Eugène van Erven (1955) has been researching theatre and social change since 1980. He is a senior lecturer/researcher in Theatre Studies at Utrecht University and author of Radical People’s Theatre (Indiana University Press, 1988), The Playful Revolution: Theatre and Liberation in Asia (Indiana UP, 1992) and the book and film package Community Theatre: Global Perspectives (Routledge, 2001). He holds a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University (USA), after which he worked in the theatre department of Victoria University in Wellington (New Zealand) and around Asia before returning to Utrecht in 1988. He currently coordinates the research activities within the Community Art Lab and is the chief editor of this site. He will also be the artistic director of the Rotterdam International Community Arts Festival 2011.