This chapter aims to be both critical and provocative. It set the scene for the a volume concerned with how applied theatre practitioners, researchers and advocates understand change. The main purpose of the chapter is to give a sense of where applied theatre is located with regard to its definitions, contexts and relationship to social change. A key goal of this book, introduced in this chapter, is to provide a critical perspective on the field of applied theatre; to raise concerns, problematize representations, question conceptualisations of theory and practice, and to try to begin a detailed discussion about the effect of different perspectives and practices. This chapter also outlines the purpose, methodological approach and informing principles of the research from which the first half of this book has emerged and previews the diverse perspectives presented in chapters throughout the book.