Theatre for Development practitioner to contribute to the UK-Kenya Joint Partnership on Non-Communicable Diseases

Current Work

As part of the delivery, I have been asked to facilitate for this project to deliver a co-created field-based epidemiological study in two contrasting sites in Kenya – Mukuru and Buruburu – that will characterise the clinical characteristics and lung function of children aged 5-18 years.  This will be accomplished through the use of participatory techniques to contribute to study design and explore community knowledge about what damages lungs and the lived experience of air pollution and lung health.

About Matthew Hahn

Matthew Hahn is an independent creative producer, playwright, theatre director and theatre for development facilitator specialising in creating theatre for social change, for examining behaviour and for improving communication skills. He works with emerging and established theatre makers and finding new ways for audiences and communities to access art through partnerships. He works both nationally and internationally and has produced work in the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, Kenya, Ethiopia, Malawi, Ghana, and South Africa. As a theatre for development practitioner, he facilitates interactive and participatory theatre projects focusing on social cohesion, peace-making and conflict resolution. His play, The Robben Island Shakespeare, has been performed in the United Kingdom, United States and South Africa; he regularly facilitates 'Ethical Leadership' Workshops in South Africa based on his interviews with former South African political prisoners and selections from 'The Complete Works of William Shakespeare.' From 2008 to 20018, he was a Senior Lecturer at St Mary’s University, London specializing in theatre for development. From 2006 to 2016, he was a training facilitator with Theatre for a Change, a UK charity which utilizes interactive theatre to train teachers and facilitators on the topics of gender equality and sexual and reproductive health in the United Kingdom and Malawi. Matthew has degrees in Political Science & Journalism from Indiana University (1995) in the United States and is a graduate of the Goldsmiths College Masters in Theatre Directing programme (2002) in the United Kingdom. He trained with the SITI Company in New York (2000) and with Anne Bogart in Dublin, Ireland (2005). He has also trained with the Cardboard Citizens Theatre Company (2005) in London in their Forum Theatre / Joker Training Programme.

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