I love it. I think it's the future. Really. The traditional forms have been on their way out for awhile and I think, if done REALLY well, it can bring some crowds into the theatre that are ripe for it in this generation, but just haven't yet given recent thought to what a theatre experience can really DO when you attend a show as an audience member.
I've only had one 1st hand experience in creating devised work from start to finish, and that was in school in 2010. It was a defining process for my theatre career. A career which is relatively short-lived thus far at 26 years old, but I very recently have finally found security in discovering what I want to do with the rest of my life (at least I'm 99%). And this initial collaboration in school was the catalyst of it. It showed me what theatre was actually capable of, aesthetically, structurally. The core was redeveloping the form of stories being told on a stage, and discovering that form through the devising process, which became a separate/same form in itself. It was a blast.
Right after that semester I admitted I was an alcoholic (had nothing to do with the show or the devising process, that's not where this is going) and checked myself outta school and into rehab, with the full support of some really great friends, family, mentors, and other professors. I'm really lucky and truly blessed by whatever's out there giving me opportunities. I got sober and came back and finished up my degree in the two following years. After 7 years outta high school, I had an AA and a BA in theatre performance. My senior capstone thesis was written on the field of dramatic arts therapy. I'm not going to lie, it wasn't my best work, but it sparked an interest that really tugged at my roots.
Still with me? Right now drug and alcohol rehab centers don't have a real good record. In the US it's awful. Most of them utilize a typical 12-step program like AA or NA along with in-patient group therapy, 1-on-1 counsel, maybe some spiritual or mediative opportunities here and there, with of course, a drug-free environment. Some are lock-in, some are not. And believe me, they can work. I am a member of both AA and NA. They can keep people like me happy, sober, and free for decades until they die. And with in-patient therapy, it's the best structure we have so far, because it ensures easily accessible continuing care. And they can do pretty well, especially when 12-steps are used in conjunction with other methods. But it's apparently not enough, because what we've been using hasn't been working when when the success rate for 2 years of sustained sobriety after leaving an in-patient facility in the US is less than 5%. Or at least it was back in 2013, when I learned of that stat. (basically I'm saying I don't have a source for you.) And if a dent can be made in that stat, then it'll be more than well worth my time.
Sorry this is so damn long, here, lets wrap it up a bit: After attending SETC this past spring, I met a LOT of interesting folks who did a LOT of thing with the community, and introduced me to a field of grad studies called Applied Theatre. The second conference I attended was actually Humana Fest at Actor's Theatre Louisville.