Rebus Theatre’s Project Alchemy: On the Limits of Trauma-Informed Approaches in Applied Arts Projects

McKenzie, V. & Davidson, Robin (2025). Rebus Theatre’s Project Alchemy: On the Limits of Trauma-Informed Approaches in Applied Arts Projects. Australasian Drama Studies 87, 72-96.

Rebus Theatre’s Project Alchemy recruited fifteen regional artists from five Local Government Areas severely impacted by the Black Summer Bushfires. They produced five major artist-led community projects including participatory events, public performances and exhibitions. Taking Project Alchemy as a starting point, this collaborative paper engages critically with trauma-informed approaches in applied arts contexts, suggesting that the automatic adoption of this now-standardised health training should be reevaluated in projects prioritising creative practice expertise. Interpreting our discoveries alongside recent and relevant literature we found, first, that an uncritical over-reliance on health-oriented trauma-informed frameworks can undermine such approaches’ best intentions. Second, further research is needed to understand the caring relations provided by creative practice itself in projects that adopt trauma-informed approaches in applied arts settings. Creative practice expertise is a distinct social and epistemological category that may be diminished in arts-health work because it lacks the financial resources of health and disaster recovery systems.