Collective Creativity in the Lecture Hall: Key Issues, Participant Strategies and Aesthetic Challenges

Collective creativity (CC) in the context of a theatre production course at the Université d'Abomey-Calavi (Republic of Benin) brings together categories of people from diverse backgrounds who are motivated by different issues. This includes teachers, students and representatives of the academic institution (head of department, faculty dean, etc.). Given the range of profiles involved in the artistic journey, it is worth asking how the diverse expectations of people participating in this experience can be reconciled to ensure that a production has the necessary dramatic qualities. Far from being obstacles to the practical teaching of theatre, the sometimes conflicting interactions are the CC's driving force, one that the lecturer must manage with tact and efficacy. The corroboration of this hypothesis is the springboard to achieving two objectives: first, to identify participant strategies and challenges; and second, to analyse the methodology used in the university's creative theatre workshops. Lastly, this study, which applies Bourdieu's theory of the literary field, confirms the types of strategy used by participants in the theatre project as well as the aesthetic challenges faced and the methodology employed to overcome them.