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CHAPTER THREE: BRINGING TOGETHER THE ÁRTISTIC AND THE EDUCATIONAL PRAXIS
the ontological human need for the world to be a just place where we can feel
at home and peoples existential needs that have to be met in unjust societies
is contextualised and situated by Bond; this contradiction forces people into
choices between the two and these become extreme when placed in specific
situations within bigger narratives.
These contradictions are expressed in recurring themes and motifs
in different Bond plays. The recurrence of violence and revenge as central
themes; the presence of babies and children who are vulnerable to their
social surrounding in different ways; in many plays we find the contemporary
re-description of classic cultural tropes and narratives that engage in
fundamental human problems; or the various forms of the outside world
appearing within the personal space are all elements that reflect this central
concern of Bond.
As I am researching the possibility of creating DEs in drama in education
lessons I have to look at possible ways of incorporating the Bondian approach
to crises at the centre of my drama lessons. This approach does not restrict
the choice of the problem engaged in, rather it requires a specific analysis of
the problem so that it becomes possible to identify where the paradox created
by the clash of the ontological and the existential is present and how that can
be brought into the centre of the situation engaged in. The questions to be
explored in this analysis of a problem are:
a) What is the fundamental human need expressed in the story/situation?
b) How are these human needs manipulated by social narratives?
c) How can the conflict between the two be expressed in concrete actions
in specific situations?
There are several other questions and issues too that need to be taken into
consideration in the setting up ofa situation that is at the centre of a Bondian
Living Through Drama, but these questions can be used to help in the selection
of the story that can be developed into a drama lesson.
The question of how extreme situation impacts on the participants of
drama lessons and what makes a situation extreme for them is something
investigated further in the analysis of the research lessons.
I continue by looking at which theoretical devices the facilitator can rely on
from the two field to enhance ‘being’ in the fictional world for participants.
Concepts Used in Structuring Drama
Different tasks can be used in both drama lessons and rehearsal process
to enhance stepping into and ‘being’ in fictional situations. The examples
in the first chapter show a variety of forms used like discussion, drawing,
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