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THE CONTEMPORARY CONTEXT AND A CRITIQUE OF LIVING THROUGH DRAMA It is impossible to determine what the impact of the event described by Fleming was, but the question raised by him is important to consider. There is an emphasis in LTD on facilitating ‘being’ in the situation rather than acting roles, something to explore is whether the participants are protected into the situations. Fleming raises another question connected to the relationship on the real person and the role. The other problem that I have with it is that it relies on blurring the boundaries between the real person and the role. [...] If I act in this way in the drama I have to think about would I have done the same thing. So if I kill you in a living through drama it makes me think about myself killing you. In the theatre I wouldn’t have 208 that worry. The relationship of fiction and reality are central to all drama. The question is whether it is having a role, or being in the fiction that provides safety and space to explore. As LTD is exploring extreme stories it is important to clarify issues relating to this question. The structures analysed in the examples for LTD lessons all offered different models for creating the safety of the fiction. Davis offers a story from the past and explores it as theatre. Bolton stressed the fictional nature of the context, O’Neill shifted the situations and roles so participants did not remain in one role for a long time, while Heathcote offered choices and checks on how the participants were coping by stopping the drama on numerous occasions. I explore this issue further in my research, especially in relation to the relationship of safety of fiction and the extreme. The findings are offered as part of the data analysis in chapter five. LTD: Is It Child or Teacher Centred? In the classic form of LTD Heathcote started from the ideas of the participants and left many choices and decisions to them concerning the direction of the narrative. This placed great demands on the teacher, who became central in structuring the ideas into a drama that reached for something significant. Fleming reflects on this in the following way: I think the danger is, paradoxically, because it is in some ways the ultimate pupil centred drama, that it can become too teacher centred. I think it can bring too much emphasis on structure; again this is paradoxical, because I juxtapose 208 Ibid. e6l +
