C. S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce: An Adaptation for Reader’s Theater

This project—a Reader’s Theater production of C. S. Lewis’s short allegorical novel The Great Divorce (1946)—pursues the values of truth and beauty by relating the rich theological realities of Lewis’s work through drama and voice. Reader’s Theater differs from traditional theater in that the voice, rather than blocking and costuming, carries the drama. The script is read rather than memorized, resulting in a directed, well-rehearsed dramatic presentation. This project requires the creation of an abridged script together with a substantial introduction detailing the process of production, and all elements of production from inception to a final stage performance of approximately 90 minutes

Marginalised Youth in the App Generation: Making the Case for the Integration of Digital Technologies in Process Drama

This paper intends to argue that the introduction of digital technology into Process Drama is not an attempt to replace the imaginative realm of play. Instead digital technologies can aid immersion into the liminal space of a workshop. The App Generation, Generation Z, or the ‘post-millenials’ form a new community of young people who are digitally literate, who have grown up surrounded by technology that they have learnt to engage with as part of their development: Technology is a new instrument of play. The intention of this research is to present an argument for the effectual integration of technology into Process Drama to revive and update the approach. The intention is to engage participants in an experience that speaks to their own worlds. I will draw upon a project I undertook in a primary school with six 8-9yrs old children to further justify the needs for digital technologies in Process Drama and reflect upon the possibilities offered by this approach

Initiating Change of People With Criminal Justice Involvement Through Participation in a Drama Project: An Exploratory Study

Introduction: Innovative and interdisciplinary approaches are needed to improve mental health and psychosocial outcomes of people with criminal justice involvement and their families. Aim of the study was to assess effects of the participation in a theatre project on the mental health problems of people with criminal justice involvement and relatives. Methods: We conducted structured diagnostic interviews and in-depth qualitative interviews with five participants performing Shakespeare's Richard III in Chile. Three participants had been imprisoned prior to the project, and two were the parents of a person who died in a prison fire. Qualitative interviews followed a topic guide. Data were transcribed, and a six-phase approach for thematic analysis of the data was used. Results: Substance use disorder or major depression was identified in all the participants. Participation in the theatre project was experienced by the respondents as having a positive effect on the mental health conditions. The research registered the positive experiences of role identification, emotional expression, commitment with group processes, improved skills to socially interact, to be heard by the general public and society, and positive perceptions of the audience (including relatives). Discussion: The study raises the possibility that there may be improvements of depression and substance use problems through the participation of people with criminal justice involvement in a drama project. Wider scale research is recommended on the possible effects. The approach may be an alternative to psychotherapy and medication for some individuals

The Conditions of Production Surrounding “Crawling with Monsters”: A Way To Create Social Consciousness Through Theatre in South Texas

Evaluating theatre\u27s actual contribution to social development is subjective. There is a specific field of study that has been born from the need to incorporate all theatre outside the mainstream that seeks to do more than entertain an audience: “Applied Drama” or “Applied Theatre.” This study argues that through the process of creating the play Crawling with Monsters a group of UTPA students were empowered to make social change and ended up doing a critically acclaimed applied drama project regarding Mexico\u27s drug war. After an introduction to the formation of the group and the situation to which it was responding, Augusto Boal\u27s Theatre of the Oppressed provides a theoretical basis for looking at the experiences of the group and at several interviews with the participants; we see how this production changed their perspectives and encouraged them to become contributors of social development

Forensic flavour

Databases often receive an uninspired and uninterested response. The curriculum content of a database module generally involves the design of entity-relationship models, SQL programming, application development and advanced database applications such as data warehousing and data mining. These are often taught within the tired and relatively worn case studies of purchase order systems, retail or health care systems. However the current trend for crime scene investigation drama and the frequent stories in the news of personal tragedies involving incorrect data, missing data or data mix-up capture the attention of many. The truth is that crimes require data investigation and expert database witnesses to provide evidence and this requires database knowledge and skill. This project involved the introduction of a ‘forensic flavour’ to the teaching of databases as part of an undergraduate Computing Degree to students. The ‘forensic flavour’ involved introducing investigative and enquiry based learning techniques as well as selecting case studies based around real-life crimes and crime data. The learning objectives remained unchanged for the modules as did the curriculum content. The initial findings are that the students engaged on average 40% better and enjoyed the experience more

