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FINDINGS OF THE TWO CYCLES OF ACTION RESEARCH 2) Narratives based on current socio-political issues can engage but also alienate participants, while narratives based on profound dilemmas of human life can generate space for participants to bring in their personal and social interests and concerns. The Wild Child drama lesson based on a feral child story reworked a classic theme. Participants explicitly reflected on the intriguing nature of the narrative. Its protagonist being on the border of human and animal triggered many questions, thoughts and the imagination of participants. The role offered to participants gave them a direct stake in dealing with this ambiguous state of being. These aspects offered the possibility of engaging in profound human questions and trying to deal with them in situations. 3) Stories or moments can be considered extreme in relation to the participants’ angle of connection. A situation becomes extreme for participants because their concerns, fears, interests are reflected in what has ‘gone wrong’ in the story. Other aspects of working with an extreme story were also apparent from the research. One of them was that it triggered questions and story building from participants. The extremeness defines the story clearly as fiction for the participants, and surprisingly offers safety as they clearly separate it from ‘real life’ and handle it as fictional. In some cases extreme stories have an alienating effect as well. 4) Objects offer a variety of possibilities when used in drama. They can make space for bringing in participants’ interests and problems, or be used to create gaps in meaning, or help in changing perspectives of participants. The awareness of reference points in drama can enhance the participants’ conscious use of objects and their understanding of the art form. There are a number of issues to be investigated further in the use of objects. Among many others there is a rich territory to be investigated about the difference in using actual objects or iconic representations and what their relationship is to the everyday culture of the participants. 5) Contemporary social problems and issues are recognised easily in the fictional world by the participants, but they can only be investigated in depth if the underlying problems are manifested in the story in striking images, situations, roles and objects that participants can connect to or manipulate in situations. + 229 +
