From reality disjunctions to dramatic reality: Bridging realities through the performance of life stories in dementia care

Abstract

<jats:p> This article explores the potential for a performative life story project to build bridges between different realities and, in so doing, to establish common ground between people who are living with dementia and members of their community. The discussion is anchored in a practice vignette from a single-case life story performance. Two features of the methodology, the ‘saying hullo again’ metaphor from narrative therapy and dramatic reality from drama therapy, are highlighted. Their combined effectiveness as an alternative framework for understanding and working with reality disjunctions in dementia care is discussed. </jats:p>

Expanding the Role Repertoire While Aging: A Drama Therapy Model

“…Narradrama, for example, combined the principles of narrative therapy, as developed by White and Epston (1990) , and additional approaches from the art therapies ( Dunne, 2000 , 2003 ). Other works have emphasized the combination of narrative therapy, drama therapy ( Milioni, 2001 ; Novy et al, 2005 ; Bird, 2010 ; Novy, 2018 , 2019 ), and psychodrama ( Brown-Shaw et al, 1999 ; Azoulay and Orkibi, 2015 ) as well as narrative therapy and playback theater ( Barak, 2013 ). However, there is scant evidence-based literature on these combined approaches, specifically as related to the life stories of older adults.…”