Shifting Perspectives and Practices: Mirror Theatre's Stop/Start/Continue Evolution

Mirror Theatre has a long history of applied theatre practice, primarily in the provinces of Alberta and Ontario. This article documents some of its over seventy performances/workshops addressing health, social, and educational issues. Employing a stop, start, continue lens, it outlines some of the changes the company has gone through based on theoretical and pragmatic considerations. Issues of the ethics and safety of audience participation, establishment of appropriate assessment criteria, the nature and size of audiences, and the pros and cons of including videos in their repertoire are discussed.