OCR
FACILITATING ‘BEING’ IN THE SITUATION — STRUCTURES USED IN LTD AND BONDIAN DRAMA one perspective it could mean being able to read actions at different levels and from another, it means creating drama that can be read at different levels. In our case there is no need to look at the two processes separately as they are interrelated. Fleming argues that “creating different levels of meaning in drama arises specifically through the use of irony (when the audience’s perception extends beyond that of the participants) and through the use of framing action (when the meaning of what follows is changed by the initial actions)”.°'” But for purposes of my research dramatic irony might not be the appropriate tool to create layers of meaning as it builds on the spectators being aware of elements of the situation that those in role do not know. This could work against enhancing participant’s being engrossed in the situation. However, Fleming also refers to other drama in education methods of “injecting layers of meaning”, one of these is discussed in detail by Davis as “five layers of meaning""" derived from Heathcote’s work. Davis explains that “Heathcote argued that there were at least five major levels in an action: the action itself; its motivation; what was invested in the action; from where it was learned; and its universal dimension or what it revealed about the stance of the participant or, in a more immediately useable form, how life should or should not be”.°?° The same in a practical table format, from Davis’s book: ACTION what is done MOTIVATION immediate reason INVESTMENT why it is so important / what’s at stake MODEL where learned this from (positive/negative model) LIFE-VIEW how life should or should not be (stance)*”! Davis offers examples of using this structure in analysing different actions of roles in situations. He also uses it to enhance the creation of significant moments in drama and points out that it can also be useful for teachers to assess their students’ level of thinking. There are other uses as well of the structure. I was working on the stance of a role in a theatre in education programme when I met this structure for the first time. I have also seen Heathcote®” use it with students directly in the analysis of moments, and 517 Fleming: Art of drama teaching, 5. Fleming: Teaching drama in Primary and Secondary, 33. Davis: Imagining the Real, 66. 520 Ibid., 67. 521 Ibid. 522 Dorothy Heathcote’s Masterclass in Budapest, organised by Kava Kulturalis Mtihely, 6-9!" April, 2009 518 519 * 143