序破急 Jo-Ha-Kyu: enticement - crux - consolidation. From study to learning: Process drama projects in the Japanese English language university classroom

This dissertation investigates how social issues can be explored through process drama projects in the Japanese university English as a Foreign Language classroom context. The trajectory of this dissertation moves along a traditional Noh three part macro-continuum, called Jo-Ha-Kyu, interpreted as enticement, crux and consolidation. Within these three parts, there are six further divisions. Part I consists of three sections: Section I, the introduction, sets the backdrop for the entire dissertation, that of Japan, and aims to draw the reader into its culturally unique and specific world. This section outlines the rationale for placing the ethnographer at the centre of the research, and presents Japan through the eyes of the writer. Section II outlines relevant Japanese cultural norms, mores and values, the English educational landscape of Japan and an overview of theatre in Japan and its possible influences on the Japanese university student today. Section III provides three literature reviews: second language acquisition, drama in education to process drama, and Content Language Integrated Learning. In Part 2, Sections IV and V respectively consist of the research methodology and the action research at the core of this dissertation. Section IV describes the case of Kwansei Gakuin University, then explains the design of the process drama curricula. Section V details the three-process drama projects based around the three social issues at the centre of this dissertation. There is also a description of an extra project that of the guest lecturer project. The ultimate goals of all four projects were to change motivation through English in a CLIL context, to develop linguistic spontaneity and to deepen emotional engagement with the themes. Part 3 serves to reflect upon the viability of using process drama in the Japanese university curriculum, and to critically self-reflect on the project as a whole

Thomas Müller (2008). Dramapädagogik und Deutsch als Fremdsprache. Eine Bestandsaufnahme. Saarbrücken. VDM Verlag

Over the past decade, theater-and drama-related activities in the foreign language classroom have enjoyed increasing popularity. More and more foreign language programs have added theater-based literature classes to their course offerings, and theater- and drama-pedagogical workshops, offered through organizations such as the Goethe Institute or the Alliance Française, have helped teachers and students access this creative approach to foreign language instruction. Publications based on “eher subjektive Eindrücke und Erfahrungen” (9) abound; but, so far, a synthesizing account of these methods’ place in foreign language pedagogy, their contributions to didactics, and a systematic typology of drama-pedagogical methods and exercises has been lacking. Thomas Müller’s recently published book Dramapädagogik und Deutsch als Fremdsprache. Eine Bestandsaufnahme. [Saarbrücken: VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, 2008. 145pp.] aims to supply such a systematic account. Drawing on his experience as an actor and as a DAAD Lektor in Dublin, Müller offers a comprehensive introduction to and overview of existing theories on the topic of theater- and drama-in-education, and he devotes most of his book to locating “drama pedagogy” (drama-in-education) within existing foreign language paradigms, most prominently the communicative approach. Müller begins his project by differentiating between theater-in-education (TiE) and drama-in-education (DiE): “Im Falle von TiE spielen andere Theater, ..

The philosophy of tragedy : the tragedy of philosophy : the mimetic interrelationship of tragedy and philosophy in the theoretical writings of Friedrich Hölderlin

