No abstract

This article aims to explore the required skills and competencies of the actor within the healthcare. The collection of raw text qualitative data and inductive thematic analysis is used to allow findings to emerge from frequent or significant themes inherent in raw semi-structured interview data. Data was collected by ten narrative interviews with experienced actors in hospitals and, Drama trainees. This narrative inquiry gave opportunity for participants to elaborate on their understandings of their direct or indirect engagement with theatre in hospitals. The study demonstrates a defensible emphasis on key themes including, more obvious professional skills such as acting in participatory dramas, using theatre improvisation and puppetry, and interpersonal skills such as emotional intelligence and empathetic awareness.

Applied Theatre is an inclusive term used to host a variety of powerful, community-based participatory processes and educational practices. Historically, Applied Theatre practices include Theatre-in-Education (TiE), Theatre-in-Health Education (THE), Theatre for Development (TfD), prison theatre, community theatre, theatre for conflict resolution/reconciliation, reminiscence theatre with elderly people, theatre in museums, galleries and heritage centres, theatre at historic sites, and more recently, theatre in hospitals. In this paper we are positioning the application of recreational dramatic activities with older adults (55+) under Applied Theatre and we are exploring the benefits they offer to the participants. We are concerned that their health and wellbeing in western societies is not prioritized and it is clear that loneliness in particular is a current and ongoing issue. We will present research results from a drama dissertation study that took place in a community hall in the South East England where drama is placed at the core of their practice with old populations. Data was collected by a mixed method (semi-structured interviews and semi-immersive observations) and was critically discussed amongst the authors to conclude that attending recreational drama classes brings a certain degree of happiness, social belonging and improvement of interaction with others to old people’s lives.

This article examines the delivery of a theatre initiative with child audiences in a hospital context. It reports on a mixed-method evaluation of a bedside site-specific performance at high-risk wards based in a Children’s Hospital, NHS Trust in England. It acknowledges the circumstances of the children and the conditions of the location, and examines the potential of supporting children during their stay in hospital through entertainment and relaxation. The article discusses the experiences of those who participated in the performance, including children, parents and guardians. It discusses the experience of taking theatre into health care, and the strengths and challenges of using a hospital space as a ‘stage’. It concludes that a synergy between the artist and the child is important to this type of intervention, seeking to provide children with both entertainment and relaxation as an important strategy for their well-being in hospital.

Mental health difficulties remain a major source of burden and distress for individuals, families, health and social care providers with stigma a key target for educational campaigns attempting to improve care pathways and access to support. Stigma is a multifaceted concept having a range of drivers including shame and is thought to act as a barrier to successful help seeking and engagement with support services. The current paper explores some of the salient themes that emerged from a British university drama project on the impact of symptoms and behaviours associated with a severe mental health condition on a young couple's relationship and reflects on the opportunities for connection with an audience provided by the medium and experience. It is suggested that enabling the impact of mental ill health to be explored in a protected environment such as theatre can allow for reflection and empathy to develop, with potential for positive impact on awareness understanding and stigma. Elements of the drama setting and narrative are explored, and analogies are made with the emerging literature on post-traumatic growth.