This article examines a national applied theatre programme coordinated through the Department of Child, Youth and Family in New Zealand. The programme uses dramatic processes to create opportunities for communities to discuss and find their own answers to the issues of child abuse and family violence. The programme utilises a sophisticated in-role use of a video game about a dysfunctional family to provide the necessary distance and protection to create a safe forum for participants. The game provides an opportunity to double frame participants so that there are multiple layers of "protection into emotion". This article discusses the importance of establishing a close alignment of purpose between funder and client. It stresses the importance of the initial negotiation process. It argues that an agreement at this stage on the limitations of what applied theatre projects can add to wider government social change programmes is vital for establishing evaluation processes. This article is jointly written by a member of the government funding agency and the directors of the applied theatre programme. It describes the processes by which they agreed on success criteria for the project, as well as outlining the programme itself.