inclusivity through 

aesthetic means that are valued as core to forms of practice-based research. As such, they argue that practice-based 

research, “…is being promoted as an alternative to the more traditional academic research paradigms prominent in the 

West” (Janse van Vuuren and Rasmussen 2021:75). The paradigm is based more towards a rediscovery of humanity in 

research and inclusion of indigenous knowledge. The embeddedness in social life and humanity in research is what 

South Africa should be looking into to perpetuate a culture of indigenous knowledge systems. The aim is to engage 

current social and political issues through critical reflexivity. Reflexivity seeks to strengthen decolonial arts research 

methods and pedagogy that engage the broader socio-political and cultural context of South Africa (Janse Van Vuuren 

and Rasmussen). Reflexivity enables participants to explore and analyse their cultural and social contexts. Thus, they 

factor themselves into the knowledge that they are also creating something. Knowledge does not become a stand-alone 

entity that is devoid of humanity.  

I realised that I could not ignore the practice and cultural diversity that would be inherent in this research. Xenophobia 

constitutes an undertaking of experiential strands that involve human behaviour and most researchers have focused on 

its conceptual underpinnings more than the people’s behaviour. Coming from an Arts background, it was inevitable 

for me to focus on a methodological framework that would be true to practice. This meant putting intellectual practice 

into use by choosing a method that valued both practice and theory, hence, PaR. 

In support of Nelson’s assertion, Kershaw and Nicholson challenge why PaR should be recognised as a legitimate 

research method. They aver that:  



25 
 

… methods and methodologies might be reconceptualised for theatre and performance by thinking philosophically, 

procedurally, and practically about working processes that resist unhelpful dichotomies and fixed binaries which separate 

embodiment and intuition from intellectual practices, emotional experiences and ways of knowing … We contend then, 

that research methods in theatre/performance studies per se, at least … at best are not concerned with legitimating the 

cultural authority or researcher or the research. Rather, they are about the engaged social-environment production of 

systems and cultural production of flexible research ecologies where tacit understanding, inferred practices and 

theoretical assumptions can be made explicit and can, in turn, be queried and contested. (Kershaw and Nicholson, 

2011:2). 

Kershaw and Nicholson’s contention hinges on the expected outcome of research. If the research is able to advance 

knowledge partly by means of practice, then it should be recognised. In any case knowledge rests upon what it is that 

we and others perceive in the world and what action is then taken upon that knowledge. Knowledge should not just be 

conceived theoretically, but should instigate action. Paulo Freire (1976) finds men and women who do not think and 

act upon their world as redundant. Tacit knowledge goes beyond knowing what is, to knowing what causes what, and 

what action is taken to generate that knowledge. The argument is that practice must reciprocate theory and vice versa. 

The researcher who researches in action might generate new knowledge about how something is done and leave it for 

the consumers of research to discover how and why it works. That should be the thrill of ontology and 

phenomenology. I was thrilled with what was and would be the outcome of the action of the Zimbabwean migrant 

women on their being and as careers of the knowledge of xenophobia.  

It is important to unpack what PaR is and about. Nelson (2013) explains that practice is a key method of inquiry in this 

type of qualitative research design. The research is embedded in creative practice and is exploratory. In respect of the 

creative department, the practice is seen in disciplines such as theatre/performance, dance, music, creative writing and 

visual art exhibitions, to name a few. He explains that it entails practical knowledge which is firstly demonstrated in 

practice. Most happens in doing more than abstractly conceived. It is the practice that propels the investigation. That is 

why sometimes it is known as practise-based research. I use the term practice-based in this study interchangeably with 

Practice as Research. 

Vear (2021) stretches his description of PaR/Practice-based research to bring in the researcher dimension where he 

notes that the researcher also invests him/herself in the research as a practitioner. The practitioner gets involved by 

facilitating and designing some creative activities. I took this stance when I was the Forum Theatre Joker and I 

designed the workshop processes and facilitated them. In the facilitation process, I also put on my researcher hat so 

that I would not only get the data/information/knowledge from a subjective point of view.  The FT Joker helped me to 

dig into the data collection from and through a practice orientation. I did the practical work to find out what I wanted. 

In his description, Vear articulates that PaR is a principled and original investigation that is undertaken in order to gain 

new knowledge and the outcomes of that practice. What is intriguing is his use of the word ‘principled’. As a 21st 

century author of research, Vear has come to realise that PaR is gaining recognition as compared to how Nelson and 

Baxter portray its recognition. He puts emphasis in that practice is doing something that is beyond usual and everyday 

acts of thinking, it moves into action. It focuses on using beliefs and ideas as opposed to merely investigating theories 

relating them (Vear 2021:5). He extends this point by stressing that PaR is “ … embedded in practice, embodied in 



26 
 

practice, enacted through practice and extended by practice.” (pg5). This simply means that knowledge can be and is 

explored and understood from a practice perspective. 