This study investigates Phillipe Lacoue-Labarthe's claim in "The Caesura of the Speculative" that Hölderlin is a "modern" writer. Its aim is to establish what is at stake in this claim and to evaluate whether it can be substantiated. In Chapter One I discuss the relationship between tragedy and philosophy. I show that the uneasy relationship between philosophy and the arts is premised upon Plato's understanding and judgement of mimesis. I contrast Plato and Aristotle's treatment of poetry by examining how they understand the mimetic process. In Chapter Two I focus on Hölderlin's understanding of the relationship between Ancient Greece and 18th Century Germany. After discussing the background to Hölderlin's work I provide detailed readings of two texts, The Perspective from which We Have to Look at Antiquity, (1799) and the first letter to Böhlendorff, dating from 1801. I argue that in these texts Hölderlin, through his acknowledgement of the divided nature of Greek culture, offers a unique understanding of the relationship between Greece and Germany which isolates him from his contemporaries. In Chapters Three and Four, I examine Hölderlin's understanding of tragedy. After establishing the centrality of the aesthetic presentation for Hölderlin's project I examine the "poetological" writings which date from 1798-1800. I give a close analysis of the implications of Hölderlin's statement that the tragic "is the metaphor of an intellectual intuition" which occurs in the text On the Difference of the Poetic Modes, (1800), showing why the tragic form is central to Hölderlin's poetological project. To illustrate the problems inherent in this project, in Chapter Four I examine Hölderlin's attempts to write a tragic drama which corresponds to his theoretical beliefs. I discuss the two theoretical texts - The Ground to Empedocles and Becoming in Dissolution - which accompany Hölderlin's drama Empedocles. In analysing these texts I argue that there is an inherent tension between the presuppositions of the theory and the way they can be realised in the drama. In Chapter Five, I turn to Hölderlin's final work, his project to translate Sophocles' tragedies. Through close analysis of the theoretical Remarks which accompany the translations, I show how Hölderlin's theoretical and poetological interests in Greece and Tragedy are brought together through this project. I argue that these texts give an insight into the problems which confront Hölderlin's poetological project. However, simultaneously, these texts provide an alternative way of understanding the function of the tragic form. In this discussion I show how the questions concerning the status of dramatic mimesis and the "mimetic" relation between Greece and Germany coincide in the analysis of Sophocles' dramas. In conclusion I return briefly to the questions that I raised in the introduction concerning the status of tragedy in the present time, and assess the accuracy of the claim that Hölderlin is a "modern" thinker

Increasing awareness of healthy eating through the use of performing arts: An evaluation of the StarBites project

This project report discusses an evaluation of StarBites - a joint initiative between the arts for health and foods for health strands of Halton's Healthy Living Programme. StarBites aims to convey healthy eating messages through drama, dance, poetry, and music performed by school children.Halton's Healthy Living programm

Evaluation of articulate project

The Articulate Project was commissioned by West Dunbartonshire Council, with funding from the Scottish Executive’s Future Learning and Teaching (FLaT) programme,The Scottish Arts Council, West Dunbartonshire Council and West Dunbartonshire Partnership. Activities relating to the project took place between May and December 2004. The overall aim of the Articulate Project was to “explore how or if the arts, and specifically drama and theatre practice, might impact positively on English language skills in the classroom” (AELP, 2005, p5). The five specific aims of the Articulate Project were to: · develop the creative and imaginative writing skills of participating pupils · improve the ability of pupils to communicate effectively · raise levels of pupils’ self esteem and self worth · increase pupils’ motivation to participate in, and enjoy, learning · create a positive impact on thinking skills, problem solving and team working on individuals, schools and the community. The Traverse Theatre devised a programme of pupil activities with the help of a teacher in one of the participating primary schools. In the initial stage, all participating pupils (in each class from each of five schools) were introduced to drama techniques by a Traverse Theatre actress and they attended two theatre performances. In the next stage the focus shifted to creative writing, and a group of ten pupils from each class worked directly in 10 workshops with a Traverse Theatre playwright, in order to develop their own drama sketches, which were performed by professional actors in Denny Civic Theatre. At the same time, the remainder of each class engaged in similar creative writing lessons with their teacher. Although this second Articulate group did not have their work performed, they supported the Denny Civic Theatre production by producing art work with the help of a professional artist. There were three main phases in the evaluation, which began five months after the projectended. A first phase (June and July 2005) was designed to build up a picture of the Project through extended interviews with its key architects and through document analysis. In a second phase (August – October 2005), impact on pupils was explored through theirresponses to Articulate-specific questionnaires and to two standardised instruments (the Marsh Self Description Questionnaire and the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking - ‘Thinking Creatively with Words’), as well as through their focus group contributions. This second phase included evaluation of the project’s impact on staff through one-to-one interviews with school staff and analysis of an extended interview with the Traverse Theatre Literary Development Officer. A third phase (November 2005 – January 2006) was concerned mainly with data analysis, including pre- and post-project attainment level data for reading and writing, but also provided an opportunity for parents and a local community organisation to express views on the project. During this phase final discussions also took place with a primary Head Teacher and the Depute Head in the secondary school