ABSTRACT
Contemporary dramatic practice has problematized the relationship between art and everyday life and highlighted reciprocity between different spheres of experience. This chapter focuses on reciprocity between performance and medicine, seeking to provide a conceptual framework and contextual background for the case study chapters that follow. The chapter takes a broad view of performance – from stage performance, through television (TV) drama, to the performance of everyday life – in order to consider the different facets and manifestations of the relationship between what I identify as ‘social’ drama and ‘aesthetic’ drama.