In order to explore the research questions in PaR, the researcher needs to make action as part of the process. The 

actions of the creative work contribute to the outcomes and answers of the research question. The PaR research 

question should lead to specialised insights. It should generate inquiry that is complementary to practice (Smith and 

Dean, 2009). When formulating the research question, Smith and Dean point out that the question should be 

generative and move from reflection to reflexivity. This means it should give participants the agency to want to 

improve their human condition and experience. It should explore and problematise set issues and they should be a 

stated means of how to explore the issues. Action must be taken. The most important part is that the action should be 

embodied. In my case, FT and AI ask participants to embody the answer - they tell and enact stories, they use their 

bodies to explore the question, and they dialogue physically to reach to an answer. The question grows out of the need 

to act and is the propellant for that action. An example from study is this question: How can an integrated Practice as 

Research approach to Forum Theatre and Appreciative Inquiry give voice to Zimbabwean women affected by 

xenophobia? The question seeks an exploration of how AI and FT can be carried out (an action is required) to make 

the women reflexive on the issue of xenophobia. Thus, how will they be enabled to use their ‘voice’. This means they 

will be asked to deepen their thoughts from inside their being and challenge how they have been using their ‘voices’. 

They will be guided also by the practice of AI and FT. Hence, Smith and Dean (2009) indicate that the research 

question should be from within rather than outside.  

One thing that I learnt about the PaR research questions is that they can shift and there can be some new questions 

emerging in the course of the research. Practice-based research has its own world of filtering data which is fluid. This 

is because each day and moment of the process is guided by the experiences of participants. Richards (2005) explains 

that as researchers we are aiming to learn from the data. This means that we may shift emphasis to a different and new 

question. That is how flexible, and fluid practice-based research is. An example, from this study, is question 3: To 

what extent does the asset-based orientation of Appreciative Inquiry enhance the deficit-based approach of Forum 

Theatre in raising the consciousness of women? This question was brought about when I realised that while combining 

the two methods, Appreciative Inquiry kept nudging Forum Theatre for enhancement. 

Nelson (2013) offers a model of the process of PaR. The outline is helpful in directing how data is collected.  The 

researcher has to: 

• Specify a research inquiry at the outset. 

• Set a timeline for the overall project including the various activities involved in a multi-mode inquiry. 

• Build moments of critical reflection into the timeline, frequently checking that the research inquiry remains engaged 

and evidence is being collected. 

• In documenting a process, capture moments of insight. 

• Locate your praxis in a lineage of similar practices. 

• Relate the specific inquiry to broader contemporary debate (through reading and exposition of ideas with references) 

(Nelson 2013). 

Nelson (2022) explains that the model seeks to establish a connection between praxis and traditional protocols of research. The 

model is analytic and is located in insightful epistemologies of standard research frameworks. The last point should be critically 



27 
 

noted because as researchers we tend to ignore the importance of going back to the literature that helps to support and shape the 

practice argument. I leaned on the literature review to support the merging of AI and FT vis a vis the concept of xenophobia. The 

xenophobia concept is deeply seated in anthropological domains of knowledge that require the support of its conceptualisation. 

This necessitated the need to conceptualise some of my findings. 

Candy (2006) also provides a similar outline. Compared to Nelson, she also suggests research questions, critical reflection, data 

collection methods and the process of documentation as important tenets that provide insight to knowledge generation in the PaR 

design. However, she delves more into the need for the rationalisation of the research methods as they are the thrust of the design.  

• It must propose and define research questions and problem statement (specifying a research inquiry), at the 

outset. 

• It must define its objectives in relation to the questions or problems to be addressed.  

• There should be an advancement of creativity for insights, knowledge and understanding.  

• Data collection methods for addressing and answering the research questions or problems must be specified.  

• Rationalisation for the chosen research methods to answer the research questions. 

• Outcomes of practice must be accompanied by documentation of the research process. 

• There should be textual analysis and explanation that support the research position.  

• The written analysis should also demonstrate critical reflection.  (Candy, 2006). 

As in any research, planning for data collection is important. PaR has its own ways of handling data collection. After 

establishing questions and aims of the research, what follows is data collection. As stated by Richards (2005) that we 

are aiming to learn from the data, PaR should offer symbols from the participants’ behaviour and actions. Richards 

states that these symbols must be identified and examined as objects of research. She explains that there should be 

methods that are employed to work in practice within the context of the study and in a practice context. There should 

be a triangulation between method, questions, and objectives - all guided by the practice context. As part of my 

planning for the project, I worked out my research needs so that I would be guided towards my data collection 

process. The questions had to focus on a specific practice, and it was the practice of combining FT and AI. The aim 

was on the reason for merging the methods and it was to raise participants’ awareness and voice. Intrinsically, FT and 

AI became the focal methods for data collection. The data collection methods should be accompanied by observation 

(Bressler and Latta (2008). Observation patterns in PaR help in the exploration of the symbolic dimensions of 

participants’ experiences and trends in their behaviour. These data collection methods should be action (participatory) 

oriented and allow the researcher to observe the behaviour and actions of the participants. They become the thrust of 

the investigation.  

