ABSTRACT
The chapter will use a heuristic methodology to explore the importance of the ritual space in dramatherapy practice. Key to heuristic inquiry is deepening understanding and tacit knowledge that underpins the author's journey using autobiographical performances that explore the setting up of the dramatic space in performance. The author will consider how setting the scene prepares the psyche for the transition from the everyday experience to a dramatic persona. Preparing the ritual and dramatic space helps to mark the transition and separation from the familiar, the first stage in Arnold Van Gennep's rite of passage and Joseph Campbell's monomyth of the hero's journey. The importance of the separation phase from the everyday to the dramatic will be considered using actor and director Yoshi Oida's purification rituals of the dramatic space, informed by classical Japanese Noh Theatre. Making visible the setting up of the staged space within autobiographical performance mirrors the significance the author gives to setting up the ritual space in dramatherapy practice. The author will utilize their experience of setting up the dramatic space and how this has deepened their understanding of preparing the ritual space in dramatherapy. The author will discuss the importance of preparation of the ritual space as a means of intensifying the client's separation from their everyday reality in order to be more fully prepared for the transition to a dramatic reality so they can immerse themselves more fully in an altered state.
