What is RAPT?
RAPT is an initiative of research methodology specialists, theatre makers and pedagogues that works to promote arts-based methods of research. Our innovations respond to the limitations of traditional methods in qualitative research and address the relations of power inherent in research. We centre the body, experience, expression and reflection in our approach and bring together a range of artistic practices including theatre, film making, writing and the fine arts. At the heart of our approach is the rich basket of practices in Theatre of the Oppressed (ToO) and other forms of community theatre. Our methods, while capable of being designed as a comprehensive methodology in themselves are often used in conjunction with other methods, as elements in mixed method approaches. We work primarily with community groups and researchers but also in institutional spaces such as universities and research organisations to shift the imagination of research in mainstream research ecologies.
Why we do what we do?
We believe that a crucial function of research is to generate collective critical consciousness of conditions of being, and of phenomena in the world. A large part of research, especially in institutional settings, serves to reproduce historical processes of concentration of power. Universities and other institutions structured by social and political hierarchies produce knowledge about communities that are relegated to the 'field', to sites of evidence, as informants, and at best as 'participants' that produce data rather than posing the question itself. Turning this around requires a reimagination of research, of the forms that are considered as ‘knowledge’, and most significantly, our philosophical and practical approaches to research. The challenge, in other words is at once epistemological, ontological and methodological. Our vision is to contribute to this reimagination, and our focus is on developing and enabling practices of community-led research.
Who are we?
RAPT emerged out of a shared excitement and vision, and then collaboration between Effie, a theatre maker, and akshay, a social anthropologist. While we have both worked with academic institutions in various capacities over the years, and continue to do so, we have protected RAPT from absorption into these so as to nurture our methods unfettered by the structural demands of institutional forms. Over the years we have been joined in this journey by community groups and researchers who have adapted our methods and developed them in their own ways. RAPT thus works with a wide range of associates and collaborators who think and work together as a dispersed community of praxis.
People
akshay is a social anthropologist, theatre maker, watercolour artist and amateur chef based in Delhi. A research methodology specialist, it has over 25 years of experience in community-based and community-led research across South Asia, the UK and parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. Having spent substantial time on four continents, akshay is animated by an excitement and curiosity for the world and the things in it, absorbing ideas, recipes and performance styles through its encounters. While akshay has taught at universities in the UK and in India for close to two decades, its passion lies in radical pedagogy outside of institutional spaces. akshay is the author of Sexualness (2016) and is currently co-writing a book on the aesthetic strategies of film-makers from De-Notified Tribes in India. akshay is a Co-Director of RAPT.
akshay
Effie
Effie Makepeace is a Community Theatre Practitioner who has been working with communities using theatre for reflection, learning and expression for over 20 years. Her work is characterised by long-term, slow building collaborations this has mostly been with community groups, activist groups and queer communities in the UK, Malawi and India. Working with Effie you can expect a combination of playful energy, careful listening, very organised spreadsheets and never missing a chance to get people back into their bodies through a wiggle, a game, a stretch or a jiggle. She works as a Lecturer in Community Performance and Applied Theatre at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London. Effie is a Co-director of RAPT.
Alice
Alice Tilche is an anthropologist working at the intersection of art, research and activism. Her work explores how film, performance and other artistic practices can open up ways of understanding that do not fit neatly into conventional categories. She has collaborated over many years with artists and community groups in India, and more recently in the UK and Italy, working on questions of citizenship, nationalism, migration and the politics of indigeneity. Her approach is grounded in long-term relationships and a commitment to working with rather than on people. Alice has led and contributed to multi-country projects that bring together artistic practice and critical research, and is particularly interested in how arts-based methods can reshape how knowledge is produced and shared. Alongside her academic work, she has curated exhibitions and co-directed films in collaboration with community partners. She also loves dancing, playing music, and finding ways to bring the body and a bit of joy into the work. Working with Alice, you can expect critical reflection, serious conversations, and openness to improvisation and collective thinking. Alice Tilche is an Associate Professor in Anthropology and Museum Studies at the University of Leicester.
Dakxin
Dakxin Chhara is a filmmaker, theatre practitioner, and researcher whose work operates at the intersection of art, activism, and community knowledge. Emerging from the Chhara Denotified Tribe, his practice is grounded in lived experience and long-term engagement with marginalised communities across India. Over the past two decades, Dakxin has developed film and theatre not only as artistic expressions but as research methodologies. Through community-led performances, documentaries, and archival practices, he creates spaces where lived realities—often excluded from mainstream narratives—can be articulated, examined, and preserved. His work demonstrates how arts-based methods can generate critical knowledge, challenge dominant discourses, and contribute to both academic inquiry and grassroots empowerment. Dakxin’s artistic practice is closely aligned with broader questions of social justice, citizenship, and the politics of identity, particularly in the context of Denotified and Nomadic Tribes. By linking cultural production with community development, he enables marginalised groups to represent themselves, assert their rights, and engage with institutional structures on their own terms.