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UNDERSTANDING FROM WITHIN THE STREAM — METAXIS AND DRAMA EVENT
that are not present in the situation. In theatre or drama that relies on
character building the fictional individual’s logic of behaviour can remain
fairly independent of the social situation in the fiction.
There is a clear connection in exploring the situation from within in both
LTD and Bondian drama. But there is also a huge difference specifically in
relation to ‘making’ that is a central mode of participation in LTD. While
the improvisational nature of LTD creates space for participants to be
makers in the sense of writing the story from within the situation with their
actions, the tightly scripted nature of the Bond plays offers possibilities for
meaning-making though the exploration of the how rather than authoring of
the story.
Combining the two fields in practice raises questions about how to offer
participants both: the possibility of authoring some elements of the story but
also focussing on how the actions are done. An important question however,
in planning the drama lessons is how to equip the participants with tools
with which they can open deeper levels of the situation for others or even
themselves.
The processes to enable participants or actors to be in fictional situations
are very different in the two fields. In the case of rehearsing a Bond play
the text is at the centre of the process, but Bond has also developed different
devices and concepts that can be used in the creative procedure. In classroom
drama different practitioners use different structures and forms to enhance
the engagement of the participants. There are some underlying connections
and differences. I will be discussing these and some of the Bondian concepts
that can be used in structuring processes for the participants, but first I look
at the what the two practices want to offer the students and actors working
in the drama.
UNDERSTANDING FROM WITHIN THE STREAM
— METAXIS AND DRAMA EVENT
Clearly both forms aim to enhance the understanding of the relationship
between the individual and the social spheres and the role of the person in
society. Davis quotes a Bolton article from 1979 in which Bolton states that
beside helping students understand the medium of drama his aim is to create
possibilities for the participants to understand themselves and the world
they live in and to help them know “how and when (and when not) to adapt
to the world”.*’”8 Bolton emphasises the importance of enhancing ‘being’ in
the fictional world for the participants, so that they can live through fictional
“8 Davis: Imagining the Real, 22.
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