Maxwell (2018) asserts that, conversely, observation is a direct and powerful method that provides learning about 

people’s behaviours in practice contexts.  Observation can occur live and/or on video tape (Dodd and Epstein (2012). I 

used both because sometimes, I would catch on an insight at a live particular moment and wish to take note of it 

before I forgot it. Live observations, in most cases, give direction to pertinent sets of data. They are the researchers 

foremost intuition to what he/she is trying to find out. Maxwell argues that video tape observations are also good in 

that they can be re-played, and the researcher gets more insight into a data set. They can also offer repeated analysis of 

a particular behaviour and more insight will be gained. 



28 
 

Methodologically, the act of observing and being observed has an effect on how participants behave. Although this 

may affect the participants’ response to the data, it is helpful in that nuances can be picked up even instinctively. In 

concurrence with Maxwell’s ideas, Dodd and Epstein (2012) assert that while observation may be advantageous for 

witnessing behaviours and dynamics, they can create reactivity among participants. Reactivity is when those being 

observed have a reaction and adjust it in some way to suit what they think the researcher wants to know. This can 

happen a lot in practice-based research.  

Because of their participatory and aesthetic nature, Forum Theatre and Appreciative Inquiry may be seen to do well 

for the PAR design. In the Aesthetics of the Oppressed, Boal (2006) describes aesthetics as a practical theatre project 

which enables individuals to enquire into their lives and reclaim themselves as subjects. The impetus of the aesthetics 

is to find out what happens in the world of oppression through creativity. Creativity is the domain that drives the 

investigation into oppressed people’s lives. “It is the act of creating meaning from the act itself” (Bresler and Latta 

2008: 14). The aesthetics of the oppressed do not only communicate the artistry of drama on stage, but go deeper to 

use that artistry to delve into the investigation of human beings and the dynamics of power relationships. This is 

dialectical practice-related research which explores the human process of experiential meaning-making with the goal 

to bring about social change (Sullivan, 2009). The participatory aesthetics according to Bresler and Latta give a 

context of theatre/drama as giving raw data. This raw data is the material of inquiry. The actors on stage (interacting), 

the spect-actors (in interaction with the actors on stage) and the stage (reverbating the action) - all these are aesthetics 

that give raw data. Everything is considered participatory. The participatory process enables people to be expressive 

and perceptive. This means that the audience, as part of the process, is not only expressing how they feel about the 

oppression, but is exuding with personal action and information that need to be analysed. This is because they are in a 

meaning making process. The aesthetics promote creativity in an innovative way that privileges imagination and 

intellect (Bressler and Latta, 2008) - this is theory and practice inherent in PaR. Inherently the aesthetics of the Forum 

Theatre event have a placed value of experimentation (also investigation) and observation. “Only Aesthetics allow for 

the truest and profoundest understanding of the world and society … Art is a special form of knowledge, subjective, 

sensory, not scientific” (Boal, 2004:1). Thus, Boal explains that we can use art to collect information about the world 

around us. Bressler and Latta also articulate that the TO aesthetics should be valued for their imaginative and critical 

inquiry for knowledge construction. 

Appreciative Inquiry is not a theatrical/performative/creative method, and some would argue why it was being used to 

enhance Forum Theatre in this study. Notwithstanding this, Nissley (2004) argues that Cooperrider (2001: 32) puts 

forward that Appreciative Inquiry is about “the artful creation of positive imagery.” Nissley describes the process of 

artful creation as one in which participants explore images of their past and present whilst engaging in the creation of 

artistic representations of the desired future. This is as much as participants in an FT event explore their past and 

present images of oppression for a desired future without oppression. Nissley’s literature on the performativity of 

Appreciative Inquiry goes beyond the base comprehension of artfulness. He reveals how facilitators of AI are actually 

engaging organizations in the artistic creation of the positive imagery. He argues that the design of the 4D phase is 

artistic in the sense that a group of people gets involved creatively to model a process of change. He frames that as an 

‘aesthetic discourse’. The aesthetic discourse is outlined into five propositions to show the artistic flair: presentational 

knowledge/language, mediated dialogue, symbolic constructions that act as metaphorical representation, collaborative 



29 
 

inquiry/co-creation, and window to the unconscious (Nissley 2004). These propositions also outline how AI structures 

its data collection. The creativity and the performativity is considered and drawn out when the participants use 

words/language in the context of positivity. The language they use is represented in how they tell stories, dialogue the 

stories  and the stories are used to co-create a new image of the future. In the case of this study, they were asked to act 

out the positive stories to augment the positivity. This is a window to the unconscious where they are asked to explore 

their experiences through imagination. In AI, the researcher and participants collaboratively search for new knowledge 

whilst using a frame that allows them to create stories through the process of inquiry. Each 4D story creation operates 

as a process for data collection. The section on methodology in this chapter, outlines more on the practicability of FT 

and AI as data collection methods. 

While PaR has been receiving its recogniti