To inform my research, I interviewed an expert in drama therapy, Professor Peng Yongwen from the Department of Social Performance at the Shanghai Theatre Academy, who provided me with a lot of knowledge and references related to drama therapy.
He analyzed to me how insomnia is actually related to psychological issues such as anxiety or depression, and that my intervention could start with these psychological issues.
At the same time, he shared with me two important references: 15 Lectures on Expressive Arts Therapy and Personality and Masks.
Expressive Art Therapy 15 Lectures was released in Taiwan and offer many ideas for art therapy. It includes drama therapy and focuses on the 5 stages of drama therapy: Dramatic Play, Situational Performance, Role Play, Performance Climax and Dramatic Ritual.
In this reference book, I record some important points as follows：
Drama therapy systematically uses the process of acting to bring about psychological growth and change. Its aims are rooted in psychotherapy, and its tools are derived from five streams: theatre, dramatic play, psychological drama, roleplay and dramatic ritual (Ermunah, 194).
1.Dramatic Play
Landy (1986) described the dramatic play as “a dialectic between the real world and the imaginary world (in Play) we explore the real through our imagination. Since childhood, people have played games of chance and have had significant meaning, discovering, becoming and healing, as well as being happy and fulfilled by creation.
2. Theatre
Theatre can be seen as an extension of dramatic play, where the characters and personalities are as protective and liberating as the physical side. The individual is given the opportunity to express himself through a mask, and acting is a process of organising emotions and the mind.
3. Psychodrama
Psychodrama is very similar to drama therapy, however it cannot and need not be distinguished from psychodrama: whereas psychodrama often focuses on the individual, drama therapy focuses more on the interaction of the whole group and does not necessarily perform real events in the lives of individuals, but is more often improvised and uses more drama-related techniques.
4.Role Play
According to the Russian dramaturg Stanislavsky, improvisation allows the actor to recall his own life experiences and to find similar emotions needed by the character, i.e. a “display of empathy”. In addition, the German theatre director Bertolt Brecht approached the performance of a character as an interlocutory third party, a rational perspective, both of which influence drama therapy. Depending on the needs of the participant, it helps him to increase his capacity for empathy or to view his own emotional experiences in a rational manner.
Moreno believes that people can play different sides of themselves and others by swapping roles and that being aware of the multiple roles in one’s life and being able to play them flexibly can improve their mental health.
5. Dramatic Rituals
In ancient times, theatre was a religious healing ritual used by witch doctors to combat fear, celebrate hope, prepare for and respond to important life events, increase one’s sense of control and empowerment, and give figurative expression to one’s emotions, mind, spirituality, etc. Dramatic ritual is the origin of all art forms and supports the process of personal healing and transformation.
The five stages of Drama Therapy
The five stages of drama therapy are influenced by five source streams. The five stages are dramatic play, contextual performance, role play, performance peak and dramatic ritual.
Stage 1: Dramatic Play
The first stage focuses on stimulating spontaneity and reducing anxiety through dramatic play, enabling the individual to enter naturally into the imaginary world and warm up before entering drama therapy mode.
Dramatic play must be designed to be safe, fun, age-appropriate for group members and allow for failure so that they can naturally recall their childhood playtime during play. Developing an identity with the group allows members to understand that there is no rush to criticise, explain or lay down a diagnosis in the group. Thus, warm-up games have a social function as well as triggering individual spontaneity. And the more structured the activity in the initial stages, the more it reduces the anxiety of the group members.
Stage 2：Contextual Performance
The second stage focuses on developing characters and expanding character possibilities through scripted or improvised performances. This concept and technique is derived from theatre techniques and working models, and the participants take on different roles in this phase, which is the beginning of a new experience. The self-revelation begins under the protection of the theatrical form, and acting becomes an act of liberation for the participant. When the participant begins to connect theatre and real life, this is an indicative experience, representing a moment in which the participant enters into a simultaneous theatrical and therapeutic situation and thus expresses trust in the group. At the same time, the participant, as actor, is also an audience member, watching and associating with his or her own life experiences and feelings, and it is up to the participant to decide after the performance whether to review the process and share all the experiences with the group members.
Stage 3：Role play
The third stage focuses on moving from the fantasy of the previous stage into real life, presenting the real-life relationships, dilemmas and conflicts of the people involved and finding new solutions. This concept is derived from “theatre as a rehearsal ground for the real world”.
The person reenacts his or her real life in the form provided by the theatre, which helps him or her to perform himself or herself, to watch himself or herself and to become more aware, thus gaining a deeper perspective on his or her own life experience, and thus moving away from the repetitive patterns of the life script. At the end of this stage, the client can feel that he or she is not only an actor in the script of life, but also a director, a scriptwriter, an audience member and a critic.
Stage 4: Culmination of the performance
In this stage, the person’s self-disclosure gradually shifts from the specific difficulties of everyday life to life issues, and the material for their subconscious triggers may be fragmented memories, associations, dreams, family emotions, childhood traumas, etc. The concept of this phase is derived from psychodrama, which also uses more psychological techniques and shifts the focus to the individual.
The difference between drama therapy and psychodrama, however, is that drama therapy goes through a step-by-step build-up to the climax of the performance, whereas psychodrama goes straight to the climax of the performance, so that the presentation of drama therapy is more detailed and more memorable for the participants.
Stage 5: Dramatic ritual
This stage focuses on digesting and integrating previous experiences and bringing the concrete changes that they have brought about to life. It is a journey of completing the pain, and group members can give back to each other by reviewing the journey, expressing grief and joy, and feeling the meaning and results of the healing process.
The role and classification of ‘roles’ and how can be used in drama therapy are analysed in detail in Personality and Masks.
Professor Peng’s answers and the literature provided opened my mind to research and provided me with a compass for the design of my workshop.