Drama therapy—the state of the art

Abstract

ROBERT J. LANDY, PhD, RDT/BC* I have been told that just below the ruins of the ancient Theatre of Dionysus in Epidauros, Greece, lie the remains of an equally ancient hospital. On one crumbling pillar is a plaque informing the tourist that patients of this hospital were cured by performing in the Greek chorus. Historians of the theatre (see Brockett, 1992) frequently tell us that the art form originated in religious rituals and rites or in shamanic healing ceremonies (see Kirby, 1975). Aristotle’s mention of the cathartic effects of tragedy on an au- dience in the 3rd century B.C. further attests to the healing function of early theatre. The origins of heal- ing through the dramatic art form are very deeply set in history. To this day, the female shamans of Korea, the Taoist priests of China, the masked dancers at Owuru Festivals in Nigeria and the celebrants at Mardi Gras in Louisiana and Carnival in Brazil, all enact a form of cathartic healing through assuming archetypal roles and working their magic. To truly appreciate the therapeutic values of dra- matic activity of all sorts, including ritual, play, im- provisation, storytelling, mask, puppetry, festivals and theatre performances, one would need to carefully study the cultural systems of prayer and medical care, of art and philosophy. Even then, we would only get a snapshot of a single culture that dramatizes its ex- istence in particular ways. It is possible to find in- depth studies of culture from the point of view of those who see experience filtered through the lens of the drama as therapy. See, for example, Sue Jennings’ (1995b) study of the Temiar of Malaysia and Rich- ard Courtney’s (1986) study of the Amerindian experience. Culture is on my mind because I have recently spent a considerable amount of time traveling to other cultures to present my sense of drama therapy. Not surprisingly, when in a foreign culture, far away from home, I not only try to make sense of the drama Taiwan or Israel Greece, but also my own form, home grown. As I move out in the world, I am trans- ported back inside, to the vessel that has brought me there. That form, that vessel is drama therapy. This paper is an attempt to give my sense of its status as a healing form in the present, with some reference to its history and some speculation as to its destiny. A Brief History Phil Jones (1996) traces the early twentieth century development of drama therapy in part to two contem- poraries of Stanislavski, Evreinov and Iljine. The former, a theatre director, examined the process of enactment as an instinctual means of making meaning for actor and audience alike. Evreinov (1927) con- ceptualized two realities, that of the person and that of the persona, which he called “another ego.” This other ego functioned to enter the imaginal realm and create a sense of alternative ways of being by “ . . . transform[ing] the life that was into a life that is different.” Through taking on and playing out fic- tional roles, the actor is able to overcome a number of psychological and physical ailments, according to Evreinov. Vladimir Iljine developed a notion of therapeutic theatre based upon improvisation training. His tech- nique was delineated through the following stages: